About the artist: Paul Simon (1941) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, whose musical career has spanned over six decades. After initial successes in the sixties as the duo Simon and Garfunkel, his solo career took off in the early seventies. He is generally regarded as one of pop/rock's most important artists. Paul Simon currently has four songs in my list of about 200 best pop/rock songs of all time.
About the song: In 1986 Paul Simon collaborated with a number of black South African artists (who were still suffering from the Apartheid regime) and released the landmark Graceland album, a clear candidate for one of the ten best albums of all time. One of the best tracks on this album is Diamonds on the soles of her shoes, a co-operation with the South African folk pop group Ladysmith Black Mambozo. The sometimes bewildering rich girl/poor boy lyrics are among the best that Simon has written after his split from Garfunkel. Run time 5:58.
