Paul Simon//Graceland

I’m back now from an awesome weekend of Midwest tourstravaganza. It was sweet! We played three really fun shows, saw a ton of old friends, made many new ones, and spent over 30 hours in cars, driving over 1,800 miles in the course of four days. HARDcore.

I brought along a few CDs to listen to while on the road, but I think a real favorite was Graceland, the classic 1986 (Karl read the notes to get that) Paul Simon album, left in the car by Kenny’s mom. By the time we were just an hour away from Brooklyn yesterday and loopy as all hell from the combo of no sleep and car overload, it was the perfect album to calm our nerves.

Graceland is a landmark album as it is generally thought of as the decisive beginning of world music being injected into the American mainstream. I actually remember Simon coming up often in my Latin America class as being a big music ambassador, along with David Byrne. Thanks, Paul!

Also: quick shoutout—Paul Simon’s from Newark, NJ, which is where I am right now. Brick City, represent!



Graceland.mp3

I am following the river
Down the highway
Through the cradle of the civil war.