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 Under African skies, based on a Zulu walking song, and full of African references. The addition of a second voice (by Linda Ronstadt - excellent choice) gives this track a special feeling. The lyrics are as great as you expect from Paul Simon, especially the lines that open and close the song set the scene beautifully: "Joseph's face was black as night, the pale yellow moon shone in his eyes - His path was marked by the stars in the Southern Hemisphere, and he walked his days under African skies". Run time 3:37.
