You Can Call Me Al – Paul Simon

Apologies for the late post today!

The 80s are certainly the least visited era of music on this blog, not by design or anything, but more to do with my own taste. With that being said, semi-recently, I did feature Duran Duran, and in recent years, especially post-college, I have gained a new appreciation for the music of the 80s, even the pop hits that I would have shunned in my high school years.

It does feel a bit wrong to feature a Paul Simon solo track before a Simon & Garfunkel one, but to be completely honest, outside of their big hits, I never really got into them. “You Can Call Me Al” is probably the most well-known song of the two men’s solo careers. Super fun, upbeat, and full of energy, Simon seems to be singing about a man (perhaps himself) going through a midlife crisis. He has gone on record saying the time he spent in South Africa heavily inspired the more “abstract” lyrics.

I was a synthesizer hater for a really long time, but I have to give this song a ton of credit for being one of the first ones to at least make me appreciate their place in music. (Especially the ’80s) There is some really incredible bass playing going on in this song as well, performed by native South African Bakithi Kumalo.

In a fairly iconic music video as well, with inspiration coming from none other than Lorne Michaels and starring Chevy Chase, in one of his best performances.

Link to song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq-gYOrU8bA

Link to live – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imEgUjFbRYs