it's sort of remarkable how gabriel's erratic writing has created a large body of work that, today, both sounds dated and futuristic.
what i mean is that this is still ahead of it's time.
but the neo-liberals have very nearly won. it's time is near.
alikidry
peter gabriel writes thinker's lyrics, and they're always timeless in this thing we call human evolution. nothing like exploring the intricacies of the sub-psyche to remind us that we're just hairless apes. keeps us humble, as we should be. go, Peter!
oh ya, and what is the human psyche, if not erratic, agreed? :)
deathtokoalas
the human psyche is an imaginary construction. it doesn't actually exist. you can speak of it poetically, but then it's whatever you define it as.
agid095
It really does, just heard this song today for the first time in 10 years, and it could be mistaken for a new artist/song.
Syd Nyte
It's all a matter of perspective based on fragile human perception. If there is indeed a place where all these perceptions meet, we have thus far failed to reach it. I say place however time and space as "we" perceive it is also interpreted by these same frail perceptions.
George Theofanous
Well put.
Kunta Kinte
Couldn't have said it better myself. His music will always sound progressive I think
Philip Santori
Kind of like Yes!
deathtokoalas
no. yes sounds dated and pompous.
JazzLicka
maybe its the clinical depression
deathtokoalas
i'm not getting the context in your comment. gabriel has explored a wide range of emotions in his work, which spans roughly four decades. this particular track has a kind of ominous quality to it, but i wouldn't categorize it as "depressing".
he tends to cycle around more of a kind of an existential angst. i mean, don't get me wrong - there's a few tracks that'll knock you on your ass, and i love him for that. but it's not a "woe is me" kind of "depression". it's more of a somber, reflective take on the reality that sometimes life seems absurd and meaningless.
...and for every chamber of thirty two doors, there's a sledgehammer to counteract it.
so, you're not making sense, i don't think.
Life is some what meaningless.
deathtokoalas
somewhat? nah. entirely.
JazzLicka
You used the word erratic , I was just pointing out that this could be caused by his long term depression , of which he himself talks of regarding his song writng. You are aware he was sectioned under the mental health act on 3 occasions
deathtokoalas
well, i guess the context is clear now - i wasn't sure what you meant. but i'm not sure i see the connection between creativity and depression. i know there's this sort of popular mystique about it. but, i think people that suffer from really powerful depression find it's more of a break in their creativity - and their productivity.
i think you might be on to something about the relative deficit of material released over the last twenty years, though...
to put it another way, i think it's more along the lines of that the depression is a consequence of the creative mind, rather than the other way around. it creates a sort of a struggle against the conforming nature of the world around us, and when the depression wins out it's often debilitating.
JazzLicka
You have a good understanding young Lady Gabriel sectioned himself in 2009. A lot of his early work including Solisbury Hill & later Mercy street express this struggle within.Often mistaken for spiritual mysticism.
