Written by Simon and Forere Motloheloa (an accordionist from Lesotho), its lyrics explore starvation and terrorism, juxtaposed with wit and optimism.

The song retains the only lyric Simon managed to compose on his South African trip: "The way the camera follows us in slo-mo, the way we look to us all."

African rhythms, zydeco spice and Simon's intelligent, penetrating lyrics are near perfection.

"[6] In its review of the 25h anniversary edition of Graceland, Pitchfork wrote that the song was "a thriller that ties together threads of technological progress, medicine, terrorism, surveillance, pop music, inequality, and superstition with little more than a series of sentence fragments, all tossed off in the same deadpan delivery.

[9] In the United Kingdom, the song premiered on the UK Singles Chart on November 30, 1986 at number 81,[10] and rose over the following weeks to a peak of No.