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Peter Gabriel - Fourteen Black Paintings

Peter Gabriel - Fourteen Black Paintings Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Us
Released: 1992

Fourteen Black Paintings Lyrics

From the pain come the dream
From the dream come the vision
From the vision come the people
From the people come the power
From this power come the change

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

Fourteen Black Paintings Song Chart

This was inspired by 14 paintings in a Texas chapel by the artist Rothko. Guitarist David Rhodes took Gabriel there while he was touring the US.

Gabriel felt the spirituality of the song matched the paintings, which were dedicated to human and civil rights.

Peter Gabriel - The Family And The Fishing Net

Peter Gabriel - The Family And The Fishing Net Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Security
Released: 1982

The Family And The Fishing Net Lyrics

Suffocated by mirrors, stained by dreams
Her honey belly pulls the seams
Curves are still upon the hinge
Pale zeros tinge the tiger skin

Moist as grass, ripe and heavy as the night
The sponge is full, well out of sight
All around the conversations
Icing on the warm flesh cake

Light creeps through her secret tunnels
Sucked into the open spaces
Burning out in sudden flashes
Draining blood from well-fed faces

Desires form in subtle whispers
Flex the muscles in denial
Up and down its pristine cage
So the music, so the trial

Vows of sacrifice, headless chickens
Dance in circles, they the blessed
Man and wife, undressed by all
Their grafted trunks in heat possessed

Even as the soft skins tingle
They mingle with the homeless mother
Who loves the day but lives another
That once was hers

The worried father, long lost lover
Brushes ashes with his broom
Rehearses jokes to fly and hover
Bursting over the bride and groom

And the talk goes on

Memories crash on tireless waves
The lifeguards whom the winter saves

Silence falls the guillotine
All the doors are shut
Nervous hands grip tight the knife
In the darkness, till the cake is cut

Passed around, in little pieces
The body and the flesh
The family and the fishing-net
And another in the mesh

The body and the flesh

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

The Family And The Fishing Net Song Chart

This is about the absurdities of traditional weddings. The territorial battles, rings, and vows seem ridiculous from an outsiders point of view.

The lyrics were inspired by the early poetry of Dylan Thomas.

Gabriel's marriage to his first wife Jill hit a crisis when she had an affair with David Lord, the co producer of Security, and in this song he foreshadowed the marital tension. He told Mojo April 2010: "We think we're islands, but we're all connected in a landmass. What you see above the water is two people getting married. But beneath the water are the tentacles of two larger, dominant organisms which are the families making connection through those two particular tentacles. But we never observe and recognise that."

Peter Gabriel - D.I.Y.

Peter Gabriel - D.I.Y. Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Peter Gabriel (second, scratch)
Released: 1978

D.I.Y. Lyrics

Don't tell me what I will do, 'cause I won't
Don't tell me to believe in you, 'cause I don't
Be on your guard, better hostile and don't risk affection
Like flesh to the bone in the no-go zone
You're still waiting for the resurrection
Come up to me with your "What did you say?"
And I'll tell you straight in the eye

D.I.Y. D.I.Y. D.I.Y. D.I.Y. D.I.Y. D.I.Y. D.I.Y. D.I.Y.
Do it yourself

Everyone want to be what he not, what he not
Nobody happy with what he got, what he got
You function like a dummy with a new ventriloquist
Do you say nothing yourself?
Hanging like a thriller on the final twist
You know you're getting stuck on the shelf
Come up to me with your "What did you say?"
And I'll tell you straight in the eye

D.I.Y. D.I.Y. D.I.Y. D.I.Y.

When things get so big, I don't trust them at all
You want some control,you've got to keep it small

D.I.Y. D.I.Y. D.I.Y. D.I.Y.
Do it yourself

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

D.I.Y. Song Chart

The title stands for "Do It Yourself." The song is about taking responsibility and control of your life.

Gabriel used an acoustic arrangement to distinguish this from his work with Genesis.

This was released as a single, but despite heavy promotion it was a commercial failure. When this did not sell as a single, Charisma Records, Gabriel's label in England, re-released it in September 1978 with both "Mother Of Violence" and "Me And My Teddy Bear" on the B-side. The original, released that May, was backed with "Perspective."

The mostly acoustic sound was chosen in hopes of mimicking the chart success of "Solsbury Hill." Bootlegs contain heavier electric versions of this.

Peter Gabriel - Digging In The Dirt

Peter Gabriel - Digging In The Dirt Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Us
Released: 1992

Digging In The Dirt Lyrics

Something in me, dark and sticky
All the time it's getting strong
No way of dealing with this feeling
I can't go on like this too long

[Repeat x2]
This time you've gone too far
This time you've gone too far
This time you've gone too far,
I told you, I told you, I told you, I told you

Don't talk back, just drive the car
Shut your mouth, I know what you are
Don't say nothing, keep your hands on the wheel
Don't turn around, this is for real

Digging In The Dirt
Stay with me I need support
I'm digging in the dirt
Find the places I got hurt
Open up the places I got hurt

The more I look, the more I find
As I close on in, I get so blind
I feel it in my head, I feel it in my toes
I feel it in my sex, that's the place it goes

[Repeat x2]
This time you've gone too far
This time you've gone too far
This time you've gone too far,
I told you, I told you, I told you, I told you

Don't talk back, just drive the car
Shut your mouth, I know what you are
Don't say nothing, keep your hands on the wheel
Don't turn around, this is for real

Digging in the dirt
Stay with me I need support
I'm digging in the dirt
Find the places I got hurt
Open up the places I got hurt

Digging in the dirt
Stay with me I need support
I'm digging in the dirt
Find the places I got hurt
Open up the places I got hurt
I got hurt

Digging in the dirt, to find the places we got hurt
Digging in the dirt, to find the places we got hurt
Digging in the dirt, to find the places we got hurt
Digging in the dirt, to find the places we got hurt

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

Digging In The Dirt Song Chart

This song evolved out of a project where Gabriel studied inmates on death row to find out what made them kill. It's an angry song that deals with Gabriel's dark side. He explained to Uncut magazine: "I read lots trying to understand the buttons that operate and make you feel the way you do. When you have self knowledge, you don't fall into the same behavioral traps. One of the keys is – take responsibility. Blaming anyone else, especially in relationships is a futile activity and not going to move you forward."

Gabriel said this song is about "investigating the layers within yourself."

As part of his research on murderers, Gabriel read the book Our Why We Kill. Gabriel recalled to The Daily Mirror: "I'm sure, like any song, it reflects what was going on in my life,. I was reading a book called Why We Kill about what murderers have in common, the psychological make-up that unites them."

"I was also going through therapy myself so that had a bearing," he added. "It wasn't a cathartic experience where I revisited all the emotions, but the contrast between the dark and more reflective mood was something we concentrated on."

This was Gabriel's first new solo vocal recording in six years.

This won a Grammy for best short-form video in 1993. Gabriel opened the awards that year with a performance of "Steam."

Gabriel told The Daily Mirror: "That was probably the hardest one to do on the album because it was written around a groove and it just didn't make sense at first. I was really missing the bass and drums."

Peter Gabriel - Big Time

Peter Gabriel - Big Time Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: So
Released: 1986

Big Time Lyrics

I'm on my way, I'm making it
I've got to make it show, yeah
So much larger than life
I'm going to watch it growing

The place where I come from is a small town
They think so small
They use small words
But not me
I'm smarter than that
I worked it out
I've been stretching my mouth
To let those big words come right out

I've had enough, I'm getting out
To the city, the big big city
I'll be a big noise with all the big boys
There's so much stuff I will own
And I will pray to a big god
As I kneel in the big church

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

My parties all have big names
And I greet them with the widest smile
Tell them how my life is one big adventure
And always they're amazed
When I show them 'round my house, to my bed
I had it made like a mountain range
With a snow-white pillow for my big fat head
And my heaven will be a big heaven
And I will walk through the front door

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

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

Big Time Song Chart

Gabriel: "A satirical story about a basic human urge... success."

This tells the story of a man from a small town who grows to be larger than life. The ending is heavily processed as Gabriel's voice gets deeper and deeper, creating a sense of size until it ends cold.

Stewart Copeland, who was with The Police at the time, played drums.

The video featured outstanding special effects and played often on MTV. Gabriel raised the bar earlier that year with his video for "Sledgehammer."

This was used as the official theme song for WWE Wrestlemania 22. (thanks, Matt - NY, NY)

Peter Gabriel - Games Without Frontiers

Peter Gabriel - Games Without Frontiers Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Peter Gabriel (third)
Released: 1980

Games Without Frontiers Lyrics

Games Without Frontiers
Hans plays with Lotte, Lotte plays with Jane
Jane plays with Willi, Willi is happy again
Suki plays with Leo, Sacha plays with Britt
Adolf builts a bonfire, Enrico plays with it
Whistling tunes we hid in the dunes by the seaside
Whistling tunes we're kissing baboons in the jungle
It's a knockout
If looks could kill, they probably will
In games without frontiers-war without tears
Games without frontiers-war without tears

Jeux sans frontieres

Andre has a red flag, Chiang Ching's is blue
They all have hills to fly them on except for Lin Tai Yu
Dressing up in costumes, playing silly games
Hiding out in tree-tops shouting out rude names
Whistling tunes we hide in the dunes by the seaside
Whistling tunes we piss on the goons in the jungle
It's a knockout
If looks could kill they probably will
In games without frontiers-wars without tears
If looks could kill they probably will
In games without frontiers-war without tears
Games without frontiers-war without tears

Jeux sans frontieres

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

Games Without Frontiers Song Chart

The lyric repeated at the beginning and end is "Jeux Sans Frontieres," which is French for "Games Without Frontiers."It is frequently misheard as "She's So Popular."

This song is about the childish antics of adults, which is especially prevalent when their countries are competing in the Olympics.

Gabriel wrote this before the US boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980. This reinforced the theme of adults acting like children over the Olympics.

Kate Bush sang backup - that's her singing "Jeux Sans Fronteires."

Gabriel got the idea for the title from a 1970s European game show of the same name where contestants dressed up in strange costumes to compete for prizes. A version of the show came out in England called "It's a knockout," giving him that lyric.

This was Gabriel's first UK Top 10 as a solo artist. It had an interesting impact on his American distribution: Gabriel's first two solo albums were distributed in America by Atlantic Records, but they rejected his third album (which contained this track), telling Gabriel he was committing "commercial suicide." Atlantic dropped him but tried to buy the album back when "Games Without Frontiers" took off in the UK and started getting airplay in the States. At this point, Gabriel wanted nothing to do with Atlantic and let Mercury Records distribute the album in America.

The whistling is Gabriel along with producers Steve Lillywhite and Hugh Padgham.

In 1991, Gabriel's performance of this from Holland was beamed to Wembley Stadium in England as part of "The Simple Truth" concert for Kurdish refugees.

The video includes film clips of Olympic events and scenes from the 1950 educational film Duck and Cover, which used a cartoon turtle to instruct school kids on what to do in case of nuclear attack. (thanks, Patrick - Conyers, GA)

Part of the song goes: "Andre has a red flag/ Chiang Ching's is blue/They all have hills to fly them on except for Lin Tai Yu.

Andre could refer to Andre Malraux (1901-1976) the French statesman and author of the book Man's Fate, about the 1920s communist regime in Shanghai. Red flag may refer to Malraux's leftist politics. Chiang Ching could refer to Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) Chinese leader of the Kuomintang who opposed the Communists - hence, the rightwing Blue Flag. Chiang's forces lost the civil war in 1949 and fled to Taiwan, where they set up a government in exile.

Lin Tai Yu may be Nguyen Thieu (1923-2001), South Vietnamese president during the height of the Vietnam War. After the Communist victory of 1975, Thieu fled to Taiwan, England, and later to the United States where he died in exile.

The lyric could refer to the fact that while leftist politicians like Andre Malraux had a secure position in France, and rightist leaders like Chiang Kai Shek had a secure country in Taiwan, those caught in the middle like Nguyen Thieu were pawns in the Cold war and had no secure country. This could also be a reproach to either Thieu or his United States backers, saying that he was now a nobody.

A remix by Lord Jamar was used for the theme for the 2009 Winter X Games. The new version was dubbed "X Games Without Frontiers." (thanks, Justin - Durango, CO)

The singer recorded a German-language version of Peter Gabriel titled Ein deutsches Album. Hearing Gabriel singing about Adolf building the bonfire in German on this song makes it sound a lot more sinister.