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Peter Gabriel Lyrics PDF
Peter Gabriel Lyrics PDF
So (1986) ___________________________________________________________ 46
RED RAIN ___________________________________________________________________ 47
SLEDGEHAMMER _____________________________________________________________ 49
DON'T GIVE UP _______________________________________________________________ 51
THAT VOICE AGAIN ___________________________________________________________ 53
IN YOUR EYES _______________________________________________________________ 55
MERCY STREET ______________________________________________________________ 57
MERCY STREET ______________________________________________________________ 57
BIG TIME ____________________________________________________________________ 59
WE DO WHAT WE'RE TOLD_____________________________________________________ 61
THIS IS THE PICTURE _________________________________________________________ 62
Us (1992) ___________________________________________________________ 63
COME TALK TO ME ___________________________________________________________ 64
LOVE TO BE LOVED ___________________________________________________________ 66
BLOOD OF EDEN _____________________________________________________________ 68
STEAM ______________________________________________________________________ 70
ONLY US ____________________________________________________________________ 72
WASHING OF THE WATER _____________________________________________________ 73
DIGGING IN THE DIRT _________________________________________________________ 74
KISS THAT FROG _____________________________________________________________ 75
SECRET WORLD______________________________________________________________ 77
OVO (2000)_______________________________________________________ 78
6. FATHER, SON ______________________________________________________________ 79
UP (2002) __________________________________________________________ 80
DARKNESS __________________________________________________________________ 81
GROWING UP ________________________________________________________________ 83
SKY BLUE ___________________________________________________________________ 85
NO WAY OUT ________________________________________________________________ 86
I GRIEVE ____________________________________________________________________ 87
THE BARRY WILLIAMS SHOW___________________________________________________ 88
MY HEAD SOUNDS LIKE THAT __________________________________________________ 90
MORE THAN THIS_____________________________________________________________ 91
SIGNAL TO NOISE ____________________________________________________________ 93
THE DROP ___________________________________________________________________ 94
1. Album / 'car' (1977)
MORIBUND, THE BURGERMEISTER
Caught in the chaos in the market square
I don't know what, I don't know why, but something's wrong down there
Their bodies twistin' and turnin' in a thousand ways
The eyes all rollin' round and round into a distant gaze
Ah, look at that crowd!
Some are jumping up in the air - say "We're drowning in a torrent of blood!"
Others going down on their knees, seen a saviour coming out of the mud
Oh Mother! It's eating out my soul
Destroying law and order, I'm gonna lose control
Bunderschaft, you are going daft? Better seal off the castle grounds
"This is Moribund, the Burgermeister, I'm gonna keep this monster down,
Somebody sent the subversive element; going to chase it out of down."
No-one will tell what all this is about
But I will find out.
<I will find out. I will find out.>
"We've tried potions and waxen dolls, but none of us could find any cures,"
Mother please, is it just a disease, that has them breaking all my laws,
Check if you can disconnect the effect and I'll go after the cause
No-one will tell what this is all about
But I will find out
I will.
SOLSBURY HILL
Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night
He was something to observe
Came in close, I heard a voice
Standing stretching every nerve
Had to listen had no choice
I did not believe the information
[I] just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom boom boom
"Son," he said "Grab your things,
I've come to take you home."
Excuse me
I'm not the man I used to be
Someone else crept in again
I want to be alone
Excuse me please
I'm looking for Lost Angeles
Soaking up the sin again
I want to be alone
I want to be alone
I want to be alone
I want to be alone
Excuse me please
You're standing on my memories
Stealing souvenirs again
I want to be alone
Leave me alone
I wanna be alone
I wanna be alone
I wanna be alone
I wanna be alone
On the air
On the air
On the air
Every morning I'm out at dawn with the dwarfs and tramps
For a silent communion lit from above by the sodium lamps.
Everyone I meet on the street acts as if I wasn't there,
But they're all going to know who I am, 'cos I can go out on the air.
Chorus
D.I.Y.
D.I.Y., D.I.Y., D.I.Y., D.I.Y.
Don't tell me what I will do, 'cos I won't.
Don't tell me to believe in you, 'cos I don't.
Be on your guard, better hostile and hard, don't risk affection;
Like flesh to the bone in the no-go zone,
You're still looking for the Resurrection.
Come up to me with your "What did you say?"
And I'll tell you, straight in the eye:
Chorus:
By the one way out, strange voice shouts,
"Don't let that good man out!"
"Have a wonderful day in our one-way world,
One way, one day;
Have a wonderful day in our one-way world,
One way, one day;
One-way man, one-way mind, get along with mankind."
Chorus
WHITE SHADOW
Ten coaches roll into the dust, chrome windows turned to rust.
Hang on inside, they know they must, hanging on the green-backed words
"In God We Trust."
No one knows if the spirit died, all wrapped to go like Kentucky Fried,
Trying to read the flight of birds, low on fuel, getting low on words.
I bet the two of you still laugh at me for being timid as a lamb;
That may be the way I look, but it's no longer what I am.
I've been across to Northern Ireland,
And I came home with a new kind of charge:
I learned how to hunt in the night, I learned about camouflage.
I've been joining the professionals, and now that I'm a man
With all that animal magic I'll match anything you can.
I'm joining the professionals, this time I understand,
Look! I wave my wand, watch the rabbit disappear...
Join the professionals and learn to fight!
EXPOSURE
Exposure
Exposure
If only I could touch you, like the wind can touch the sail,
If only I could touch you, darling, now that words have failed.
Oh, flotsam still afloat,
Oh, jetsam thrown out of the boat.
Chorus:
Oh Gaia, if that's your name,
Treat you like dirt, but I don't want to blame.
Oh Gaia, the wind heals the fire and blows the ash away.
Chorus
I need perspective.
HOME SWEET HOME
Met this girl called Josephine and took her up on my machine,
We had a little fun, and now we got a little one.
Had to get married, being chased out of town.
Found ourselves a place to live, we put all our money down.
Nothing really worked out right; things got broke, they stayed that way.
None of our friends came round at night, little Sam got no place to play.
"We've got to get out of here, Bill," she said,
"I've been telling you all the while,"
When I came home from work that night,
She'd jumped out the window with our child.
They're coming 'round the corner with the bikers at the front
I'm wiping the sweat from my eyes
-It's a matter of time
-It's a matter of will
And the governor's car is not far behind
He's not the one I've got in mind
'Cos there he is-the man of the hour, standing in the limousine
"I don't really hate you
-I don't care what you do
We were made for each other
-Me and you
I want to be somebody
-You were like that too
If you don't get given you learn to take
And I will take you."
Holding my breath
Release the catch
And I let the bullet fly
"The song [Family Snapshot] is based on "An Assassins Diary", the notes and
scribbles of Arthur Bremmer, who shot and crippled Governor George Wallace of
Alabama in 1972.
`It was a really nasty book, but you do get a sense of the person who is writing it.'
says Gabriel, `Bremmer was obsessed with the idea of fame. He was aware of the
news broadcasts all over the world and was trying to time the assassination to hit the
early evening news in the States and the late night in Europe to get maximum
coverage.'
Bremmer originally went after Nixon, which explains the references to the
Presidential cavalcade in the song. Gabriel has dropped stage references to
Kennedy's assassination having been convinced a solitary assassin was not
responsible for that murder."
-- "Peter Gabriel: An Authorized Biography" by Spencer Bright,
-- Headline Book Publishing PLC, London, 1989.
...AND THROUGH THE WIRE
And through the wire I hear your voice
And through the wire I touch the power
And through the wire I see your face
It's through the wire
Self-conscious, uncertain
I'm showered with the dust
The spirit enter into me
And I submit to trust
Wanting contact
I'm wanting contact
I'm wanting contact with you
Shake those hands, shake those hands
Give me the thing I understand
Shake those hands, shake those hands
Shake those hands, shake those hands
Wanting contact
I'm wanting contact
I'm wanting contact with you
Shake those hands, shake those hands
Give me the thing I understand
Shake those hands, shake those hands
I need contact
I need contact
Nothing seems to please
I need contact
THE FAMILY AND THE FISHING NET
Suffocated by mirrors, stained by dreams
Her honey belly pulls the seams
Curves are still upon the hinge
Pale zeros tinge the tiger skin
red rain-
putting the pressure on much harder now
to return again and again
just let the red rain splash you
let the rain fall on your skin
I come to you defences down
with the trust of a child
don't give up
'cos you have friends
don't give up
you're not beaten yet
don't give up
I know you can make it good
don't give up
you still have us
don't give up
we don't need much of anything
don't give up
'cause somewhere there's a place
where we belong
don't give up
'cause you have friends
don't give up
you're not the only one
don't give up
no reason to be ashamed
don't give up
you still have us
don't give up now
we're proud of who you are
don't give up
you know it's never been easy
don't give up
'cause I believe there's the a place
there's a place where we belong
THAT VOICE AGAIN
I want to be with you
I want to be clear
but each time I try
it's the voice I hear
I hear that voice again
in your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
the heat I see in your eyes
in your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light,
the heat I see in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
MERCY STREET
for anne sexton
pulling out the papers from the drawers that slide smooth
tugging at the darkness, word upon word
big time
I'm on my way-I'm making it
big time big time
I've got to make it show yeah
big time big time
so much larger than life
big time
I'm going to watch it growing
big time
big time
I'm on my way-I'm making it
big time big time
I've got to make it show-yeah
big time big time
so much larger than life
I'm going to watch it growing
big time big time
my car is getting bigger
big time
my house is getting bigger
big time
my eyes are getting bigger
big time
and my mouth
big time
my belly is getting bigger
big time
and my bank account
big time
look at my circumstance
big time
and the bulge in my big big big big big big big
WE DO WHAT WE'RE TOLD
milgram's 37
one doubt
one voice
one war
one truth
one dream
THIS IS THE PICTURE
excellent birds
flying birds
excellent birds
watch them fly, there they go
falling snow
excellent snow
here it comes. watch it fall
long words
excellent words
I can hear them now
Ah please talk to me
Won't you please talk to me
We can unlock this misery
Come on, come talk to me
{Chorus 1:}
I did not come to steal
This all is so unreal
Can't you show me how you feel now
Come on, come talk to me
Come talk to me [x2]
The earthly power sucks shadowed milk from sleepy tears undone
From nippled skin as smooth as silk the bugles blown as one
You lie there with your eyes half closed like there's no-one there at all
There's a tension pulling on your face
Come on, come talk to me
{Chorus 2:}
Don't you ever change your mind
Now your future's so defined
And you act so deaf and blind
[And you act so deaf so blind]
Come on, come talk to me
Come talk to me [x2]
I love to be loved
I love to be loved
Yes I love to be loved
BLOOD OF EDEN
I caught sight of my reflection
I caught it in the window
I saw the darkness in my heart
I saw the signs of my undoing
They had been there from the start
And the darkness still has work to do
The knotted chord's untying
They're heated and they're holy
Oh they're sitting there on high
So secure with everything they're buying
{Chorus:}
In the blood of Eden
Lie the woman and the man
With the man in the woman
And the woman in the man
In the blood of Eden
Lie the woman and the man
We wanted the union
Oh the union of the woman
The woman and the man
[Chorus]
{Chorus 1:}
Give me steam
And how you feel to make it real
Real as anything you've seen
Get a life with this dreamer's dream
{Chorus 2:}
Give me steam
And how you feel to make it real
Real as any place you've been
Get a life with the dreamer's dream
Stand back!
Stand back!
Can't you see I've lost control I'm getting indiscreet
You're moving in so close 'til I'm picking up
Picking up this heat, this heat
[Chorus 1]
[Chorus 2]
Everybody nosedive
Hold your breath, count to five
Backslap, boobytrap,
Cover it up in bubblewrap
Room shake, earthquake
Find a way to stay awake
It's going to blow, it's going to break
This is more than I can take
[Chorus 1]
Help me yeah
Ready to steam out the log jam
Stir crazy from the freezer to the boil
Water's bubbling, it's b..b..b..bubbling
bubbling [x4]
like it's coming to a boil
Give me steam, lady
Give me steam around me now
Aah coming alive [x2]
Said give me some steam
ONLY US
Only Us [x3]
{Chorus:}
The further on I go, oh the less I know
I can find only us breathing
Only us sleeping
Only us dreaming
Only us
[Chorus]
Only us [x8]
WASHING OF THE WATER
River, river carry me on
Living river carry me on
River, river carry me on
To the place where I come from
{Chorus:}
This time you've gone too far [x3]
I told you [x4]
This time you've gone too far [x3]
I told you [x4]
[Chorus]
{Chorus:}
Down by the railway siding
In our secret world, we were colliding
In all the places we were hiding love
What was it we were thinking of?
[Chorus]
Ssh listen...
OVO (2000)
6. FATHER, SON
Father, son.
Locked as one.
In this empty room.
when i allow it to be
theres no control over me
i have my fears
but they do not have me
when I allow it to be
it has no control over me
i own my fear
so it doesnt own me
one dot, thats on or off, defines what is and what is not, one dot
two dot, a pair of eyes, a voice, a touch, complete surprise, two dot
sky blue
so tired of all this travelling
so many miles away from home
i keep moving to be stable
free to wander, free to roam
sky blue
sky blue
so tired of all this travelling
so many miles away from home
i keep moving to be stable
free to wander, free to roam
dont leave us
dont leave like this
dont leave me here again
im not quitting on you
no one else
youre not quitting on us
no running out
dont leave us
dont leave like this
dont leave me here again (i feel your pulse, i hold your hand)
im not quitting on you
theres no one else
youre not quitting on us
no running away no way out
I GRIEVE
it was only one hour ago
it was all so different then
theres nothing yet has really sunk in
looks like it always did
this flesh and bone
its just the way that you would tied in
now theres no-one home
life carries on
in the people i meet
in everyone thats out on the street
in all the dogs and cats
in the flies and rats
in the rot and the rust
in the ashes and the dust
life carries on and on and on and on
life carries on and on and on
come on down
come on down
MY HEAD SOUNDS LIKE THAT
the metal jangles as the key turns
unlock the door, wipe my feet clean
oh my head sounds like that
one by one
you watch them fall
fall through cloud
one by one
you watch them fall
no idea where theyre going
but down
one by one
theyre going out
you watch them dim
one by one