Date: Thu, 28 Mar 1996
To: solsbury@digital.net
Subject: Will my English teacher like Pete?
One wonders. In any case, I have included two Petesongs in an
anthology of Stuff I Like That's Written Down, and I wrote this
bit for the preface...
The first two songs in the collection are both by Peter Gabriel. Peter Gabriel, ever since I discovered him just before my sixteenth birthday, has been a powerful force in my life. At least his music has. He used to sing for Genesis, and both of these songs are from that era- but in the years after the hated (at least by me and my other Pete-loving friend) Phil Collins made a poor attempt at stepping into his shoes, he has had a long and fruitful solo career. As for my own undying adoration of Peter's music- any man who pretends to be a flower and mows the stage is my kind of guy (my contribution to the "Why we love PG" list on Solsbury Hill, a homepage devoted to Peter Gabriel and the pursuit of ever better forms of coffee).
"Lilywhite Lillith" is about my favorite song on _The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway_. It would be hard to say just why this is, other than the imagery the song projects for me- but it also has something to do with the way the words are put together and how Peter sings it. The lyrics alone, though, are enough for to make me happy. That and my friend's skilled depiction of Lilywhite Lillith, the woman in the song.
"Willow Farm" is, as I have oft repeated to people when jumping about singing it, part five of the seven-part song, "Supper's Ready" on the album _Foxtrot_. The lyrics are fun and hop from theme to theme, often making little sense, unless you have read the portion of the tourbook that supposedly explains "Supper's Ready." To add to the fun, when he performed it in the early seventies, Peter wore a flower mask and made crazy eyes at the audience, all while hopping about in an eminently odd manner. The sight of this on video was, unquestionably, what got me hooked (as i enjoy doing the exact same things, only not at concerts) and it was also the first song of his that I memorized.
Kali que danca com torrada