What style of music is Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes?

Q: What style is Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes?

Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes by Paul Simon is a piece for a folk/rock band with a world beat feel to it. This song portrays a story between a poor boy and a rich woman. The piece being composed in 1986, the modern era, has its focus set on individual expressionism.

Q: Where was Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes recorded?

Simon figured, Well, were all here, we might as well do another track. Simon worked up the song with Ladysmith leader Joseph Shabalala, and they recorded it at the Hit Factory in New York. Ladysmith Black Mambazo sing in Zulu on this track.

(A-wa) o kodwa you zo-nge li-sa namhlange
(A-wa a-wa) si-bona kwenze ka kanjani
(A-wa a-wa) amanto mbazane ayeza
She's a rich girl
She don't try to hide it
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

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Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
What style is Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes?
Where was Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes recorded?
Who plays bass on Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes?

He's a poor boy
Empty as a pocket
Empty as a pocket with nothing to lose
Sing ta na na
Ta na na na

She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

People say she's crazy
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Well that's one way to lose these
Walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

She was physically forgotten
Then she slipped into my pocket
With my car keys
She said you've taken me for granted
Because I please you
Wearing these diamonds

And I could say ooh ooh ooh
As if everybody knows
What I'm talking about
As if everybody would know
Exactly what I was talking about
Talking about diamonds on the soles of her shoes

She makes the sign of a teaspoon
He makes the sign of a wave
The poor boy changes clothes
And puts on after-shave
To compensate for his ordinary shoes

And she said honey take me dancing
But they ended up by sleeping
In a doorway
By the bodegas and the lights on
Upper Broadway
Wearing diamonds on the soles of their shoes

And I could say ooh ooh ooh
As if everybody here would know
What I was talking about
I mean everybody here would know exactly
What I was talking about
Talking about diamonds

People say I'm crazy
I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes
Well that's one way to lose
These walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of our shoes

Lyrics submitted by dank, edited by Heofpeanut, GrungyBeatle

Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes Lyrics as written by Joseph Shabalala Paul Simon

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

1987 worldbeat single by Paul Simon / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the fourth single from his seventh studio album, Graceland (1986), released on Warner Bros. Records. The song features guest vocals from the South African male choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Quick facts: "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes", Single ... ▼

"Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes"

Single by Paul Simon

from the album Graceland

B-side

"I Know What I Know"

Released

April 1987

Genre

Worldbeat

Length

5:45

Label

Warner Bros.

Songwriter(s)

Joseph Shabalala
Paul Simon

Producer(s)

Paul Simon

Paul Simonsingles chronology

"The Boy in the Bubble"
(1987)

"Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes"
(1987)

"Under African Skies"
(1987)

Following the disappointment of Hearts and Bones (which followed the disappointment of One Trick Pony), Simon was on the ropes. And he responded by recording one of the greatest albums of all time, 1986’s Graceland.

Inspired by the sound of South African groups whose music he’d been introduced to, Simon packed up and flew there to record his newest batch of songs. He worked with the vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo on several tracks (including today’s SOTD) and a host of local musicians. The music hewed closely to that African sound but Simon also found room for a little Tex Mex and zydeco toward the end of the album.

Any list of my favorite albums of all time would be incomplete without a mention of Graceland. It’s easy to throw it into a list like that sort of by default… it’s supposed to be there, right? But listening to the album 24 years later, it still manages to surprise and delight as much as it did in the 80s.

Simon’s blend of African rhythms and sounds with his typical folky pop songwriting and evocative lyrics is something that’s never quite been duplicated. David Byrne and, more recently, Vampire Weekend, have blended pop with world music but no matter how successful they are, Graceland remains in a class of its own.

I remember watching the hilarious ‘You Can Call Me Al’ video, starring Simon and Chevy Chase, over and over again with my parents. My mother had a theory that it worked so well because “when you put a small man in a black jacket next to a tall man in a white jacket” the effect is somehow amplified. I’ll never forget those words of wisdom. 🙂

I have too many favorites on this album to try to name just one. ‘Crazy Love Vol. II’ and ‘Under African Skies,’ two tracks that show up late in the album, have always blown me away. But so do the better-known ‘The Boy in the Bubble’ and the title track, which Simon himself once called his favorite Paul Simon song.

‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’ comes right in the middle of Graceland and, with its chanting intro and gently unfolding structure, I imagine Simon intended it as the album’s centerpiece. It’s without a doubt one of the finest things he’s ever written or committed to tape.

The song was apparently written about a diamond heiress Simon once dated, which I suppose makes the titular condition the by-product of walking through a factory littered with diamond dust. I don’t know that Simon could have ever qualified as a “poor boy,” unless he dated this woman in his early teens, but I guess he took poetic license.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the meaning behind the lines “she makes the sign of a teaspoon, he makes the sign of a wave” — that one has always baffled me.

(a-wa) O kodwa u zo-nge li-sa namhlange
(a-wa a-wa) Si-bona kwenze ka kanjani
(a-wa a-wa) Amanto mbazane ayeza

She’s a rich girl
She don’t try to hide it
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

He’s a poor boy
Empty as a pocket
Empty as a pocket with nothing to lose
Sing Ta na na
Ta na na na
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

People say she’s crazy
She’s got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Well that’s one way to lose these
Walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

She was physically forgotten
Then she slipped into my pocket
With my car keys
She said you’ve taken me for granted
Because I please you
Wearing these diamonds

And I could say Oo oo oo
As if everybody knows
What I’m talking about
As if everybody here would know
Exactly what I was talking about
Talking about diamonds on the soles of her shoes

She makes the sign of a teaspoon
He makes the sign of a wave
The poor boy changes clothes
And puts on after-shave
To compensate for his ordinary shoes

And she said honey take me dancing
But they ended up by sleeping
In a doorway
By the bodegas and the lights on
Upper Broadway
Wearing diamonds on the soles of their shoes

And I could say Oo oo oo
And everybody here would know
What I was talking about
I mean everybody here would know exactly
What I was talking about
Talking about diamonds

People say I’m crazy
I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes
Well that’s one way to lose
These walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of my shoes

What style is Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes?

'Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes' by Paul Simon is a piece for a folk/rock band with a world beat feel to it. This song portrays a story between a poor boy and a rich woman. The piece being composed in 1986, the modern era, has its focus set on individual expressionism.

Where was Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes recorded?

Simon figured, "Well, we're all here, we might as well do another track." Simon worked up the song with Ladysmith leader Joseph Shabalala, and they recorded it at the Hit Factory in New York. Ladysmith Black Mambazo sing in Zulu on this track.

Who plays bass on Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes?

Our Facebook friend Leon Wilson shared this alternate track with us, featuring the isolated bass work of Bakithi Kumalo on Paul Simon's hit, “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes”. Yep, this is all that's needed.