Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

The willow is too close to the house.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Infrastructure week. at last.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

I really should read my own blog.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

No one could have predicted…

After roe, women are no longer free.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

You are here: Home / Music / Early Morning Open Thread: Solsbury Hill

Early Morning Open Thread: Solsbury Hill

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The other night John was discussing rock “classics”, which I once heard a performer — Tom Rush? — describe as “those songs every drunk remembers, and demands”. I’m sure Gabriel regards “Solsbury Hill” as his preeminent ‘classic’, and this arena version is a witty solution, but it’s still the song I want played when I draw my last breath.

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86Comments

  1. 1.

    mr. whipple

    but it’s still the song I want played when I draw my last breath.

    I was just listening to another version of La mer, and had the same thought.

  4. 4.

    JWL

    Sorry about the Bobby Darin non-link. Something went haywire my copy and paste.

    Anyway, the song was A Nightingale Sang In Barkley Square, and Darin’s beautiful version can be heard courtesy of You Tube.

  6. 6.

    asiangrrlMN

    I’m not crazy about this song. I have a bunch of songs I would like to be the last I hear. Right now, I have a secret obsession, and my favorite song by them is top on my list. Another possibility, though, is Homecoming by Vienna Teng (start around the one minute mark). Or, perhaps Hurt by The Man in Black.

  8. 8.

    Gemina13

    “Solsbury Hill” lifts my spirits when nothing else will; I’ve smiled at it after losing jobs, relationships, and the death of my mother. There’s something about “I’ve come to take you home” that comforts and inspires me–and I hope it’s the last song I hear before I die.

    It’s definitely going to be played at my funeral.

  10. 10.

    Splitting Image

    Peter Gabriel’s best years may be behind him, but he’s still cooler than you, me, and everyone you ever met.

    His best song (in my opinion) is “Mercy Street”. But a lot of his songs have helped me through tough times.

  11. 11.

    Batocchio

    You really can’t go wrong with Peter Gabriel. I just wish he put out more albums more often, although his producer and song-writing work is good.

  13. 13.

    IronyAbounds

    It’s the romantic in me that thinks “In Your Eyes” is Gabriel’s best song. Combine a great melody, great lyrics and a vision of Ione Skye from Say Anything, and you can’t beat it.

  14. 14.

    TBogg

    Weird. I just found a copy of Peter Gabriel’s greatest hits (Shaking the Tree) in the back of my car the other day and I’ve listening to it since. But what is weirder is that I have kept playing Solsbury Hill over and over for the past few days because it is truly one of the best songs about childhood ever.

    Strange coincidence.

  17. 17.

    Adam Lang

    Begging for a little help here.

    I have a blog where I post pictures of San Francisco’s canine population. I ran into someone with a puppy today, and he was looking for suggestions on what to name his puppy. I told him I’d post it on my blog and let my readers make suggestions. In doing so, I think I, uh, may have inadvertently misled him as to how many readers I get. Given that I get about 10 people a day, I suspect I won’t be getting terribly many suggestions.

    Perhaps people here would be willing to take a look and make a suggestion or two in the comments? It’s currently the top post at The Dogs of San Francisco.

    Please don’t relink to this anywhere super-uber-popular, as this site is currently hosted over DSL at a friend of mine’s house. He’d get really pissy (and turn off my server) if we choked off his intertubez.

    Thanks!

  18. 18.

    freelancer (itouch)

    Because I won’t be around to enjoy it, the playlist for my funeral goes something like this:

    Explosions in the Sky – The Birth and Death of the Day
    John Lennon – Imagine
    Bloodhoud Gang – FireWaterBurn
    Bob Marley – Three Little Birds
    Silver mt. Zion – Couldve moved Mountains
    And moar, I’m sure, because I know I’m missing a few

    And because I got a little bit of Andy Kaufman to
    me, I plan to Rickroll my own funeral.

  19. 19.

    suzanne

    Can I just say, though, that Peter Gabriel’s cover of the Magnetic Fields’ “The Book of Love” is an epic fail, IMHO. The original song is so moving and beautiful and sad and ultimately uplifting, and his cover destroys its beautiful simplicity. (But, of course, the cover is more famous and got to be in that shitty Richard Gere/J. Lo movie. Le lame.)

  22. 22.

    Steeplejack

    Oh, hell, one more from Van Morrison–“Redwood Tree.”

    Old-school blue-eyed soul. The album this was on inexplicably went out of print, but I just thought to look for it on YouTube tonight.

    Oh, redwood tree, please let us under
    When we were young we used to go under the redwood tree
    And it smells like rain, maybe even thunder
    Won’t you keep us from all harm, wonderful redwood tree

  23. 23.

    TheOtherWA

    “In Your Eyes” is my favorite love song, ever. It’s one of the very few love songs that isn’t about heartbreak. Happy love songs are usually sappy, stupid & annoying.

    On another topic altogether, I picked up an inexpensive sauvignon blanc from New Zealand, and am thrilled with it. Very clean, sparkly flavors. This was a topic from an open tread earlier this week.
    http://bit.ly/40MWQi Cupcake Vineyards, if you’re interested.

  24. 24.

    eco2geek

    Wow, does he look different from his Sledgehammer days! Gabriel’s album, So, is a favorite of mine.

    (Sometimes I feel like I’m way too cynical, but I’m having a hard time believing he was really sang that song live while riding a bicycle.)

  25. 25.

    TrishB

    For a very long time, I couldn’t listen to this song. However, it’s a favorite, despite the fact that for a few brief moments one night, many, many years ago, it seemed to be the last song I’d ever hear as the car rolled over. Luckily we hit the mountain, not the drop.

  27. 27.

    Yutsano

    @Peter: I don’t even get what they’re saying. Dodd is supposedly attacking Warren on a personal level? Just retire already Chris, let Blumenthal take your seat and let’s move on with life. Oh and feel free to take Lieberman with you on your way out the door.

  29. 29.

    Platosearwax

    Thanks. Earlier this week the Talking Heads clips sent me off on a TH bender. Now the first part of this week is going to be all about PG. Wonder what you all have in store for me next week…

  30. 30.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN: He’s hit or miss for me. I personally don’t see him as some huge visionary genius, just a guy who wrote a few interesting tunes in the late 80’s. Different strokes and all that.

  31. 31.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Yutsano: I know you firmly believe taste is individual, but there seems to be a pantheon, if you will, of groups/musicians who most everyone likes. Or, you get the, “The Beatles or the Stones?” debate with no one other than me answering, “Neither.” I guess I’m trying to figure out which gene I am missing.

  33. 33.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN: I can answer that question without thinking either is necessarily iconic (although I would make the argument that without the Beatles the Stones would not exist, at least in their current form) and I’m not going out of my way to listen to either group. I think it’s more or less a generational thing. In other words, we should get off their lawns. :)

  35. 35.

    Peter

    @Yutsano: Yeah I don’t really get it either, but the photo is what really grinds my gears. I know selectively choosing/editing photos of people to make them look bad is a time-honored tradition, but that was just too nakedly partisan, too ugly, and too poorly-edited for me to even consider swallowing.

  36. 36.

    Uriel

    @asiangrrlMN:

    is there anyone out there who does not like Peter Gabriel, or am I, yet again, alone again naturally?

    No, it’s not just you- apparently there’s Yutsano and most likely one or two other cuckoo for cocoa puffs types that are blind to the kind of supreme coolness that is Peter Gabriel. But any population will, eventually, breed some sub-sample of crazy pants people- It’s not your fault, it ‘s just the inevitable outcome of a probabilistic universe.

    That said,

    In other words, we should get off their lawns. :)

    Yes, that would be nice. ;-P

  37. 37.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Uriel: Oh noes! You have reinforced my deepest fears that I am the only person on the planet who does not like Peter Gabriel, the Stones, and/or the Beatles! My isolation is so very isolating. Sigh. I guess I’ll have to get used to being all by myself.

    P.S. I suppose I’ll be forever banished when I confess that Ol’ Blue Eyes does nada for me, either.

  39. 39.

    Uriel

    @asiangrrlMN:

    P.S. I suppose I’ll be forever banished when I confess that Ol’ Blue Eyes does nada for me, either.

    No, no, that’s totally understandable. I think most reasonable people would agree with that- I mean really, “My Way”? Puh-lease.

    It’s just that other stuff that’s, you know, the kind of thinking that speaks to a soul that lacks any sense of magic, or even the understanding of what is good and pure in life.

    [ And by the by- very pithy links. :-) ]

  40. 40.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Uriel: So, in other words, you are the arbiter of what is good and pure and holy and what is not? OMG! You’re the FSM, aren’t you? We have a deity in our midsts! Touch me with your noodly appendage, oh great FSM!

    As for the links, well, you know, more cowbells! You can never have enough go-go dancers or cowbells (h/t Steeplejack).

    More in line with the topic, though. I am always alone in my matters of cultural tastes.

  41. 41.

    Andy K

    @Uriel:

    I mean really, “My Way”? Puh-lease.

    Well, it’s not as if every song Sinatra recorded was schmaltz like My Way and Theme From New York, New York. Those were both hits relatively late in his career- at least as far as his releases went. The former was recorded in 1969, the latter in 1980. Go back further in his catalog and you can hear what made him great.

  42. 42.

    mai naem

    And all this time I’d been thinking it was Salisbury. I have a friend who had Stairway to Heaven played at his memorial service. It’s probably not that uncommon. He liked Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd so I am guessing the choice was between Comfortably Numb and Stairway to Heaven.

  43. 43.

    Uriel

    @asiangrrlMN:

    So, in other words, you are the arbiter of what is good and pure and holy and what is not? OMG! You’re the FSM, aren’t you?

    Well, look, I don’t like to bring it up in mixed company, but- yes. Yes I am. Not that it’s a big deal or anything- I mean, I don’t expect to be treated any differently than you common, run of the mill mortals and such. But, you know- there it is. As I mentioned to this nice jewish boy a while back, “I am that I am.” Kinda sums it up, I guess.

    But, really, I think it’s cute how you all get so excited about coming up with your own opinions on this kind of thing, and normally I’d never dream of butting in and pointing out how goofy they happen to be. But, you know, Peter Gabriel is serious business. There’s just some things you can’t allow to slide, being in a position like mine, and “Shock the monkey” and “games without frontiers” happen to be amongst those.

    (Although, I will allow that “Sleidgehammer” was a bit disappointing)

  44. 44.

    asiangrrlMN

    @mai naem: Now, Floyd, I can appreciate. I think I would have Goodbye Cruel Worldplayed at my funeral if I have one. I would rather not, but you never know what people will do once you’re gone.

    @Uriel: Damn. If you really are the FSM, then I have to rethink everything I know (I thought the FSM would have better taste in music, for one). And, you’re taller than I expected you to be! By the way, you’re cracking me up. I’m glad the FSM has a good sense of humor.

  45. 45.

    Ddeele

    It’s disappointing that Gabriel did not sing “You can keep my things they’ve come to take me home” in this rendition.

    That’s the line that really packs the weight of the change the protagonist is experiencing, and it’s the one that really does me in.

    Meh.

  49. 49.

    stuckinred

    Tomorrow I’ll be in some other sunrise
    Maybe I’ll have someone at my side
    Mamma give your love back to your husband
    Father you’ve have taught we well goodbye
    Goodbye Mamma goodbye to you too pa

  50. 50.

    Robert Sneddon

    Am I the only one that understands the words and themes of Solsbury Hill as a Christian allegory? Puzzled…

  51. 51.

    WereBear

    I adore Peter’s Gabriel’s music, and also early Genesis.

    This song would be a darned appropriate choice for such an occasion!

    Myself, I’ve thought about a lot of Funk at my wake; also James Brown, maybe even Earth, Wind, & Fire.

    Dance, people, Dance!

  52. 52.

    R-Jud

    @Uriel:

    Well, look, I don’t like to bring it up in mixed company, but- yes. Yes I am. Not that it’s a big deal or anything- I mean, I don’t expect to be treated any differently than you common, run of the mill mortals and such. But, you know- there it is. As I mentioned to this nice jewish boy a while back, “I am that I am.”

    Cue Dan Bern and the International Jewish Banking Conspiracy:

    But I think it’s time now
    Time to reveal myself
    I am the Messiah
    I am the Messiah
    Yes I think you heard me right
    I am the Messiah

  54. 54.

    TheNickronomicon

    @TBogg: I have had this going through my head the last couple days. It has been the single most virulent earworm of 2010 for me. I never got into Peter Gabriel, though.

    Does anyone else remember some wingnut (it may have been Jonah Goldberg) listing “Solsbury Hill” as one of their top conservative rock songs or something like that? I can’t hear the song without thinking about that anymore.

  55. 55.

    Gina

    First song that I thought of for my funeral, or memorial or whatever (I have given instructions that my body be recycled as much as possible, so after organ donation, burning to ashes and composting, not sure what sort of ceremony would happen) was Sid Vicious’ ‘My Way’. Corny, but that’s what I thought of.

    Songs and ceremonies aren’t really so much my thing. I’d really like to be put out for bird food, but I’m pretty sure most localities frown on that sort of thing.

  58. 58.

    El Cid

    “Biko” was pretty heavy as a hit as well – it was performed at the South African World Cup opening ceremony. If not for that song, far fewer people would have ever heard of Stephen Biko.

    And although it might have been cruder material in many ways, “Sledgehammer” brought both musical and video creativity to a level of pop market familiarity which hadn’t known, much less remembered, Gabriel. Neither it nor “Big Time” were dumb — and as much as it brought a breakthrough market too, you can’t exactly see much thematic creativity in “Sussudio”.

  59. 59.

    mr. whipple

    @El Cid:

    Sledgehammer and Big Time were real come downs from things like “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.”

    Oh well, they all made their money, finally.

  60. 60.

    El Cid

    @mr. whipple: Okay, agreed, but I can’t imagine any ordinary people in the 1980s listening to “Lamb”, much less “Supper’s Ready”.

    I’m sure even artists from time to time think it’d be good to have their music listened to by something beyond a hardcore tiny group of fanatics. I don’t have a problem with that — after all, how many times could anyone do something like “Lamb” or “Supper’s Ready”? And would you need to? After burning myself out like that, and according to all their bio’s it’s what happened, maybe I’d have moved on too.

  61. 61.

    Cat Lady

    Wonderful Sunday morning fare – Peter Gabriel touches a deep place. In Your Eyes – that expression of love – wow. But this goes even deeper. The Blood of Eden. With Sinead O’Connor. Also.

  64. 64.

    beltane

    I love all things Peter Gabriel, but the song that will have to be played to me on my deathbed is the Kink’s “Waterloo Sunset”.

  66. 66.

    jinxtigr

    I’m pretty sure he had Tony Levin (the gifted bass player who is NOT Gordon Liddy) skipping in a circle- that or he asked everybody and some of the musicians preferred to walk with dignity and Tony’s the one willing to skip :)

    Tony Levin is like seven feet tall, him skipping in a circle is hilarious and adorable :)

  67. 67.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Gina #55: do you know the wonderful Oscar Brown Jr song “A Tree and Me”? I like the version Karrin Allyson did on her album *Footprints* a few years ago. I’d link, but my link-fu sucks. However, my copy-and-paste-fu is just fine; here are the lyrics:

    Please carve no cold headstone for me
    But rather plant a sapling tree
    And lay my ashes ‘neath its foot
    So through my body it takes root
    Then as the seasons come and go
    My monument and I will grow
    Wave bright green flags at summer sky
    And harbor birds who happen by
    We’ll bronze each autumn, bloom with spring
    And wear the white coats winters bring
    The tree I marry with my dust
    Will husband me with rooted thrusts
    Our seed will scatter far and wide
    Across God’s fertile countryside
    And soon an arbor family
    Will share our immortality
    A tree and me…a tree and me

  68. 68.

    Svensker

    I want Matthias Goerne to sing Bach’s Ich Habe Genug at my funeral. One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard and the ultimate in sadness. Everyone will be VERY depressed.

  69. 69.

    bago

    Yeesh. All of these albums before Nine Inch Nails, Juno Reactor, and Tool. That was 20 years ago people!

  71. 71.

    Svensker

    @Robert Sneddon:

    Am I the only one that understands the words and themes of Solsbury Hill as a Christian allegory? Puzzled…

    Never in a million years thought of it, but, yes, sure the hell sounds like it.

  72. 72.

    bemused

    I really enjoy the snarky/sarcastic comments here but often even the most snark savvy miss the intention which can lead to wtf and occasional flare ups. Usually the snark is obvious but once in awhile even a BJ regular will miss it. Using some sort of snark symbol can avoid confusion but can also take away some of the fun of snarking.
    It’s odd that with sarcasm, irony and snark so prevalent on liberal blogs, that there isn’t one popular snark symbol that has emerged as the most commonly used. There is / or .~ or :) among others and the horrible bouncing emoticons but I haven’t noticed one that has caught on as the most popular.

  74. 74.

    ThresherK

    @Andy K: “My Way” is an English lyric (with no relation) fitted to a French song. I’m not appointing myself the arbiter, but in accordance with the typical result of Franco-to-Anglo adaptation, that’s what one gets.

    The original song (I don’t understand French) is a lament about a marriage called “As Usual”.

  75. 75.

    scott (the other one)

    Am I the only one that understands the words and themes of Solsbury Hill as a Christian allegory? Puzzled…

    I think it works quite well as a Christian allegory…but you do know it’s about him leaving Genesis, yes?

    (The eagle, by the by? Bruce Springsteen. Truth. According to Dave Marsh, PG saw Springsteen’s first-ever London show and it convinced him that he had to leave Genesis and get back to the sort of more soul-based music that’d inspired him to become a musician in the first place.)

  76. 76.

    Gina

    @Omnes Omnibus: @THE: YES! Big scary birdies FTW! I don’t know why it appeals – perhaps because I’m always caring for and feeding various scary-looking critters here in daily life, and I like gardening, the whole birth-death-decay-new life thing resonates.

    The Towers of Silence seem much less labor-intensive than the Tibetan version. Not so efficient from the East Coast of the US though, so I guess I’ll go modified and do the organ-harvest til not much is left, then burn the rest, compost it and put the compost around all the berry bushes that the not-scary birds around here love so much.

  78. 78.

    Ruckus

    @Robert Sneddon:
    Am I the only one that understands the words and themes of Solsbury Hill as a Christian allegory?

    That’s always been my take. Still not a bad song, and says more about real christianity than what an awful lot of people today seem to think.

  80. 80.

    low-tech cyclist

    Got to admit, this song drives me up the wall. That same four notes between every line is like a headache that won’t go away by the time I’m thirty seconds into the song.

    Imagine Beethoven’s Fifth if, after every eight notes of anything else, he returned to the initial TA TA TA TUM. It would reek, quite frankly. And Gabriel’s four notes are a hell of a lot less interesting than Beethoven’s.

    You’re welcome to play it at my deathbed – after I’ve already kicked, and am no longer around to be annoyed by it.

  81. 81.

    Andy K

    @ThresherK:

    I’m not appointing myself the arbiter, but in accordance with the typical result of Franco-to-Anglo adaptation, that’s what one gets.

    Go ahead and appoint yourself. I’ll provide example #2:

    Terry Jacks Seasons In the Sun

  83. 83.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Fax Paladin:

    OK, here’s another one for youse who are knowledgeable about popular beat combo music of a certain age:

    Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights” — in this song is Katheeeeeee a vampire? The lyrics say “fangfucker” to me, anybody else get that from the words?

  84. 84.

    PanurgeATL

    @low-tech cyclist:

    Interesting you should say that, because most of the music in the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth relates to that TA-TA-TA-TUM pretty directly. That’s how he worked.

    I do know what you mean, though; I just don’t get it from “Solsbury Hill”. I do get it from, say, that guitar glide in “How Soon Is Now”.

  85. 85.

    PanurgeATL

    @El Cid:

    In the long run, maybe it would’ve been better for them to space such things out over a longer period of time; maybe they wouldn’t have gotten to a point where they felt they needed to turn their backs on it (though there are “Domino” and “Fading Lights” and the “Home By The Sea” sequence) and maybe if other bands had done so as well the whole “prog-rock” thing wouldn’t have the negative street-cred it possesses pretty much to this day. Ah, well…

  86. 86.

    Anne Laurie

    @Robert Sneddon: Sounded like the archetypical Vision Quest to me, from the first time I heard it. Of course, that’s the beauty to poetry (including song lyrics): its compression both requires our attention and allows us to make our own very personal interpretations, yes?

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