In the recent Tweet by Paul Simon below, Steve Martin is clearly the best dancer. I’ve never heard of the song Proof so this was the first time I’d seen the video. Paul Simon looks like a skinnier Danny Devito and Paul, Chevy, and Steve do this crazy dance in MC Hammer pants which needs more attention. My guess is people today would be offended by every bit of this African tribute.
You Can Call Me Paul
As a young boy, I remember seeing the “You Can Call Me Al” video and not only loving the song, but being fascinated by the music video. The song was released in 1986 so I can only guess it caught MTV and I was watching between the ages of 6-10. These were the days where if you caught the video on TV, there was no telling when you might hear it again so you had to live for the moment and the constant yearning of “I want to hear that song again.” At this young age, I had no idea who Chevy Chase was and why was this little guy playing all these instruments?
The best comment on the video was “Good News! We got Chevy Chase for the video! Bad news– we blew the entire budget getting Chevy Chase for the video.”
Chevy being 6-4 and Paul being 5-3 was the perfect compatibility of unbalance for a song being lip synced by an actor. I wouldn’t scoff if someone says that You Can Call Me Al should make the top 100 songs of all time. It has a combination of perfectly executed lyrics, a flowing array of instruments, and it makes you feel good which should supersede many other characteristics. Probably top 500 is more accurate.
Would I call myself a Paul Simon Fan? I would guess I’ve listened to more Paul Simon songs than 99% of the population and this is just assuming no one listens to Paul Simon anymore. Everybody knows Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard (Sam didn’t), but the rest of his music is hidden in a cache of not as well known great songs. I’ll share a few of my favorites which I’m sure fans would all know. Have you heard them?
Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes
Under African Skies
Graceland
Father and Daughter
Late in the Evening
His best maybe.
https://youtu.be/5biEjyXNa2o