"Graceland" is the title song of the album ''Graceland'', released in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

. The song features vocals by

The Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 ...

. The lyrics deal with the singer's thoughts during a road trip to

Graceland Graceland is a mansion on a estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, which was once owned by rock and roll icon Elvis Presley. His daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited Graceland after his death in 1977. Graceland is located at 3764 Elv ...

after the failure of his marriage. Actress and author

Carrie Fisher Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress and writer. She played Princess Leia in the ''Star Wars'' films (1977–1983). She reprised the role in'' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (2015), ''The Last ...

, Simon's ex-wife, said that the song referred in part to their relationship. In addition to his trip to Graceland, the

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

home of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, the song contains allusions to other cultural touchstones, such as National Guitars.

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' said that "Remarkable supporting players from his South Africa sessions make Simon's multiple-meaning musings into something subtly exotic." The song won the 1988 Grammy Award for

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

. It was the lowest-charting song on any of the world music charts to win Record of the Year until the

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

and

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...

US non-charting song "

Please Read the Letter "Please Read the Letter" is a song originally written and recorded by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (as Page and Plant) for their 1998 album '' Walking into Clarksdale''. Plant and Alison Krauss later recorded a version of the song for their colla ...

" won the same award in 2009. It was listed at #485 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs in 2004. "Graceland" has been covered by artists such as

Hot Chip Hot Chip are an English synthpop band formed in London in 1995. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former member Rob Smoughton for ...

Grizzly Bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

El Vez Robert Alan Lopez (born 1960),"El Vez", ''St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture'', Thomson Gale 2005–2006reproduced online at BookRags.comand accessed online 28 April 2007. better known by his stage name El Vez, is an American singer-songwrit ...

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The Tallest Man on Earth Kristian Matsson (born 30 April 1983) is a Swedish singer-songwriter who performs under the stage name The Tallest Man on Earth. Matsson grew up in Leksand, and began his solo career in 2006, having previously been the lead singer of the indie b ...

Justin Townes Earle Justin Townes Earle (January 4, 1982August 20, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. After his debut, EP ''Yuma'' (2007), he released eight full-length albums. He was recognized with an Americana Music Award for Emerging Artist o ...

and

Joshua Lee Turner Joshua Lee Turner is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and internet personality based in Brooklyn, New York. Early life and education Turner began singing at nine years of age and began playing guitar five ...

. A cover by

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

peaked at number 70 on the ''

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart in 1993. In Nelson's version, he alters the line "There is a girl in New York City, who calls herself the human trampoline," replacing New York City with

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. Simon and Nelson have performed the song together on several occasions, including Farm Aid V, in Irving, Texas, on March 14, 1992, Willie's 60th birthday concert in April 1993, and when both men appeared as musical guests on the eighteenth season finale of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' on May 15, 1993. An acoustic version of the song was included as a track on '' The Unplugged Collection, Volume One.''

Personnel

– lead vocals, background vocals, acoustic guitar (uncredited) *

Ray Phiri Raymond Chikapa Enock Phiri (23 March 1947 – 12 July 2017) was a South African jazz, fusion and mbaqanga musician born in Mpumalanga to Thabethe Phiri, a Malawian immigrant worker, and South African guitarist nicknamed "Just Now" Phiri. He wa ...

– guitar *Demola Adepoju – pedal steel *

Bakithi Kumalo Bakithi Kumalo (; born 10 May 1956) is a South African bassist, composer, and vocalist. Kumalo is most known for his fretless bass playing on Paul Simon's 1986 album ''Graceland'', in particular the bass run on "You Can Call Me Al". Biography and ...

– fretless bass *Vusi Khumalo – drums *Makhaya Mahlangu – percussion *

– additional vocals

Charts

Certifications

Trivia

The "Human Trampoline", which Simon apparently invented, is referenced in

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...

's book '' Quichotte''.

References

Paul Simon songs 1986 songs Grammy Award for Record of the Year Songs written by Paul Simon Song recordings produced by Paul Simon Willie Nelson songs Songs about Memphis, Tennessee 1986 singles Warner Records singles {{1980s-pop-song-stub