1986 Songs: All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints

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Since I deviated from my “regular” formula last month, a reminder that the music lists are back to normal: alphabetical for the first part of the month, then my ten favorites at the end. With that said, let’s dive into 1986 with one of the biggest albums of the year…which is now 40 years old. All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints - Paul Simon Graceland cleaned up at the Grammy awards that year, as well it should have. I love most of that album to death. The notable exception is the big hit from the album, “You Can Call Me Al.” Ooh, I hate that song…and the video. Listening to that song (and even this one, and others on the album) made me wonder exactly WHAT Paul Simon was smoking when he wrote the lyrics. Could the same man who gave us “a rock feels no pain and an island never cries” or “sail on silver, girl, sail on by, your time has come to shine” have morphed into “if you’ll be my bodyguard I can be your long-lost pal, I can call you Betty”???? The album was not without controversy (probably spurred on by all the success of the album). People chided Simon for playing in South Africa (this was in the era of protest songs like “Sun City” and boycotts against the apartheid government), for using Linda Ronstadt (who’d played in South Africa during the boycott), and some said “exploiting” the music. Some people will complain about anything. Los Lobos, featured on this song, also had a (much bigger) complaint. They said they co-wrote this song and never got credit. There were legal tensions over it. One thing’s for certain: the Tejano feel of this contradicts the sound of the rest of the album. At any rate, Graceland still stands as a major highlight in Simon’s career. All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints Written by Paul Simon Recorded by Paul Simon From Graceland, 1986 The sun gets weary and the sun goes down: