2017 - November 28 - Heroes

Today we are heading to Peter Gabriel and his take on Heroes.  We have visited his album Scratch My Back before, and I am happy to return to it - although this apparently also was found on Stranger Things, a Netflix show I still have to watch (yes, I know, I am behind...). Peter Gabriel did take it in a very different direction - his orchestral arrangement makes it much more eerie than any of the other versions, and I believe that this is my absolute favorite cover version of this masterpiece.

December 15 - Digging In The Dirt

The producer was Daniel Lanois, one of my absolute favorite producers. I have long held that if I were to record an album of my own songs, I would want Daniel Lanois to produce and Emmylou Harris to sing with me (although I probably should just let her do all the singing). I might have to revisit that idea after Christmas - that sounds like a great theme for the final few days before new years... Anyway, he produced Peter Gabriel's album Us from 1992, where the lead off single was Digging In The Dirt. It is a dark album, which might be why I like it.

It also has a lot of Gabriel's usual suspects playing on it, and one of those musicians provides a link to a truly great progressive rock band, one that is known almost as much for its long hiatuses as it is for its music. We are looking for a song from an album that has an "edible" title (I am not saying appetizing here) that reminds me of a Monty Python skit (see - now you even have to figure out my association). The album title is also the title of two songs that bookends the album - Part I and II respectively - and this band would expand into part III and IV, but in later decades and later incarnations of the band. The song I am looking for opens side 2 on the vinyl version of the album. So, to sum up, I am looking for the musician that is shared between Peter Gabriel and this progressive band, the name of the band, the song and album I am thinking about, and the year. Do you need any more hints? I didn't think so.

November 11 - My Body Is A Cage

Some days I just want to play music that captures my mood. And today is one of them. Arcade Fire is one of the most interesting new bands to emerge this past decade. I discovered them because I heard about David Bowie playing with them after he had concluded what would be his final tour - so I checked them out for myself, and I liked what I heard. I purchased their first two albums, enjoyed them, and put them back on the shelf.

Then, in February 2011, I was watching House MD, one of my favorite TV shows ever, featuring one of my favorite British actors, Hugh Laurie. I had been a fan of his work since the comedy show A Bit Of Fry & Laurie, which he did with another British great, Stephen Fry. The two of them also starred in Kenneth Brannagh's (another incredibly talented british actor) Peter's Friends, which really can be described as the British version of The Big Chill. I have to say that I much prefer the British version, but then again when it comes to movies and comedy, I am a bit of an Anglophile.

Anyway, I was watching a very emotional scene in House MD when I heard a song that clearly was sung by Peter Gabriel, but I didn't recognize it. It turns out it was the Arcade Fire song My Body Is A Cage from their 2007 album Neon Bible. Peter Gabriel released it on his album Scratch My Back in 2010, where he did a series of cover versions, including David Bowie's Heroes (see - it's all coming full circle). His version of My Body Is A Cage start with minimal orchestral accompaniment, but grows in intensity to an even greater extent than Arcade Fire's version. I find Peter Gabriel's version monumental - so much so that I prefer it to Arcade Fire's original, although that's not a bad version either.

May 19 - Mercy Street

Peter Gabriel's album So has already been visited twice this year, and in the quest for perfection in a song, I find that in yet another gem from So. It's interesting to me that the two biggest hits from the album, Sledgehammer and Big Time, are the two least interesting songs - at least to me. I've already played In Your Eyes and Don't Give Up, so what can be left?

Today I bring you Mercy Street. This is such a beautiful song, with outstanding lyrics again. I knew there was a literary angle to them, but I have only recently discovered this little article, exploring that a little closer: Anne Sexton’s Original Poem “45 Mercy Street”: The Genesis of Peter Gabriel’s “Mercy Street” The song is for the poet Anne Sexton, who committed suicide in 1974 - please read the linked article for additional information.

Peter Gabriel builds a very minimalistic accompaniment to the song, using swirling percussion, soft synths, and the subtle bass tones of Tony Levin to create an atmosphere more than a full on musical foundation.  This is perfection in subtlety. This is Peter Gabriel at his best. This is Mercy Street.

April 21 - Biko

Some album closers are just so good that they immediately become concert closers as well, and Peter Gabriel's Biko from his third album with the title Peter Gabriel (there was a fourth one as well - the third one is often referred to as the meltdown album based on its cover) is one of those songs. On stage, the musicians walk off one by one until there are only the pounding drums left - then they finish and the concert is over.

There is power in the music - the bagpipe sounding synth riff, the pounding drums, the guitar that only plays drawn out chords - but the real power lies in the lyrics of the song, about Stephen Biko, an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa who died while in police custody. Police initially tried to say he died from a hunger strike, but eventually had a hard time explaining the bruises from the harsh interrogation (read: torture) in police room 619 in Port Elizabeth, just as the lyrics state. The way the lyrics are built is also very interesting. The first verse is almost like a news report, stating the facts, with the chorus proclaiming that "the man is dead." The second verse deals with conscience and how this death has an impact, while the final verse is turning it into hope and a growing fire. And, finally, in the coda of the song, "the eyes of the world are watching now."

I didn't know much about Stephen Biko until I was watching a screening of the Richard Attenborough movie Cry Freedom with Denzel Washington portraying Biko, but the movie and Biko's story had a huge impact on my 15 year old self. When I also discovered Peter Gabriel's song, it really became the guiding star and rallying cry for my very spirited talk against racism and apartheid (being against apartheid is easy when you are as far away as I was - the racism part was more personal) - and that has in turn shaped the part of me that tries to be very open to others, regardless of race, ethnicity, religious or political views, or any other differences I might have from them. Please note that I said that I try - I am well aware that I don't always succeed, but that doesn't mean that it isn't my goal to be open.

February 23 - Here Comes The Flood

It's funny now that I look at it how this blog mirrors my musical whimsies - and also shows even me how much I really lean on music to get me through everything. Yesterday, we got the great news that the invasive cancer, which is what they really are worried about, was only 2 mm, so they don't need to do anything more than what they already had done - no chemo needed - and radiation was already ruled out. So my tears finally came - and they were joyful tears It was the relief of all the worry an concern I had carried with me, so the dam finally broke when it could break.

To celebrate, I went to my favorite record store, which only is three blocks from the hospital. Vertigo Music is a great place to visit, so I did. I was looking for King Crimson's USA, and as I found it, I also found Robert Fripp's solo album Exposure. I picked both of them up, and as I was waiting for my Chinese food (I was done with hospital food for a little bit), I noticed that one of the songs on the album was Here Comes The Flood. I knew it as a Peter Gabriel song from his first solo album, where Robert Fripp played guitar, and sure enough, Peter Gabriel on piano and vocals and Fripp on Frippertronics created a haunting version of the song. It is diametrically opposite to the massive arrangement on the original version, but not quite as stripped down as the first version I heard, which was on the compilation album Shaking the Tree released in 1990. That is the version that still brings tears to my eyes, so it was the perfect song to find yesterday, and the perfect song to play today.

February 19 - Don't Give Up

Today's song is another gem from Peter Gabriel's So album from 1986. Where I failed to mention that In Your Eyes feature Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour, I will not forget to mention his duet partner on today's song, the brilliant Kate Bush. Now, there isn't a single weak point or person on this album. Produced by Daniel Lanois, featuring his regular touring band on this track (with the exception of David Sancious, as Peter Gabriel played keyboards himself in the studio): Papa Bear Tony Levin, a studio giant most known for his work with King Crimson and PG on bass, David Rhodes on guitar, and Manu Katché, who has worked with just about everybody including Sting, Jan Garbarek, and Joni Mitchell, on drums.

After spending the last two days at St.Mary's hospital, this song really helped keeping my spirits up - and all my friends on Facebook seemed to sing it to me. It has been heartwarming to see the comments and likes, and in this situation they have been really meaningful. This song has been playing in my head for quite some time, but it's time to actually listen to it as well. Here is Peter Gabriel with Kate Bush with Don't Give Up.

February 14 - Valentine's Day Bonus Edition - In Your Eyes

OK - so while I believe that Love is Blindness absolutely is a great love song, I might have to up the game a little on the romantic part - and what better than taking a 30 year old song by someone who turned 65 yesterday? It is a great song - and it was used in a movie I don't think I have seen to a classic romantic moment involving John Cusack, if I am correct. This is just me touching base with Peter Gabriel, whom I think is on my top 10 list of favorite artists/bands (it's a crowded field - I was trying to tell Alison my top 5 yesterday, but that is also extremely difficult).

Anyway - for a "proper" Valentine's Day bonus edition, here is Peter Gabriel with In Your Eyes.

January 22 - Index

We're only about three weeks into the new year, and I am expecting the second really great album of the year. Steven Wilson is releasing 4 1/2 today, a collection of songs recorded over the past 4 1/2 years that didn't quite fit on his albums. Since his quality has been outstanding on all the records released in this timeframe, I am convinced that this will be a great album as well.

The thing that really impresses me about Steven Wilson is that he has a spectacular command of musical history, especially within more progressive rock, yet he continually moves his music forward. He is great with a song structure where there is stark contrasts between chaos and harmony, and he collaborates with spectacular musicians. At first, I was worried when I saw that Gavin Harrison wouldn't play drums with him - but then I discovered Marco Minneman. In short, his band is absolutely spectacular, which is why today's song is an officially released live track.

Index is a song that to me shows that he has taken massive cues from one of the giants of progressive rock. The mood of this song is to me very similar to the mood Peter Gabriel often was able to evoke, and I am in particular thinking about Intruder here. Also, playing the chord structure over and over again while adding and subtracting elements is sometihng Mike Oldfield did on Tubular Bells, but it is here drawing even more from Trent Reznor's work with Nine Inch Nails, such as the ending of Closer - yet here it is all Steven Wilson. The song Index was originally on the stellar Grace For Drowning album - but here it is from the Get All You Deserve dvd, which is well worth owning!