I like Peter Gabriel, I like this song....but C'mon!!!! Way too much PG played here. I'd be glad to vote him off for a few months! Where's the gong!!!! Grrrrr!

 gdignard wrote:  In almost Segovia's words, you're not even the illegitimate stepchild of a dime store psychoanalyst.     Take one of these.

 GT66 wrote: 
I'm not so sure. The car and its driver are almost certainly metaphors since they are used to convey some sort of abduction.

"Don't talk back. Just drive the car"

The person talking is not driving the car but is in a position of unquestioned authority and can give direct orders.

"Shut your mouth. I know what you are"

Strange. "What" you are; not "who".

"Don't say nothing. Keep your hands on the wheel"

Again, more of the same kind of thing as the first line.

"Don't turn around. This is for real"

So not only is the speaker not driving, they're not even in the front seat. Plus, an admonition about the fact that the speaker is serious about his/her intent.

So to me it sounds like an abduction, but the 2nd line makes me think it's a special kind of abduction. If it weren't for the "This is for real", my temptation would be to think that it's a child's imagined (though not voiced) commands to his/her parent, delivered in the same kind of unquestioned authority they're used to receiving. The "what you are" (note not "who you are") are what leads me there. The "what" is "my father" or "my mother", which can be a "what" not a "who".

So colour me uncertain, which is possibly the ultimate intent.

/DimeStorePsychoanalysis mode off

 lmic wrote: 

Thought that this is a new song. But i see Peter G. is timeless!!

wow... thsi song takes me back to when this album was released! such powerful music to a 15 year old's ears! :)

 lmic wrote: 
the places we've been hurt cause those fights...it's both.

Bill....Love the Daily Peter and Daily Paul. RP Apostles! Thanks!

 tompoll wrote: 
Cool album cover.

 sirdroseph wrote: 
Good on ya' for posting this! I happen to love most everything Peter does, but to each his own. You obviously recognize his talent, you just don't care for his style. Fair enough.

I can't stand Joni Mitchell's work but I recognize her huge level of talent. I think Bob Dylan is one of the greatest songwriters of all time, but I'd usually rather hear someone else perform his stuff. And the sound of Adam Duritz's voice (Counting Crows) makes me want to plunge knitting needles into my ears, but my opinion hasn't hurt his career any.

 lmic wrote: 
Actually, I think you had it right the first time. IIRC, at the time this came out, he was having relationship problems.

Proven genius times 3 on RP

Gabriel, Dylan & Radiohead

And now I'm sure we will be introduced to some amazing indie performers that are making their own mark.

This is why I support RP>

If this isn't my favorite Gabriel track, then it's WAAYYY up there! Love it!

Boy, judging from all the gushing and love below; I am definitely in the minority when I say that I have never been a big Gabriel fan; like a few of his songs; Salisbury Hill, Biko, In Your Eyes, but thats about it; I think his voice is annoying. Your welcome in advance for giving you all the opportunity to bash me.......and......begin........

Play anything by Mr. Gabriel and the word genius springs to mind for me.  Love the way he staged this on the tour for the record way back then....when he (and the band, God bless those amazing musicians he pulls together) had those funky camera things on their heads.  Then Peter heads out to the small stage, pulls the sheet off a big lump-thing...we, the audience, then realize, thanks to another over head camera, that it is a sculpture of his face.  I am not doing it justice with my description...rent the dvd and check it out for yourself....

Infit...

 Giselle62 wrote: 
The first few times I heard this, I definitely thought it was a gloves-off "up yours" song, describing a couple fighting while driving in the car. I was powerfully impressed by the quality of barely contained rage... On re-listening, however, I think it's actually about someone reflecting on the negative, punishing messages he received while growing up... Now he's struggling to come to grips with the lingering effects of that psychic abuse.

Chilling, brilliant, and brave.

 btt wrote: 
Well worth putting on the earphones - lots of little non-repeating flourishes.

the video for this song is very good—-the lyrics are definitely like an angry man in a fight; reminds me of "Jealous Guy" because the sentiments are a little scary but in that situation you'd be glad they were expressed and out in the open. (No hitting, we hope!)

Love this song and album!

Mr. Gabriel has one hell of a good band behind him . M

 unclehud wrote:Yeah, tilling the soil soul. :)

10

Love this entire CD.  This tune, of course, is about gardening ....

 keller1 wrote:
 
Absolutely . . . Cinema Show for example was TREMENDOUS!

Everything this song has to offer is great, especially the masterful contrasts between the elements; the brooding anger of the verse, the outright agression of the pre-chorus, and then the begging of the chorus.... Great song.

 Felix_The_Cat wrote: 
Anywhere...

 fredriley wrote: 

I largely agree with you, particularly about Afro Celts.

I think, though, that some of the Gabriel era Genesis stuff, particularly The Lamb Dies Down on Broadway, was really good, and that Genesis went steadily downhill after he left.

A very big thanks to RP for divorcing Peter Gabriel, in my mind, from the execrable adolescent pomposity of Genesis, which he had the sense to leave a long time back. Only now do I realise how feckin' good he is, how inventive and imaginative, and indeed respectful of other musical traditions. He also helped set up the Afro-Celt Sound System which I'll forever be grateful for. His post-Genesis music really is the dog's bollox and a serious cut above that tosser Phil Collins, such that maybe Genesis can be seen as an juvenile phase he grew out of.

I heard a radio biog of him recently and he came across as a very hard-working, self-effacing, and very talented individual.