‘Gumboots’: The song that made Paul Simon to create ‘Graceland’
For any musician, inspiration can come from anywhere. Some may spend years trying to crack the code on a song, only for something as simple as making breakfast and letting their mind wander to unlock the key to creating a masterpiece. Although Paul Simon typically took a more methodical approach to songwriting, he credited ‘Gumboots’ with pushing him out of his creative shell, ultimately leading to the creation of Graceland.
Because for its time, Simon’s delve into world music was a giant risk for someone of his stature. Before the record became one of the classics of the 1980s and a staple of every dad’s record collection, Simon was still known for making the most immaculate folk songs of the modern age, like ‘50 Ways to Leave Your Lover’. They were still great for what they were, but miles away from using South African instrumentation.
But Graceland was more than just about the stories of apartheid. This was an excuse for Simon to break out of his comfort zone, and since he had spent the last few years making folk songs in his sleep, why not try to reverse the usual process and build songs out of the communal environment he had with his favourite musicians?
Although many of the tunes can be a little too close to Simon’s usual sound, tracks like ‘Under African Skies’ and ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’ are still some of the greatest uses of world music in Western culture. Along with Peter Gabriel just a few years later, Simon would be at the forefront of bringing different flavours of rhythm and harmony into American households, with ‘Gumboots’ being the kickoff point.
When listening to the band The Boyoyo Boys, this became the first track that drove Simon to work with South African musicians. While there were already a lot of raised eyebrows surrounding Simon going to South Africa, it was by no means cynical. This was just a case of Simon wanting to explore new avenues in songwriting and to celebrate the craft that he heard half a world away.
Despite adding different horns on the track, Simon never thought that highly of the final product, but did acknowledge its importance in kicking off the next phase of his career, saying, “If it wasn’t that ‘Gumboots’ led me into the whole project, I would have dropped ‘Gumboots’ from the album. Because I think it’s the weakest of the South African cuts.”
And after listening on its own, I have to admit that Simon has a small point. As much as tunes like ‘Graceland’ and ‘You Can Call Me Al’ feel like a genuine collaboration between Simon and the native players, this is the closest that he comes to sounding like he’s appropriating their sound, to the point where it just sounds like Simon watered down the original to suit his record.
Then again,’Gumboots’ still has an important role in being the catalyst for Simon’s reinventing his sound. He could have just been riding the wave of ‘Still Crazy After All These Years,’ but true artists know that the key to creativity is to never stop exploring wherever your muse guides you.
