Rarely do I allow myself to write with lyrical music on in the background. The words don’t always jive with what I picture in my head, and tend to distract me from the goal of the scene.
And yet, there are some songs that work on a level where the music and the words are intrinsic to each other, like a vine that climbs the old iron fence and flowers before your eyes. You can’t remove the fence, and you can’t remove the vine, for together they create a single unique image. The individual components are now in union, and for the better.
That’s one of the reasons I enjoy Peter Gabriel’s rendition of “Heroes” so much. Set apart, the strings are just. Breathtaking. The build is dramatically, almost painfully slow, but you know they’re building, so you’re willing to stay, and well up with them. Touch the stars with them. Return to earth with them.
Set apart, Gabriel himself is just. Heartbreaking. The song itself shares a deep hope, yet when Gabriel sings it, there’s this sense of fate–for all the crying out to the heavens, the singer will continue to be alone, for his hope can never be truly fulfilled.
United, this song transcends to a Shakespearean height in longing, love, and imagination.
The first time I heard this song, a scene formed in my head, bright and complete. It’s a rare experience for me, to see a piece of story in such detail–usually I can only hear the dialogue, or see something important, and have to clean up the fuzzy bits over the course of multiple revisions.
Not that scene, though. This song brought it to me, whole and beautiful, and it’s stayed as it was first drafted. Perhaps this song will help you uncover that precious, bittersweet something hidden beneath the starlight.
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Jean Lee's World 
Strings always touch the soul.
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They do, they really do. And Gabriel consistently uses them brilliantly on many of these songs. Piano, too.
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He does. It is wonderful the way this builds and builds x
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He has a few other songs like this, but I had to choose. Gah, I hate choosing! 🙂
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He has a lot of great songs…kind of quietly so in a way.
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I meant to add my older girl is having a Peter Gabriel song at her wedding. It will be lovely.
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Oh, that’s perfect!
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LOVE Peter Gabriel, though my all-time favourite of his is San Jacinto, closely followed by Beko…:)
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Those are lovely, too. I hope to write another post on one of his own songs–his album NEW BLOOD has so many beautiful orchestrations on it. Thank you for reading!
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You’re welcome – it was a pleasure!
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Very intense. The whole album is brilliant.
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It is. It’s one of my favorites. I hope to write about NEW BLOOD sometime, where he creates orchestral music for his own hits. So, so beautiful.
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As the daughter of an L.A. Philharmonic violinist, I defintiely look forward to reading your post about NEW BLOOD! (My father used to say that when he was little he thought the sound of a violin was a woman’s voice…)
Such ***beautiful*** writing of yours in this post! I love the vivid imagery of the vine & the old iron fence and how you relate them to the synergy of music & words.
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I also use his music when writing, it’s perfect for creating atmosphere and to evoke the right sort of emotions needed to write certain situations or characters.
He… was one I have on my blog that I used his music for. It was Peter Gabriels’ – The Feeling Begins.
https://touchofcinnamon.com/writings/he/
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Oh that’s a gorgeous one, a favorite from the score LAST TEMPTATION.
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I’m with you with Gabriel and this song. He has a unique way to deliver a song which can transform its feel. I saw Johnny Depp sing this song in Manchester. It was really really good, much heavier but was delivered with real emotion.
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That’s what nails this song–the bittersweet passion that goes with it.
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