The resurgence of world music has situated Paul Simon's Graceland as an instrumental reference for contemporary audiophiles, the new Pet Sounds. It also won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1986, was immediately heralded as introducing the world music scene to mainstream music and continues to receive universal critical reverence.
However, the Culture Clüb, though appreciative of the piece of work as a classic in American songwriting, sees it as one chapter in the long, continuing career of one of America's premier songwriters; perhaps his biggest landmark on the music landscape, though not his most beautiful, provocative or entertaining.
Graceland's popularity and significance is a victim of Simon's lack of a ""rock star"" persona. In the '70s—which was more than necessary in a radically expanding music scene—it was important to bring attention to his dense, hyper-literate songwriting. Therefore his significance as a musician remained hidden until it became superficial and stark enough to demand the music world's spotlight.
That is not to say Graceland is not deserving of acclaim. ""Homeless"" and ""Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes"" were ingenious in taking African hymns and acclimating them to pop music. While this had been dabbled in before (i.e. genres with African-American roots such as jazz and soul), Simon brings the conventions aesthetically to the forefront with such disregard that it transforms the pop music, forcing it to adapt rather than to submit to typical pop conventions.
What's more, Simon took country bass to build his world music sound around, while Vampire Weekend and contemporaries take a pop or slightly punk bass path, which leads them to a safer, more conventional sound. There's merit here, enough to make today's plethora of comparisons slightly insulting to Simon.
But what makes the comparisons even more insulting is that Simon's career prior to Graceland can stand alone to blow any of his potential contemporary peers out of the water. ""Mother and Child Reunion"" was one of the first pop songs to turn to reggae. ""Kodachrome"" is still one of the catchiest pop tunes ever written. ""50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"" sounds uncannily familiar upon first listen and ""Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard"" is just plain, innocent fun perfectly expressed through music.
Simon played pop songs like he were playing a game of Pictionary. Turn after turn he paints perfect pictures with unparalleled descriptiveness where others struggle to sketch their sound. But just because he decided to give one of his go-rounds an innovative theme does not mean the rest should be forgotten with time. Rather, it needs to be used as a gateway leading listeners toward a discovery of one of the most talented, literary songwriters in pop music history.
