# Paul Simon was first convinced his 1986 song was “awful”. Now, it has been streamed 42,000,000 times

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/paul-simon-was-first-convinced-his-1986-song-was-awful-now-it-has-been-streamed-42000000-times/
- Published: 2026-10-24T19:21:38+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-24T20:25:22+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/paul-simon-was-first-convinced-his-1986-song-was-awful/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Simon thought the original lyrics were awful.
- He rewrote most of ‘The Boy in the Bubble’.
- The song has been streamed 42 million times.

## Summary

Paul Simon initially disliked the lyrics he had written for ‘The Boy in the Bubble’ and nearly abandoned the song. He discarded most of the words and rewrote them, creating the opening track of his 1986 album *Graceland*, which has since become one of his best-known songs.

The article says the music was already taking shape, with Forere Motloheloa’s accordion and Bakithi Kumalo’s bass and Vusi Khumalo’s drums giving the track its distinctive, driving sound. In a 2011 interview, Simon said he could not remember the original lyrics, though he may have kept a line or two; the song has now been streamed 42 million times.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.