This song was released in 1986 as the first single from the Paul Simon album Graceland. Paul Simon and Chevy Chase recorded a video of the song when Simon appeared on an episode of Saturday Night Live.
Naturally I had to look up the video. This is what I found.
Doing some research I found that the title "You Can Call Me Al" is a reference to a Depression era song, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" by Yip Harburg and Jay Gorney:
Say, don't you remember, they called me Al,
It was Al, all the time,
Say, don't you remember, I'm your pal!
Brother, can you spare a dime?
And what is it with these lines?
I can call you Betty,
And Betty, when you call me,
You can call me Al!
According to an entry I found on Wikipedia, Paul Simon allegedly wrote the song after attending a party with his then wife Carrie Fisher. A man at the party kept calling Paul "Al", and Carrie "Betty", inspiring Simon to write a song. Who knows? At least it sounds good.
Another interesting fact is that Al Gore used the song during the 1992 presidential campaign as he stumped alongside Bill Clinton. I also found this on Wikipedia.
© 2008 Barry T Horst
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