Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes - Analysis
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. The composer achieves this through the songs aesthetic expression and his unique style of writing. This has been influenced by previous styles, and in turn has influenced concurrent musical styles.
In the 1980s popular music was focused on pop/rock bands. ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’ however blends African traditional instruments mixed with a modern rock band in order to give it a folk sound. It also uses a small male African choir as backing at the start of the piece. The song utilises this instrumentation in order to not only express the metaphor the lyrics are trying to portray but also to show off its individualism. For example, the song is introduced with the deep African choir sung in another dialect, with the lead vocals sung in English (0:00). This blends a traditional cultural sound with the sounds of modern western music. After the introduction however, the instrumentation and the overall feel of the music changes from warm and deep to a more upbeat dance like feel through utilising the rock band setup to create a driving beat. The blending of traditional and more modern instrumentation and vocals is one way how the composer expresses his individuality, showing he needs not to follow standards.
Another way in which the composer shows his individuality is through his unusual use of structure (see appendix). ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’ doesn’t have an obvious verse-chorus structure like most popular music. Instead, it uses only verses throughout the whole of the song. Some verses have a small instrumental interlude between each other to provide interest and variety. This allows the piece to be in more of a narrative
‘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. The composer achieves this through the songs aesthetic expression and his unique style of writing. This has been influenced by previous styles, and in turn has influenced concurrent musical styles.
In the 1980s popular music was focused on pop/rock bands. ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’ however blends African traditional instruments mixed with a modern rock band in order to give it a folk sound. It also uses a small male African choir as backing at the start of the piece. The song utilises this instrumentation in order to not only express the metaphor the lyrics are trying to portray but also to show off its individualism. For example, the song is introduced with the deep African choir sung in another dialect, with the lead vocals sung in English (0:00). This blends a traditional cultural sound with the sounds of modern western music. After the introduction however, the instrumentation and the overall feel of the music changes from warm and deep to a more upbeat dance like feel through utilising the rock band setup to create a driving beat. The blending of traditional and more modern instrumentation and vocals is one way how the composer expresses his individuality, showing he needs not to follow standards.
Another way in which the composer shows his individuality is through his unusual use of structure (see appendix). ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’ doesn’t have an obvious verse-chorus structure like most popular music. Instead, it uses only verses throughout the whole of the song. Some verses have a small instrumental interlude between each other to provide interest and variety. This allows the piece to be in more of a narrative