Graceland

 

She comes back to tell me she’s gone

As if I didn’t know that

As if I didn’t know my own bed

As if I’d never noticed

The way she brushed her hair from her forehead

She said, “Losing love is like a window in your heart

Everybody sees you’re blown apart

Everybody sees the wind blow…”

 

      In an episode (season 9) of The Office, Andy Bernard, while his coworkers were accusing his ancestors of owning slaves, said in his defense that his ring tone was “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes,” to prove that he had nothing against black people.

     “Diamonds on the Sole of Her Shoes,” is of a course a song on Paul Simon’s 1986 incredible masterpiece Graceland, an album which incorporated South African music. I remember buying it on cassette and then on CD. It won the Grammy Album of the Year and Record of the Year (for the song “Graceland,” a song about trying to heal from a personal heartbreak) in 1987 and is often cited as one of the greatest albums of all time.

     My favorite tracks on the album: “Graceland,” “I Know What I Know,” “Gumboots,” “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes,” “You Can Call Me Al" (this song's official music video featuring Chevy Chase is hilariously great), and “Under African Skies.”

    Trivia: Paul Simon wrote “Graceland” for actress Carrie Fisher, his ex-wife, after they separated.