Wristband (song)

Simon collaborates with the Italian electronic dance music artist Clap! Clap! on "Wristband". Simon was introduced to him in 2015 by his son, Adrian, who was a fan of his work. "Wristband" creates a narrative around a rock musician unable to gain entry into his own concert because he lacks the wristband required.[1] The singer tries to persuade the security guard to let him in, and cannot even gain admittance to the backstage without the right pass. The song eventually transitions into a larger symbol of outrage of underprivileged people "whose anger is a shorthand / For you'll never get a wristband." Peter Ames Carlin writes, "It is an archetypal Paul Simon move: bridging the personal and the social, the silly with the serious, the frivolous and the absolutely essential."[2] "It's not a true story," said Simon. "But I know plenty of people with this story and there have been times where I've been stopped backstage and asked to see a pass."[1]

According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is composed in the key of E♭ major with Paul Simon's vocal range spanning from Eb₄ to Eb₅.[3]

Simon premiered the song on the National Public Radio series Live from Here with Chris Thile on February 6, 2016.[4] "Wristband", as the first single from Stranger to Stranger, was released online on April 7, 2016.[5] The song peaked at #14 on the Adult Alternative Songs chart on May 21.[6] Simon performed the song on Austin City Limits in September, which National Public Radio praised as a "playfully infectious version of the song."[7] Stereogum called the song "a rhythmic groove that finds Simon spinning a tale of getting locked out of a venue while taking a smoke break into a meditation on the perpetuation of social inequality."[8]

• Carlin, Peter Ames (2016). Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon. Henry Holt and Co. ISBN 978-1-627-79034-5.

• "Wristband" The Paul Simon Official Site
• Songfacts page