Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush Don’t Give Up
(Well we're a day late with the selection, but here's our latest choice for inclusion into the Music Club.)
Lyrics that weave a vivid imagery of despair and then hope, are the hallmark of Peter Gabriel’s Don’t Give Up. Gabriel has been a master storyteller throughout his career, and this song tells a tale like few others in his repertoire.
The song begins with a slow and ominous musical opening to assist the plaintive cry, of a man whose dreams have been deserted followed up by the almost angelic tones that there is somewhere we be long. The song becomes a remarkable journey for the listener.
Featuring its rich layered sound and Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush’s haunting vocals, the song would become one of Gabriel’s best offerings from his solo years.
While dealing with the bleak existence of unemployment, it is instead turned into a hymn of salvation. The words a travelogue of sorts of a man’s fears and frailties, all while his family around him strives to keep him level and hopeful for better times.
Written in the mid eighties, it echoed a time and place in England’s history, when many fell through societies cracks, dismissed and disdained. In a nation built upon a class system, Gabriel’s song seemed to try to break down barriers both economic and social.
Some of the best music created comes from some of the saddest moments in ones life, Gabriel himself had gone through a rough period in his own personal life and perhaps addressed the song with some of his personal torment.
The addition of Kate Bush to the recording not only offered one of the most recognized and respected voices in England of the day, but brought a strong presence to the video and song. Giving voice to the glue that is needed to keep relationships strong and hope high in the darkest times.
Gabriel has recorded many commercially successful songs, many of which have tackled some of the great issues of the times. He was and is always on the edge of musical trends, his videos works of art that helped to change the impact of that portion of the media, this particular one a creation of Video pioneers and legends Godley and Crème. Their work for Gabriel on this song was akin to art film quality as opposed to the popular stylings of the videos of the day, they provided dramatic visuals which complimented the music in a most impressive fashion.
This particular song featured two different videos, one which featured Gabriel and Bush wrapped in each other’s arms for the duration of the song which seems to have been the common North American version and this one which evokes images of a couple under much stress, interpreting the words and sound of the video for a European audience. Of the two the latter one seems to capture the song most vividly.
Don’t Give Up fits quite nicely into the archives of songs that define Gabriel's sound, his reach and his talent.
Artist-Peter Gabriel
Recording-So
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