Diamond Songs Top Ten: Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes (#9)

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It’s time for more diamonds! It’s an unintentional dual countdown: songs with diamond in the title, and Neil Diamond songs. We’ll get to Neil in a few minutes, but first, for today’s diamond song, here’s another boy from New York. #9: Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes - Paul Simon And later we’ll see a connection of sorts between the two New York boys (Simon and Diamond). As for now, Graceland was one of “those” albums in the 80s. In fact, it was one of “those” albums in 1986. Looking back at the albums I bought that year, there are a ton of LPs from that year that still stand as favorites (such as the debut albums from Webb Wilder, the Smithereens, and the BoDeans, and R.E.M.’s Lifes Rich Pageant). Man, what a year for music. For some reason, people thought this album was some heroic breakthrough in world music exploration, and nobody (e.g., Fear of Music and Remain in Light by Talking Heads) had EVER used African music incorporated into rock and roll. Simon needed a wheelbarrow to cart home his Grammy awards that year. Even then I thought the hype was a little much (and I still think “You Can Call Me Al” is one of Paul Simon’s worst songs EVER), but I did — and do — love that album. And this song, featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo, closes out side one (not that I ever had the vinyl or anything....). Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes Written by Joseph Sabalala and Paul Simon Recorded by Paul Simon From Graceland, 1986 She’s a rich girl: