Released 1986 Recorded 1986 Length 4:48 | Format 7" single Genre Folk rock, worldbeat Label Warner Bros. | |
"Graceland" is the title song of the album Graceland, released in 1986 by Paul Simon. The song features vocals by The Everly Brothers.
Contents
The lyrics deal with the singer's thoughts during a road trip to Graceland after the failure of his marriage to actress and author Carrie Fisher.
Reception
The song won the 1988 Grammy Award for Record of the Year. It was the lowest-charting song on any of the world music charts to win Record of the Year until the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss US non-charting song "Please Read the Letter" won the same award in 2009.
It was listed at #485 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs in 2003.
"Graceland" has been covered by artists such as Hot Chip, Grizzly Bear, El Vez, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, and The Tallest Man on Earth. A cover by Willie Nelson peaked at number 70 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in 1993.