Peter Gabriel Songs - Rhythm Of The Heat Lyrics

Peter Gabriel - Rhythm Of The Heat

Peter Gabriel - Rhythm Of The Heat Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Security
Released: 1982

Rhythm Of The Heat Lyrics

Looking out the window
I see the red dust clear
High up on the red rock
Stands the shadow with the spear

The land here is strong
Strong beneath my feet
It feeds on the blood
It feeds on the heat

The rhythm is below me
The Rhythm Of The Heat
The rhythm is around me
The rhythm has control
The rhythm is inside me
The rhythm has my soul

The rhythm of the heat
The rhythm of the heat
The rhythm of the heat
The rhythm of the heat
The rhythm of the heat
The rhythm of the heat

[Repeat x2]
Drawn across the plainland
To the place that is higher
Drawn into the circle
That dances round the fire
We spit into out hands
And breathe across the palms
Raising them up high
Held open to the sun

Self-conscious, uncertain
I'm showered with the dust
The spirit enters into me
And I submit to trust

Smash the radio
No outside voices here
Smash the watch
Cannot tear the day to shreds
Smash the camera
Cannot steal away spirits
The rhythm is around me
The rhythm has control
The rhythm is inside me
The rhythm has my soul

Writer/s: GABRIEL, PETER
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Rhythm Of The Heat Song Chart

Gabriel wrote this song about psychologist Carl Jung's visit to Africa. He joined a group of drummers and dancers and became overwhelmed with fear. Gabriel learned about it from Jung's book Symbols And The Interpretation Of Dreams.

Jung was studying the Collective Unconscious, and was afraid he would go mad as the drummers and dancers let the music control them. Gabriel tries to capture this feeling with the tribal drumbeats.

Gabriel incorporated a lot of World Music into his solo work, and this song is a great example. He explained to the NME in 1982: "The end of 'Rhythm Of The Heat' uses the Ghanaian war dance as an echo – because a big bass thud underneath it puts it in a different dimension. An area that I can identify with more strongly than something that sounds purely 'African'."

The original titled was "Jung In Africa."