Songfacts®:

• Paul Simon wrote this song about his experience with the potent psychotropic Amazonian brew ayahuasca. He told Billboard magazine: "Ayahuasca has always been there. Nobody outside of the Amazon knew anything about it. And there are several main sets of healers that use ayahuasca. I wouldn't say that it heals - but I wouldn't say that it doesn't. It seems to work sometimes for some people, seemed to really not work for other people. I'm not a proponent and I'm not a detractor. I just wrote the song because this had been my experience."
• Simon co-wrote the track with Milton Nascimento, who also contributed some vocals. The Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist has collaborated with a number of other US and UK artists including Duran Duran, with whom he co-wrote and performed their 1993 tune "Breath After Breath."
• Former King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew played the synthesizer on this track. He also worked with Paul Simon on Graceland.