Rest in peace to Forere Motloheloa of the Sesotho Traditional band Tau Ea Matšekha. He was the accordionist on this song. He passed away on 9 February 2021 from a short illness, at the age of 74. Rest in peace. 🙏🏿 Robala ka khotso Ntate 🇱🇸

'Graceland' is one of my Top 5 Greatest Albums of all time. Every track is a gem.

My mother loved this album and we listened to it so much when I was a little girl. She is gone now and when I hear Paul say "don't cry baby, don't cry, don't cry" I imagine it's her speaking to me. Life is bewildering.

My son was born in February '86. Graceland was released on 25th August '86. My son didn't sleep and just cried for 18 months except when I played "The baby in the bubble" and danced around the room with him in my arms. All through the night!!! God damn! Thank you Paul!

I think this song resonates even harder in the 2020s than for the era it was written for.

One of the greatest lyrical songs ever

You can’t underestimate the musicianship of the Africans on this album.

Paul Simon - One of the finest writers of all time. A phenomenal artist and visionary.

This song, and the whole Graceland album was my mother’s favorite. She played this album so much that I hated it. It took age and maturity to see that Graceland is a masterpiece. I miss my mom

Over 25 years ago now I had the privilege (luck, really) to have a teeny, tiny part in making of this video, as a worker for a company assisting Jim Blashfield and his visionary team that made this. I can still remember seeing the still photos to this day and wondering what the final video would be like.

Paul Simon is definitely one of the godfathers of Rock and Roll. His DNA shows up in uncountable bands.

One of the great artists of our time

Just after Call Me Al came out as a single I ended up going home with a girl from a club one night in Aberdeen. She lived in a tenement flat somewhere in Rosemount if memory serves me right. Anyway, in the morning she had to get up for work, so she told me to get up when I wanted and make myself a coffee of whatever - just making sure the door was locked when I left. Anyway, eventually I got up, made a coffee and some toast and with nothing to do ( I was working offshore), started looking through the albums in the living room for something to put on. I found Graceland. I knew Call Me Al from the radio, but I'd never heard the rest of it and when I did, it just blew me away. I stayed there the whole morning putting it on again and again. Most songs it's hard to recall exactly where and when you first heard them, but this is one album that stands out like a beacon - and this song in particular. It's like a photo-shot of a point in time somewhere in my 20s. Before and after - not a related memory at all. There's just a room in a strange apartment and me listening to Graceland over and over.

May be more relevant today than the day it was written.

This song was way way waaaaaay ahead of it's time, brilliant.

"And I believe These are the days of lasers in the jungle Lasers in the jungle somewhere Staccato signals of constant information A loose affiliation of millionaires And billionaires..." Words of the prophets.

The sweetest bass line ever.

You ever notice that in the lines: "Medicine is magical and magical is art /Think of the Boy in the Bubble and the baby with the baboon heart" that the consonance of the repeating double B mimics a heartbeat? I still get chills when I hear that line.

Paul Simon had a way of capturing broad and vivid images of the human condition in the short moments of a brilliant song.

"Every generation throws a hero up the pop charts." I love that lyric.

Graceland. One of; if not the, greatest albums ever produced. There is no filler, just straight up megahits, one after another. Decades later it still stands tall as a masterpiece.

I first heard this album in 1986 on the very first Walkman I ever heard. It blew me away. I knew every single song word by word... I still do... Even at 44

The references are dated, yet this song feels more relevant now than ever. The art that intensifies over time rather than diminishes is rare and great.

No words. I always saw this song as a piece of some kind of meta-art, a song that sang about its own existence, about its own dying age and frightening future, about long-distance-calls and lasers in the jungle, about constellations dying in space. To me, Paul Simon was way ahead of his time back then. This is one of the deepest songs in popular music ever.

not a huge Simon fan but I recognize he was a brilliant songwriter. This song is bloody brilliant.

The greatest LP ever, in the history of music, totally brilliant

Thankyou Paul Simon for bringing so much joy to the world with this album. It really is a masterpiece.

Paul Simon is a national treasure.

Paul Simon is not my normal cup of tea, but this album is amazing. It absolutely blows me away. One of my Top 10 albums ever.

What an opening track for one of the most brilliant albums.

This is jim blashfield's greatest work. Jim you are a genius. You gave me 37 years of happiness with this masterpiece paul simon the boy in the bubble. For that im ever indebted to you.

That accordion sounds so awesome. It's an amazing instrument when used correctly.

Great opening track off what I believe to be one of the top ten best albums of all time. Just my not so humble opinion

What a work of art it is.

This is one of the best early rap songs.

"Staccato signals of constant information/a loose affiliation/of millionaires and billionaires" -- So prescient about the future and the world we live in now it's almost scary.

Back when I was about 6, my grandfather showed me this song. He had this album on cd, and every time I road in his car, he played this album, and this track. I loved it for years. Last time I herd it, I was about 10. Now I’m coming back to it for the first time in 5 years, and wow. The nostalgia is insane. And I’m not even that old! What an incredible song.

Paul got better with age. I loved his soft folk ballads, back when I had hair on my head, instead of in my ears and nose, but, Graceland was a major work of art by an accomplished genius. This particular song has been overshadowed by events, having proved eerily prophetic, but it resonates with the soul, communicates the delicious sense of wide eyed wonder that an adult feels when he embarks upon a new voyage of discovery. 11 thumbs up.

The juxtaposition of “the way the camera follows us in slow-mo, the way we look to us all” with “the way we look to a distant constellation that’s dying in a corner of the sky” has always invoked this somewhat indescribable emotion, a medley of pity and fondness and elation, with a healthy dose of resignation. Among the best lyrics ever written.

This was just a masterpiece album, and that's saying a lot for Paul Simon.

Still gives me chills when I hear it.., thank you Paul.

What a well-written song. They don't make 'em like this anymore.

At the time I or many other people never realised how talented and how good Paul Simons music is.

"These are the days of lasers in the jungle" I don't think I've heard such a short line that says so much

Without a doubt one of the greatest albums ever.

This song hasn't aged one bit and neither has this video. "The way we look to a distant constellation that's dying in a corner of the sky..." is how we should all think of ourselves.

I live in Scotland and I am still listening to this wonderful music that lifts my spirits.❤

It was a slow day And the sun was beating On the soldiers by the side of the road There was a bright light A shattering of shop windows The bomb in the baby carriage Was wired to the radio These are the days of miracle and wonder This is the long distance call The way the camera follows us in slo-mo The way we look to us all The way we look to a distant constellation That's dying in a corner of the sky These are the days of miracle and wonder And don't cry baby, don't cry Don't cry It was a dry wind And it swept across the desert And it curled into the circle of birth And the dead sand Falling on the children The mothers and the fathers And the automatic earth These are the days of miracle and wonder This is the long distance call The way the camera follows us in slo-mo The way we look to us all The way we look to a distant constellation That's dying in a corner of the sky These are the days of miracle and wonder And don't cry baby, don't cry Don't cry It's a turn-around jump shot It's everybody jump start It's every generation throws a hero up the pop charts Medicine is magical and magical is art The Boy in the Bubble And the baby with the baboon heart And I believe These are the days of lasers in the jungle Lasers in the jungle somewhere Staccato signals of constant information A loose affiliation of millionaires And billionaires and baby These are the days of miracle and wonder This is the long distance call The way the camera follows us in slo-mo The way we look to us all The way we look to a distant constellation That's dying in a corner of the sky These are the days of miracle and wonder And don't cry baby, don't cry Don't cry

I once went to Sub-Saharan Africa to help with some fiber optic cable installation. The coincidence of my circumstances was not lost on me.

Oh man! The SOUNDS of this recording...the song, the arrangement, the instrumentation, the mix.......one of the greatest pop recordings I've ever heard. That stuttering, backward sounding accordion just kills me every time I hear it. Oh, that bass! The sound of the drums. Just brilliant.

Only 1.8 million views??!!!IMO this is his best song,sounds like nothing else you've ever heard & it's bloody fantastic!!!Paul Simon is most definitely a genius & a national treasure

The song and video is still phenomenal. Timeless.

Paul Simon managed such interesting and complicated thoughts in such literate lyrics.

I'd look up at the clouds and let my mind wander with my Walkman playing this album. Amazing album, some of his best work.

For some reason this song always makes me emotional.

I remember the anticipation of the Graceland album release in 1986. The album lived up to ALL expectations. A marvellous album which needs to be in everyone's collection

One of my favorites by Paul Simon that is sadly never played any more. A forgotten late 80s Gem 💎

Other than a few big hits from Graceland on the radio, it wasn't until "Rythm of The Saints" hit Tower Records in the Village and buying it (possibly my favorite P.S. album) that I was led back to fully knowing, understanding and embracing "Graceland"... both are impeccable. The Art will long outlive the reductive controversy.

This is no less than a manifesto of these times, along with "Silent Running," which debuted the same year. 1984 was a preordained gateway to the global nightmare that is coming to a head as we speak.

Listening to this over 30 years after it's release, and it's sad how little has changed in the world.

So much poetry in one song! Such a masterpiece...

Happy 75th Birthday Paul Simon

Everything about this track is amazing the lyrics and how the instruments just blend in together it is absolutely fabulous and is the perfect beginning to one of the greatest albums of all time and is definitely far ahead for its time which impresses me alot

Probably the best song of one of the best albums ever made.

This is such a great song that it took me years to realise that it begins with a terrorist attack. Love the line "These are the days of miracle and wonder".

I love reading all the comments in this thread about memories of this song with loved ones, some of whom may no longer be here. Music is amazing.

Brilliant vid of a brilliant song off of one of the most important albums of the 1980s.

"A distant constellation dying in the corner of the sky" Classic! I love that line. We are nothing more that a fragment of a speck of dust lying on the floor below the cathedral of stars above or below us. IMO. Though these are not the "days of miracles and wonder", nor will they ever be, I still like this song.

#PAULSIMON #GRACELAND Superior album. You are a great songwriter and storyteller. Its among my favorite albums of all times 😀👍👍🥛🎸🎷🎺🎹🪗🥁🎸💚💙🧡❤️💛💜💖

Timeless,amazing Song And vídeo clip👏👏👏👏👏

One of the greatest songwriters ever I think.

I know this is not Christmas songs but to me it is. my mother would put this when we did the Christmas tree because my brother and I wanted to listen to music while doing it but she didn't have any Christmas songs. so we would listen to this instead. now she is gone but I still listen to this when I put up my Christmas decorations in memory of her and the good times we spent listening to those songs

My favorite song from the Graceland album. I saw Paul in June and he started off the concert with this song.

Britain has Paul McCartney; We (America) have Paul Simon.

Yeah this record goes hard

This song is still relevant in 2016! A great artist!

Graceland is in my top five albums of all time. I listen to it regularly😊

My parents had this album and once I found it in their record collection I listened to it over and over again on the headphones in their sitting room and learnt all the words. It was one of the first albums that got me into music. Beautiful track and beautiful album. :-)

I was introduced to this video by a drama teacher after that I went looking for everything Paul Simon ever did and have been addicted to his music ever since. 30 years well spent listening to great music.

“I believe these are the days of lasers in the jungle, lasers in the jungle somewhere - staccato signals of constant information, a loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires”. This song is more prophetic than we realize. How bad is he describing the 2010s, way back in 1987?

Absolutely love this... Bright light shattering of shop windows... Perfect description of what's wrong with the world... Absolute gem of a track,, 10/10

"Staccato signals and constant information, a loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires..." This song describes the culture now and predicts it with poetical brilliance and stunning accuracy. Simon is a genius of the first order.

Paul Simon is one of the great songwriters of all times. I think he can be compared to Bob Dylan who was a hero of the generation before me. Being born in 1972 the Graceland album had a big impact on me as a young man. I was fortunate enough to see him with Garfunkel in 2004 (with my stepdad, an experience I will cherish the rest of my life) and during the rhythm of the saints tour. Listening to the music of Paul Simon makes me feel like the teenager that I was in the 80's (even though it's been while.......)

The musicians playing on the album really are top class...amazing.

We have to play this music to our children, have it in the background while we do everyday stuff, I listened to the radio when I was a kid and fell in love with Presley, nat king cole, paul Simon is just as influential, he affected me in ways I’m still processing, will always love this

The whole Graceland album is great, really. The lyrics for this piece could stand alone as poetry; Simon's use of alliteration especially in the last stanza is nothing short of genius.

Medicine and magical Magic is art

The sound of Krishna Das playing the harmonium reminded me of this song today.

This song is one of the great songs. It is a historical maker.

Such an happy song and a cute music video

Graceland:one of the best & innovative albums ever.God Bless you Paul and your old friend Art as well .

"...every generation throws a hero up the pop charts..." Brilliant!

I woke up this morning and I HAD to listen to this great American troubadour. He is, in his own way, the GOAT, an astounding lyricist as well as a fine composer. Now don't get me wrong; Paul isn't Jerry and the Dead GOAT. But the man has left his mark. This is a great album; you get joy, you get sorrow, you get shock and you get awe. If not Simon himself, this album belongs on the list of GOAT records.

Paul Simon has contributed so much to popular music, and is one of the greatest singer/songwriters of our time, both his solo albums and those with Art Garfunkel are something to treasure!

I have always loved fretless bass in this song

I've no idea why, but this song is stuck in my head all day even though I haven't heard it in years. I can remember buying this on vinyl in a second hand shop some time in the late 80s and having the piss taken out of me by two other fellas in the shop for buying it. Screw them, I've always had a broad taste in music and there's something about this album that sticks with you.

I was lucky enough to write the advertisement for this album in South Africa. This song always reminds me of on of my African team who used to play his mouth organ and bounce around to the same rhythm, and was killed in an underground explosion with 28 others. I missed being there because a colleague swapped jobs with me that day.

The most talented man of all time, if it makes a sound Paul Simon will make a masterpiece...✌️❤️💯

I grew up with the album, My mom spent many years in Africa and carried her love of the the cultures with her. I'd long forgotten about this album and picked it up by chance a few months ago when the remaster came out and the moment I put it on it brought back so many fond memories.

Lately the songs are in my head and found myself playing the album constantly, thank you for your contribution to feeling good, bless.