Peter Gabriel - Assorted Songs



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."

To keepin' silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Tho' my life was in a rut
Till I thought of what I'd say
Which connection I should cut
I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom, boom, boom
"Hey," he said "grab your things,
I've come to take you home."

When illusion spin her net
I'm never where I want to be
And liberty she pirouette
When I think that I am free
Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes but still can see
No one taught them etiquette
I will show another me
Today I don't need a replacement
I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom, boom, boom
"Hey", I said, "you can keep my things, they've
come to take me home."


Shock the Monkey

Cover me when I run
Cover me through the fire
Something knocked me out ' the trees
Now I'm on my knees
Cover me, darling please
Monkey, monkey, monkey
Don't you know you're going to shock the monkey

Fox the fox
Rat on the rat
You can ape the ape
I know about that
There is one thing you must be sure of
I can't take any more
Darling, don't you monkey with the monkey
Monkey, monkey, monkey
Don't you know you're going to shock the monkey
Shock the monkey

Monkey, Wheels keep turning
Monkey, Something's burning
Monkey, Don't like it but I guess I'm learning
Shock! Shock! Shock! - watch the monkey get hurt, monkey
Shock! Shock! Shock! - watch the monkey get hurt, monkey

Cover me, when I sleep
Cover me, when I breathe
You throw your pearls before the swine
Make the monkey blind
Cover me, darling please
Monkey, monkey, monkey
Don't you know you're going to shock the monkey
Shock the monkey

Monkey, Too much at stake
Monkey, Ground beneath me shake
Monkey, And the news is breaking
Shock! Shock! Shock! - watch the monkey get hurt, monkey
Shock! Shock! Shock! - watch the monkey get hurt, monkey


Shock the monkey, shock the monkey
Shock the monkey, shock the monkey
Shock the monkey to life


Sledgehammer

You could have a steam train
If you'd just lay down your tracks
You could have an aeroplane flying
If you bring your blue sky back
All you do is call me
I'll be anything you need

You could have a big dipper
Going up and down, all around the bends
You could have a bumper car, bumping
This amusement never ends

I want to be - your sledgehammer
Why don't you call my name
Oh let me be your sledgehammer
This will be my testimony

Show me round your fruitcage
'Cos I will be your honey bee
Open up your fruitcage
Where the fruit is as sweet as can be

I want to be - your sledgehammer
Why don't you call my name
You'd better call the sledgehammer
Put your mind at rest
I'm going to be - the sledgehammer
This can be my testimony
I'm your sledgehammer
Let there be no doubt about it

Sledge Sledge Sledgehammer

I've kicked the habit, shed my skin
This is the new stuff, I go dancing in, we go dancing in

Oh won't you show for me and I will show for you
Show for me, I will show for you
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I do mean you, only you
You've been coming through
Going to build that power
Build, build up that power, hey
I've been feeding the rhythm
I’ve been feeding the rhythm
Going to feel that power build in you

Come on, come on, help me do
Come on, come on, help me do
Yeh, yeh, yeh, yeh, yeh, yeh , yeh, yeh, you
I've been feeding the rhythm
I've been feeding the rhythm
It's what we're doing, doing
All day and night


Mercy Street

(For Anne Sexton)

Looking down on empty streets all she can see
Are the dreams all made solid
Are the dreams made real

All of the buildings, all of the cars
Were once just a dream
In somebody's head

She pictures the broken glass, pictures the steam
She pictures a soul
With no leak at the seam

Let's take the boat out
Wait until darkness
Let's take the boat out
Wait until darkness comes

Nowhere in the corridors of pale green and grey
Nowhere in the suburbs
In the cold light of day
There in the midst of it, so alive and alone
Words support like bone

Dreaming of mercy street
Wear your inside out
Dreaming of mercy
In your daddy's arms again
Dreaming of mercy street
'Swear they moved that sign
Dreaming of mercy
In your daddy's arms

Pulling out the papers from drawers that slide smooth
Tugging at the darkness
Word upon word
Confessing all the secret things in the warm velvet box
To the priest - he's the doctor
He can handle the shocks
Dreaming of the tenderness - the tremble in the hips
Of kissing Mary's lips

Dreaming of mercy street
Wear your inside out
Dreaming of mercy
In your daddy's arms again
Dreaming of mercy street
'Swear they moved that sign
Looking for mercy
In your daddy's arms again

Mercy, mercy, looking for mercy
Mercy, mercy, looking for mercy

Anne, with her father is out in the boat
Riding the water
Riding the waves
On the sea
 


Don't Give Up

In this proud land we grew up strong
We were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win
I never thought I could fail

No fight left or so it seems
I am a man whose dreams have all deserted
I've changed my face, I've changed my name
But no-one wants you when you lose

Don't give up ‘cause you have friends
Don't give up you're not beaten yet
Don't give up I know you can make it good

Though I saw it all around
Never thought that I could be affected
Thought that we'd be last to go
It is so strange the way things turn
Drove the night toward my home
The place that I was born, on the lakeside
As daylight broke, I saw the earth
The trees had burned down to the ground

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

Rest your head
You worry too much
It's going to be alright
When times get rough
You can fall back on us
Don't give up
Please don't give up

Got to walk out of here
I can't take anymore
Going to stand on that bridge
Keep my eyes down below
Whatever may come
and whatever may go
That river's flowing
That river's flowing


Moved on to another town
Tried hard to settle down
For every job, so many men
So many men no-one needs

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 a place
There's a place
Where we belong


Don't give up
Don't give up
Don't give up


Red Rain

Red rain is coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me

I am standing up at the water's edge in my dream
I cannot make a single sound as you scream
it can't be that cold, the ground is still warm to touch
(Hay ay ay we touch)
This place is so quiet sensing that storm

Red rain is coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me

Well I've seen them buried in a sheltered place in this town
They tell you that this rain can sting, and look down
There is no blood around
See no sign of pain
Hay ay ay no pain
Seeing no red at all, see no rain

Red rain is coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me

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

Red rain coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me
And I can't watch anymore
No more denial
It's so hard to lay down in all of this
Red rain coming down
Red rain is pouring down
Red rain is coming down all over me

I see it
Red rain coming down
Red rain is pouring down
Red rain is coming down all over me
I'm bathing in
Red rain coming down
Red rain is coming down
Red rain is coming down all over me
I'm begging you
Red rain coming down
Red rain coming down
Red rain coming down
Red rain coming down
Over me in the red red sea
Over me, over me, red rain


In Your Eyes

Love, I get so lost sometimes
Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
When I want to run away
I drive off in my car
But whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are

All my instincts, they return
The grand facade, so soon will burn
Without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside

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
Oh, 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

Love, I don't like to see so much pain
So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away
I get so tired of working so hard for our survival
I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive

And all my instincts, they return
And the grand facade, so soon will burn
Without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside

In your eyes, your eyes, 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
Oh, 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

Sa bet chi lamp, chi tangaay
Sa bet maangi ci biir


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

the oil is spitting in the saucepan
i squeeze the sponge and let the cat out
oh my head sounds like that
oh my head
oh oh oh
oh oh oh

the water’s dripping in the hallway
the guy next door, he knocks his wall down
oh my head sounds like that

the knife it scrapes across the burnt brown toast
the freight train rumbles past my window
oh my head sounds like that
oh my head
oh oh oh
oh oh oh
oh oh oh

around the axis we all spin
to determine what's left out and what's left in
what's left out and what's left in
what's left out and what's left in
who's left out and who's left in
who's left in

the moments come and go like water
i try to hold them but they’re fading
oh my head sounds like that
oh my head
oh oh oh