So i said, well, were all here. We might as well try to do another track, so we did what became diamonds on the soles of her shoes. Mazibuko they were doing the song and then they stopped and paul simon said to mr. Shabalala can you play this song . Im just doing this song diamonds on the soles of her shoes. And then so joseph just took a piece paper and then the pen and then he wrote it down in only a few words. What were the words . [chanting lyric in zulu language] amanto mbazane ayeza shes a rich girl she dont try to hide it got diamonds on the soles of her shoes hes a poor boy empty as a pocket hes empty as a pocket with nothing to lose mazibuko the zulu lyrics means. [speaking zulu] its not usual. [speaking zulu] but in our days. [speaking zulu] we see those things happen. [speaking zulu] the women, they can take care of themselves. I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes, yeah well. Simon we decided to put ladysmith black mambazo at the end of the track. They had never sung with musicians before, they always sang a cappella. Mazibuko we were there maybe not even two hours time and then paul simon said at the end, lets do this. Ta na na na oh, yeah, everybody was having a good time. Simon oooooo. Ta na na na na ta na na na na na ta na na na na. After that, we went to do saturday night live, and everybody was very nervous about that they said that that audience theyre very mean. We didnt care because we know we believe what we have. We said, if we sing for you if you like it, you like it; if you dont, you dont. Simon and we went on the show and we sang these songs that werent out on a record yet. Do you think people are gonna like this when you do it . Im not sure. Im counting on you for that, yeah. If it doesnt work well just cut it. Robin williams ladies and gentlemen, paul simon with ladysmith and black mambazo. [applause] awa awa, o kod wa u zonge lisa namhlange awa awa, kod wa u zonge lisa namhlange awa awa sibona kwenze ka kanjani awa awa amanto mbazane ayeza shes a rich girl she dont try to hide it diamonds on the soles of her shoes hes a poor boy empty as a pocket empty as a pocket with nothing to lose sing ta na na ta na na na shes got diamonds on the soles of her shoes ta na na. Mazibuko and then we sang the song. We were performing with confidence. People say shes crazy she got diamonds on the soles of her shoes well, thats one way to lose these walking blues diamonds on the soles of her shoes she was physically forgotten but then she slipped into my pocket with my car keys she said, youve taken me for granted because i please you wearing these diamonds and i could say oooooo. Michaels everyone was kind of in awe. It wasnt like anything that had been on the show before. And you could just feel, you felt it in the studio, you knew it was happening in the country and it was just, boom. Simon the cheering and the sound in the studio from the audience, it was so loud that i kind of lost my place in one of the things it was really surprising cause nobody had ever heard it before. Oooooo oooooo oooooo oooooo oooooo michaels them being on the show was a revolution in taste. It was the synthesis of two cultures, and the obvious affection that they had for paul and that paul had for them was the perfect moment. Ta na na na na ta na na na na na ta na na na na. When we finished the song everybody stood up. They clapped and then they even stomped, whistling and all those things. And everybody was very happy for that. Simon ladysmith black mambazo became the hippest act on the planet, and everybody wanted ladysmith black mambazo. They became International Stars and remain so. So, almost two years after i first went to south africa, the record finally came out. It was met with immediate praise. There is so much despair coming out of south africa so many Haunting Images of death and oppression sometimes its hard to remember that life there does go on in all of its forms, and a celebration of the black life of south africa can be heard in this country in a remarkable album called graceland. Man rather than diluting one of the most vital pop music subcultures in the world that of black south africa he transforms it he works a real synthesis. Thats very hard to do. It was a slow day. Man all artists who have long careers periodically hit dead ends and if youre gonna keep a career going you have to keep being a kid again, and thats in a way what he did with graceland, was to be a kid again. To be back to three chords to be bouncing around, to be making joyous, danceable music. I could say ooooooo winfrey its my favorite album of all time. Second favorite is Stevie Wonder songs in the key of life. There was all of this music that had so much vibrancy and life and excitement and rhythm and everything it was, it was just, it just sort of opened up a space inside of you. For myself my deep and now abiding interest in south africa was stirred by first listening to graceland. Man simons work graceland recently won a grammy for album of the year. My traveling companion. Whoopi goldberg i think graceland came at the right moment. It was the perfect storm you know. The words are amazing, you know. The boy in the bubble and the baby with the baboon heart. Come on, now, thats great you know, the rhythms are great, the music is great the lyrics are great. It just has a great sound that the instruments the instrumentals that hes using. You know that thing that goes vroom. Dadadada vroom. I mean, come on, man its classic. Simon but somewhere around three weeks after it came out, the first criticism came. Which i was completely unprepared for. And the criticism was, you broke the un cultural boycott. Man paul simon has run into political problems in south africa. The African National congress protested simons recording in south africa, a violation, they said of the uns cultural boycott. Pareles the album had the controversy around it. It was very vexed going to south africa at that time. And you got the feeling that paul simon had gone in there on a Stealth Mission and collaborated with the South Africans. He was collaborating it turned out, with the right South Africans but the whole project seemed a little odd. Simon a lot of the press picked it up in the United StatesRolling Stone amongst them and kind of saw an opportunity to beat up on a famous guy who like maybe made a mistake. And so they were all. Paul simon didnt ask permission from the un and so hes on the black list from the un. The intensity of the criticism really did surprise me. And part of the criticism was heres this white guy from new york and he came in and he ripped off these poor innocent guys. Pareles there is an aspect of this album that bothered me initially. You have this rich white guy singing on top of these South African singles. Man to demonstrate how his work melded with that of the South Africans, he first played a track of a popular local band. And then the same tune after it had been simonized. To me at the time it seemed kind of like the tourist picture, heres me in front of the taj mahal, in my tshirt waving. And that bothered me at the time. At this point it doesnt. I think he was right and he was ahead of me. You know, he was saying, we can make this amalgam work we can make this combination work, and i think a lot of people at the time had this knee jerk reaction of, you know rich, privileged white guy poor country must be bad. How can you justify going there taking all of this music from this country . Its nothing by stealing. [audience member clapping] it aint nothing but stealing. How can you just go and tell me oh, i went there. Simon graceland is a collaboration. You dont believe that its possible to have a collaboration . Its always an interesting debate that, you know. Its happened all the way through history, particularly through black history. Do you believe that a collaboration is possible between musicians . Between you and them . No. Why . You dont understand. Because im white and theyre South African . Mccartney with the beatles, we actually, recycled american black music to americans. We came over and we were really doing a lot of motown. So, but a lot of white kids hadnt heard motown. You dont understand their music, at all. Well, you are saying something that they, these musicians, in fact, disagree with. Belafonte i accepted pauls music and what hed done the minute it came out. I had no resistance to that. Im a fan of his and i like so much that hes done. And to have that album in particular, which was filled with moments of great genius and delight. A lot of that welcoming however was under the understanding, or at least the belief that he would square what he was doing with the powers who led the resistance to apartheid, which was the anc. It never dawned on me that that was not the case. And i didnt know that that was not the case until paul called and we met in my home. And he explained to me that he had this crisis or this obstacle before him. Simon harry said, you should talk to the anc. So when i met with the anc i said, hey i have no fight with the anc we have no fight with the anc. We support the anc, wed be willing to do concerts for you. And they said, look, heres the problem. You went to south africa but you didnt ask us. And the way were structured is, you have to ask the anc if youre going to do anything. So i said, oh, really . So is that the kind of government youre going to be . You know, so does that mean well have to show you what kind of lyrics were going to write . Or if the Musicians Union decides to vote this way and you dont like the way they vote, then youll change it around . I mean, thats just a government that just. Youre gonna [bleep] the artists like all kinds of governments. What are we talking about here . Man what was their response . The guys response was hey, personally i agree you but thats what policy is. Tambo when you have a boycott its not flexible. And for many people, that was the issue. Is paul simon busting the gates of the cultural boycott open . Woman say no to apartheid say yes to freedom tambo we were part of this International Sanctions campaign which was cultural and sports and business and military. And in all of those areas, it wasnt about, well, we have a military embargo but this American Tank that one can go through. It was complete. And it was complete for a reason because you cant ask of everyone what you dont ask of one. Simon no, hugh is here. Here comes hugh now. Hi, hugh. Masekela how are you doing . Simon im doing good man. Simon Hugh Masekela is one of the great south African Musicians. Hes an International Star and he was a political exile. Hugh connected up with me in london and we began to talk about touring, and i dont think that i could have done it without him. Bflat. 1, 2, 3, 4. Masekela paul had just come from south africa and he said, listen, i just did this thing and id really like to take it all over the world. Are you interested . I said, of course. Stimela and i said to paul it would be good to pull in like a miriam, because i was anticipating the troubles also. And here now is Miriam Makeba. [applause] Miriam Makeba became the most visible african artist in the 1960s, when nobody had heard of artists from south africa. She was the first artist to really break out hard and she was the first person to conscientize not only the world but america especially, about what was happening in south africa. Would you not resist if you were allowed no rights in your own country . Masekela wed been away from home by that time, me and miriam, over 25 years, in exile. So i spoke to miriam shes interested. And i knew it was gonna be great. Were gonna be like pigs in mud with all that was gonna happen. It was a slow day and the sun was beating on the soldiers by the side of the road there was a bright light a shattering of shop windows the bomb in the baby carriage was wired to the radio these are the days of miracle and wonder these are the longdistance calls the way the camera follows us in slomo the way we look to us all oh, yeah belafonte by the time he did the graceland tour and then you saw the physical presence of africans and whites and the melange, the mixture of races and cultures, that was, i think, a supreme moment. He wanted to demonstrate that he wasnt all the things that was inferred by the fact that he had broken the boycott. So by putting Miriam Makeba and ladysmith black mambazo and. The whole mishpucka, as we say, back then he did a lot to balance social conflict or social contradiction. And in that context, i think he declared to the audiences that he faced where his deeper self resided. Rachabane gracelands tour was godsent. Really it was beautiful. Just traveling around the world and seeing all those people. In south africa, we had no opportunity. We could only play in the townships, we couldnt play in town in the beautiful night clubs. You could have dreams, but they can never come true. It really destroys you but graceland opened my eyes and set a tone of hope in my life. Selolwane i remember when we were on tour and especially in europe during the winter times. Every time black mambazo went on that stage and started singing. [singing in zulu language] i would feel tears coming and im like here i am, im an african boy, im in the middle of the snow, and people have come to the show there are 50,000 people filled up in the stadium and i would be crying, im like, damn, we are really seeing the world. Rosenthal now, at the time, the boycott stated that south African Musicians could not play anywhere in the world. Paul decided that it was a risk he was prepared to take. Simon touring with graceland was actually quite tense at times particularly in europe. Before every concert the police would come with bomb sniffing dogs and go through the whole theater. We had a couple of theaters evacuated and shows postponed because of bomb threats where they said, hey, we think there are you know, you cant go on at 8 00, youre going on at 9 15. Man the day he arrived, a hand grenade was thrown at a building housing sound equipment to be used during the concerts. A Group Calling itself the Azanian National Liberation Army claimed responsibility. More violence was threatened unless simon called off the tour. Mndebele i remember when we were in london, especially. We performed at the royal albert hall. I think we were there for about ten days or so. And of course we had the Anti Apartheid Movement protesting. Man outside the albert hall leaflets critical of the activities of the star were presented to his bemused fans. Paul simon has set a very dangerous precedent by going to south africa and we would like him to admit that recognize it, and come on board with the cultural boycott. Tambo i remember thabo mbeki, now president mbeki, phoning me from new york and he had met with Harry Belafonte and some other people and he phoned me and said look, we think you should as artists against apartheid be flexible on this issue. And so i went back and we had a meeting artists against apartheid, and i said look, this is the position and we have to take it into account, its coming from a heavyweight in our movement. And then they said, lets check with anc london, and anc london in turn checked with lusaka. The message came back absolutely not, youre not going to be flexible, the boycott remains. Oooooooo. Man at one point somebody called the hotel in london and ordered the South Africans to go back home. I was in the room with ray phiri, and ray said, asante, do you believe this . We face apartheid every day and youre ordering us to go home . Are you crazy . Ive never seen ray so angry. Phiri i remember, i got a call at the hotel in london. I gotta go and see the embassy. I went to a pub and then i met some of the senior members of the movement who wanted to know what are we doing there. And i told them that no, were here to perform. Perform with whom . With paul simon. They told me, dont you know theres a cultural boycott . I said, okay, tell me like i am a 7yearold. Teach me what did i do wrong . I dont understand it, im the victim here. I live in south africa. How can you victimize the victim twice . Ladies and gentlemen Hugh Masekela. Simon that militant approach was at the core of the criticism that was leveled against me. And had it not been for Hugh Masekela and for Miriam Makeba and ray phiri and all the South Africans who were on the tour who said stop, what are you doing . We wanna be out here we wanna show our music. Theres a train that comes from namibia. And malawi. From lesotho from botswana, from swaziland. From all the hinterlands of south and Central Africa this train carries young and old african men who are conscripted to come and work on contract in the gold and mineral mines of johannesburg. There would be press conferences all the time and the press conferences were like just people who were just hoping that i had made some kind of ridiculous mistake. But when the [bleep] hit the fan, hugh and miriam, i mean, they could barely be contained. Hugh would say what the [bleep] did you ever do for south africa . You know, i mean, there were times when we really had to like hold him back. Hugh wanted to be in a fight. So mostly, we were trying to explain that we were as antiapartheid as could be. That hugh was in exile. That miriam was not allowed to come back for the burial of her daughter. That we were very much against the regime. And they think about the loved ones that they left behind and may never see again. Masekela we used to have furious arguments about the boycott. You know, cause i said, i just said, its great and its helping south africa but when you start to like also ban south African Musicians who cant make contact with the rest of the world and they are outstanding artists you cant be hard on people who are already suffering in south africa. You cant witchhunt your people. This show is gonna be a smash and is gonna play to many people who have never heard of south africa. [chorus singing in zulu] when i was in exile in botswana, i had thought of joining the anc. But over the years, ive learned that if an artist or anybody has really something to say about their concerns for the well being of people then they are in the wrong place if they join a Political Party because they have to then follow the strict rules of the party. And ive never been able to like live under rules. [applause] mndebele when we went to zimbabwe, paul wanted to give South Africans a chance to witness what we have been giving the people in europe in america all over the world. So he chose to do it in zimbabwe, and a lot of South Africans came over to witness this and it was beautiful. Ladies and gentlemen comrades and friends this is graceland in concert 1987. [crowd cheering] simon shes been in political exile now for 27 years. They call her mama africa and the queen of South African music. Miriam makeba. [cheering and applause] josephs 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 this is the story of how we begin to remember [singing in zulu] this is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein [singing in zulu] after the dream of falling and calling your name out [singing in zulu] these are the roots of rhythm and the roots of rhythm remain kumalo zimbabwe concert meant a lot to me and to a lot of us because it was great for South Africans to get together. Not just black South Africans, but black and White South Africans which is something that was never done. In early memory sounds of music were ringing round my grandmothers door man everybody knew how important this moment is. It was amazing because masekela them and miriam them embraced the whole project and really made sure we doing it right. Its very important to be unified. They really prepped us really nice and set an example for us. [playing south African National anthem] Nkosi Sikelel iafrika mndebele i think the idea of us singing the South African anthem it came from paul. It was the forbidden one at that time. As soon as we start the song paul would step back because he didnt understand the lyrics, you know. But i think after two or three days, we said, no, paul, you have to learn the lyrics because we are all one here and this is about you and all of us, so you need to learn the lyrics, so we taught him. Nkosi sikelel iafrika simon to be standing on a stage with people whose lives were scarred by apartheid was very, very powerful. I really felt privileged and honored to be asked to be a part of it. Lusapho lwayo simon as graceland became a phenomenon people began to put a very clear human face on the victims of apartheid. Suddenly heres joseph shabalala, suddenly heres Miriam Makeba, heres suddenly these charismatic, gifted people and they are revealing a magical world. And people said, oh, my god what do you mean that thats going on there . This is really a crime not that they didnt think it before, but suddenly it became a very powerful, emotional realization, and that is what was going on with graceland. Tambo but you cant forget that all of them who had performed with you out there returned to a country in which they had no citizenship and no rights. So, as people themselves it may have been good for them in terms of their careers, it may have been a wonderful thing in terms of spreading the knowledge of our music but, you know, they are individuals and we were a nation under apartheid and so whatever was good for the nation came first. Not what is good for a few individuals. Simon but what did the artists have to say about that . Because my experience from my own country and in general is that theres a certain hierarchy. At the top are the politicians, and behind the politicians are the mysterious people who have money and power. After that comes the warriors. Then comes the economists who say, this is how a structure must be. And somewhere down the list comes the artist. And when the artist comes in the politician says, we really need you to come and play for this fundraiser. Oh, we have a very important dinner wed like you to come and sing a few songs acoustically after dinner. Come and take the love and respect that people have for you and by implication transfer that to this candidate by your support. The artists are always treated as if we worked for the politicians. [applause] thank you. Thank you and welcome to this reunion of the 25th anniversary of the release of graceland. These are the musicians who played on the record and toured with us. And its been a great joy for me to reunite with them after so many years. Simon that was the flaw in the cultural boycott saying, we wont let you come over here and record and bring what you know to intermingle with what we know so that we can grow, so that we all can grow and so that we all can grow and speak the deep truth that artists speak. Mississippi delta was shining like a National Guitar im following the river down the highway through the cradle of the civil war and im going to graceland, graceland in memphis, tennessee im going to graceland poor boys and children with families and we are going to graceland selolwane if there is anything that can conquer the world music, a song you dont have to understand the language. You just have to understand the feel. I mean, its 13 notes and every musician plays, were all playing around 13 notes. [singing in zulu] well, its a turnaround jump shot its everybody jump start its every generation throws a hero up the pop charts medicine is magical and magical is art the boy in the bubble the baby with the baboon heart pareles music evolved the way the album predicted. A lot of people make music this way now. This album is early sampling. This album uses something from elsewhere and puts you on top of it and is a layered assemblage of places and ideas, and, welcome to hip hop. Somebody can walk into this room and say your lifes on fire and its all over the evening news glass i think when we look at the work of a man like paul, you have to put it into the context of a labor of a lifetime. To articulate. What could we say. The secrets of the human heart and mind. What loftier ambition could anyone have than that . Now you can say, well we shouldve talked about the protests and this and that and the bad things the newspapers do that all the time. People who have far less talent than paul are well adapted to do that, and god bless them, they can do it