2000 Great Songs #1425: You Can Call Me Al

It's been 40 years since the release of Paul Simon's landmark 1986 LP Graceland, and, as detailed in my book, I haven't been able to enjoy it since listening to it in an altered state of mind in college and coming to the realization that the whole album is just two songs played over and over with different lyrics. (I don't know if that's actually the case, but once you have one of these stoner epiphanies, it's hard to kick.)

But I do still love the single "You Can Call Me Al." Beyond just being insanely catchy and fun, with that wonderfully bouncy rhythm section and Simon's bemused delivery, the record, with its importation of South African musical influences, had a sort of artistic cred that allowed me to play the track on my college radio show even as it became a monster mainstream hit. Plus that video with Chevy Chase, silly and endearing (before Chase had all the personal baggage he's since acquired), was on MTV constantly and is permanently imprinted on my brain.

Live 2012:

Alicia Witt cover/reinterpretation:

Honey Ants cover:

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