Over the mountain Down in the valley
Lives a former talk-show host
Everybody knows his name

He says there's no doubt about it
It was the myth of fingerprints
I've seen them all and man
They're all the same

Well, the sun gets weary
And the sun goes down
Ever since the watermelon
And the lights come up
On the black pit town

Somebody says what's a better thing to do
Well, it's not just me
And it's not just you
This is all around the world

Out in the Indian Ocean somewhere
There's a former army post
Abandoned now just like the war
And there's no doubt about it
It was the myth of fingerprints
That's what that old army post was for

Well, the sun gets bloody
And the sun goes down
Ever since the watermelon
And the lights come up
On the black pit town

Somebody says what's a better thing to do
Well, it's not just me
And it's not just you

This is all around the world

Over the mountain Down in the valley
Lives the former talk-show host
Far and wide his name was known
He said there's no doubt about it
It was the myth of fingerprints
That's why we must learn to live alone

Uh uh uh
Uh uh uh
Uh uh uh
Uh uh uh
All around the world
All around the world


Lyrics submitted by dank

All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints Lyrics as written by Paul Simon

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints song meanings
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    My Interpretation

    "Ever since the watermelon" may be a reference to the first contact between Europeans and Africans.

    The watermelon is originally from Africa and it was brought to Europe by trade and became something of a sensation, popping up in a lot of Renaissance drawings and paintings.

    In this view it would be like saying "Ever since the potato" to mean "ever since the European 'discovery' of the Americas".

    This probably does feed into the theory that the song is about racial differences and colonialization.

    Personally I find the song to be a kind of bait and switch. The reference to the former army post being there because "the myth of fingerprints" would seem to mean that people were colonizing and warring because they mistakenly thought we were all different when in fact we're all the same. Putting that example in the past tense would seem to suggest that that era of history is over, so I would have expected the song to end on a hopeful note. But then he finishes with "that's we we must learn to live alone" which suggests that it might be a myth but we're not going to escape it.

    seanbradyon May 28, 2021   Link

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