In Search of Graceland

Four years ago, Paul Simon had an unusual dream. “You are working on a piece of music called ‘Seven Psalms’,” said the voice. For months, Simon woke frequently in the night, scribbling down words recovered from a succession of similar dreams. Turned into lyrics and set to music, Simon released an album — the fruition of that work — in May. In a new documentary about his career, In Restless Dreams, he describes the making of the album as a “journey for me to complete”. Reflecting on its concerns about death, spirituality and the nature of God, he said, “This whole thing is really an argument I’m having with myself about belief — or not.” He was talking about Seven Psalms, but “this whole thing” might well apply to his sixty-year-long journey in music.