Crazy Love, Vol. II

by

Paul Simon

Album: Graceland      Released: 1986

Get the Ringtone  Get Song @ Amazon
Get the Sheet Music  Check Stubhub Tickets

Send "Crazy Love, Vol. II" Ringtone to your Cell

View Lyrics

Songfacts:  You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.

Simon performed this with a group called Stimela, which was fairly popular in South Africa at the time.

Stimela is the group fronted by guitarist Ray Phiri. He also appears on "Graceland," adding the guitar part to that song.

Simon says this sounds a lot like the music of Malawi and Zimbabwe, rather than South Africa.

As Simon explained in an interview with SongTalk magazine, there are two reasons for the "Vol. II" in the title. One is that Simon wanted to differentiate his "Crazy Love" from the Van Morrison song of the same name. The other is that he is talking about a love that has started and stopped more than once.

The opening line mentions Fat Charlie the Archangel. This character came completely out of nowhere. Says Simon: "It doesn't represent anyone."

In the US, this was released as the B-side to "The Boy in the Bubble." In the UK, it was the B-side to "Graceland." Neither single charted.

Send "Crazy Love, Vol. II" Ringtone to your Cell

Comments:

I wonder whether Fat Charlie The Archangel is partly Paul. If you look at pictures and videos of him around this time, he had certainly put on weight! And an archangel is a being next to God, which might be the opinion of some! (Or maybe it's a joke reference to Paul's opinion of himself!). And then there's the reference to his life being all over the evening news, which would apply to Paul. But I'm probably wrong about all this...!
- John, Guildford, England

Considering his love life, he had good fodder for this song!
- Randi, West Boylston, MA

Actually, "The Boy In The Bubble" did chart - it peaked at No.21 in the UK in late 1986 as the follow-up to "You Can Call Me Al"
- Dave, Cardiff, Wales

Send "Crazy Love, Vol. II" Ringtone to your Cell