Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

As he was brooding over the failure of Hearts and Bones, a friend gave Simon a cassette tape of African music.

Though there is some debate over what was on that mixtape, scholars speculate that it probably contained tracks from Accordion Jive Hits Vol.

2.

Paul Simon was obsessed with this tape.

A man walks down the street, he says, why am I soft in the middle now? Why am I soft in the middle? The rest of my life is so

hard.

On some tracks, Simon is hybridizing country music with Afrobeat, like Graceland, which features vocals by the Everly Brothers combined with the playing of his African band.

Everybody sees the wind blow I'm on Graceland

Maybe the music works together because he's finding these tenuous connections, as he calls sort of long, tenuous connections between, you know, an accordion heard in the American South and an accordion heard in Lesotho.

diamonds on the soles of her shoes, yet starts off with that beautiful vocal harmonies.

And that features Ladysmith Black Mambazo, led by Joseph Shabalala.

Talk about how Paul built a song around those extraordinary vocal harmonies.

Oh, sorry.

No, I'm thinking of homeless right now.

We're talking about Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes.

But nonetheless, there is also this important aspect to, yeah, the introduction of Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes is similar.

So let's hear a triple play.

Firstly, it's Graceland, then Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes, and then The Boy in the Bubble.

Mississippi Delta was shining like a national guitar.

I am following the river down the highway through the cradle of the Civil War.

girl.

She don't try to hide it.

Diamonds on the soles of her shoes.

He's

They're all my favorite, but my, uh, I would say Diamonds, of course.

You know, Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes.

What is it about that song?

It's just that bass player, man.