"The Boy in the Bubble" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the third

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from his seventh studio album, ''

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 ...

'' (1986), released on

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. Written by Simon and Forere Motloheloa (an accordionist from Lesotho), its lyrics explore starvation and terrorism, juxtaposed with wit and optimism. The single—released in February 1987—performed well on charts worldwide. In the United States, it was mainly successful on the Album Rock Tracks chart, where it peaked at No. 15. Outside the U.S., "The Boy in the Bubble" was a top 20 hit in the

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, and top 30 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Background

The song retains the only lyric Simon managed to compose on his South African trip: "The way the camera follows us in slo-mo, the way we look to us all." The imagery in the video, directed by Jim Blashfield, was inspired by film clips of the

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

assassination, as well as Ronald Reagan's attempted assassination. The song's title was presumably inspired by the medical cases of

David Vetter David Phillip Vetter (September 21, 1971 – February 22, 1984) was an American who was a prominent sufferer of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), a hereditary disease which dramatically weakens the immune system. Individuals born wit ...

and

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. The chorus also references "the baby with the baboon heart," presumably referring to

Baby Fae Stephanie Fae Beauclair (October 14, 1984 – November 15, 1984), better known as Baby Fae, was an American infant born in 1984 with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. She became the first infant subject of a xenotransplant procedure and first s ...

. He said, "Hope and dread... that's the way I see the world—a balance between the two, but coming down on the side of hope." "The Boy in the Bubble," like "

," took three to four months to create. '' Cash Box'' said it Was a "another brilliant cross-cultural gem. African rhythms, zydeco spice and Simon’s intelligent, penetrating lyrics are near perfection."

Personnel

* Paul Simon – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, background vocals *

Rob Mounsey Rob Mounsey (born December 2, 1952) is an American musician, composer, and arranger. Music career Mounsey was born in Berea, Ohio, and grew up in Seattle, Washington, spending a few years each in Findlay and Granville, Ohio. At the age of 17 ...

– synthesizer *

Adrian Belew Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew (born December 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual and impressionistic approach to ...

– guitar synthesizer *Forere Motloheloa – accordion *

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 ...

– bass *Vusi Khumalo – drums *Jacob Childress – percussion

Chart performance

"The Boy in the Bubble" performed on singles charts in several territories worldwide. In the U.S., the song reached a peak of No. 86 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on March 21, 1987; it spent four weeks on the chart as a whole. It performed better on the magazine's Album Rock Tracks chart, where it placed at No. 15 on March 28, 1987, where it spent nine weeks total. In the

, the song premiered on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on November 30, 1986 at number 81, and rose over the following weeks to a peak of No. 26 on January 11, 1987. On the

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Nationale Top 100, it reached a peak of No. 16. On

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, it hit No. 28, and in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, it peaked at No. 43.

Charts

Notes

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boy in the Bubble, The 1987 singles 1986 songs Paul Simon songs Songs written by Paul Simon Song recordings produced by Paul Simon Music videos directed by Jim Blashfield Warner Records singles Worldbeat songs