The ‘Graceland’ Track That Made Peter Gabriel Say Paul Simon Penned the “Most Extraordinary Lyrics Written on a Rock Song”

In 1985, Paul Simon went to South Africa to work with local artists and incorporate some mbaqanga music into his Graceland album, despite the ongoing United Nations boycott against the apartheid regime. At the time, the UN’s pressure on the government and its apartheid policies also discouraged many musicians from visiting and from local music leaving the country.

Simon was criticized for capitalizing on the culture and music of South Africa, exploiting local musicians and violating the boycott against the apartheid regime, regardless of his crediting all of the local artists who worked on the album and paying them.

During his two-week visit, Simon became immersed in the regional music and recorded with several South African musicians at Ovation Studios in Johannesburg, including Boyoyo Boys Bands and Ladysmith Black Mambazo

He also connected with a group from Lesotho, nearly 300 miles south of Johannesburg, called Tau Ea Matsekha, because he was drawn to their song “Ke Ikhethetse E Motle” (“The Boy in the Bubble”). Originally released by the group earlier in1985, Simon reworked the song in the studio with the group’s songwriter, Forere Motloheloa, and the band.

Videos by American Songwriter

Though Motloheloa, who also plays piano accordion on the recording, didn’t speak English, he and Simon were still able to communicate through music, and the song came together after a few takes.

“We got a really great sound,” said Simon. “It was kind of all over the place and needed to be edited.”

In the documentary for Graceland, Motloheloa said the piano accordion part in the song pays tribute “to a beautiful woman who he found and is happy with.” Motloheloa also revealed that he was a mine worker before exploring music.

“The solitude of the place combined with the landscape,” said Simon, “gives him beautiful things to translate into the music.”

[RELATED: The First Song Paul Simon Wrote at 13 Turned Into a “Neighborhood Hit”]

While in South Africa, Simon also connected with more musicians, some of whom joined him on the Graceland tour. Once the music was recorded for “The Boy in the Bubble,” Simon wrote the lyrics to the song when he returned to the U.S. It took some time for Simon weave together phrases reflecting life and all its challenges.

It was a slow day
And the sun was beating
On the soldiers by the side of the road
There was a bright light
A shattering of shopwindows
The bomb in the baby carriage
Was wired to the radio

These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is a long-distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look to us all
The way we look to a distant constellation
That’s dying in a corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don’t cry baby, don’t cry
Don’t cry

It was a dry wind
And it swept across the desert
And it curled into the circle of birth
And the dead sand
Falling on the children
The mothers and the fathers
And the automatic earth

Peter Gabriel: “Paul Simon, he’s written so many great songs.”

The opening track of Graceland, “The Boy in the Bubble,” also became one of Peter Gabriel’s favorite songs.

Graceland had nothing to do with Elvis and everything to do with a multicultural tonic of sounds. Blending the African Zulu roots music of mbaqanga and isicathamiya and the Creole beats of zydeco, along with some pop and rock, made Paul Simon‘s seventh album a pivotal point within his catalog. In 1987, Simon won a Grammy for Album of the Year for Graceland and Record of the Year for the title track.

“Paul Simon, he’s written so many great songs,” said Gabriel. “‘Boy in the Bubble’ was one [of them]. Like many people, I loved the ‘Graceland’ record. You get carried away with the infectious grooves, and you don’t always listen that much to the words.”

Gabriel continued, “So that’s one of the most extraordinary lyrics written on a rock song, I think. It’s stunning.”

Photo: Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images