LINDA RONSTADT GUESTS ON PAUL SIMON'S "GRACELAND" 1986

Paul called me up one day and said, “I’m having a hard time on this work; I’m stuck. Give me an idea, something I can see.” I happened to be in Tucson when he called. “Give me something you saw or thought of when you were growing up.” Immediately, I thought of visiting the San Xavier del Bac Mission, where we used to spend a lot of time. It was built in the 1600s, just south of Tucson, founded by Father Kino. [San Xavier was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692.] It’s just meant to be one of the most beautiful missions in North America. Just gorgeous. It was built on a sacred spot, one of the Indians’ sacred mountains. So it feels like a holy spot, regardless of what religion you subscribe to, or even if you’re like me and don’t subscribe to any religion. It feels like a really resident, amazing place. So I told Paul about that, and he put that in there, and then we all sang harmonies all the time when I was a kid growing up. The whole family sang. We all sang in harmony, everybody knew how to sing harmony. So that’s how he wound up with those lyrics.