Peter Gabriel – Solsbury Hill

I will be the first to admit that I don’t know much about Peter Gabriel. In 2020, Graham from Aphoristic Album Reviews had a B-side by Genesis called Inside and Out. He also had a B-side from them the year before that really impressed me. It was one of the first real exposures I’ve had to that era of Genesis, and it was quite different from what I expected. I liked what I heard from Peter Gabriel’s era at that time.

I was reading blogs last week when I read Nancy’s blog on this song. I listened to it and loved it, and I urge everyone to go see her post. My friend Dave has also posted some of Gabriel’s music. 

Genesis had grown into a theatrical beast, complete with fox-head costumes and fifteen-minute suites. But Gabriel was feeling hemmed in, creatively and spiritually. He needed air and some risk. This was Peter Gabriel before Sledgehammer, before Shock the Monkey, before he was an international ambassador for world music. 

He had left Genesis the year or so before, stepping away from the elaborate costumes, the long storylines, and the prog rock labyrinth he helped create. Many expected something equally grandiose for his solo debut. Instead, he delivered a track so personal, introspective, and melodic that it was firmly down to earth. This song was about his dealing with his departure from Genesis and anticipation of his new challenge as a solo artist. Solsbury Hill is a real place near Bath, England, where Gabriel reportedly walked to clear his head after leaving Genesis.

The song was released in 1977. The single did well for a debut. It peaked at #13 in the UK, #92 in Canada, and #68 on the Billboard Album Charts. The album was called Peter Gabriel, as were his next 3 albums. It peaked at #7 in the UK, #30 in Canada, #38 in New Zealand, and #38 on the Billboard Album Charts. 

Solsbury Hill

Climbing up on Solsbury HillI could see the city lightWind was blowing, time stood stillEagle flew out of the night

He was something to observeCame in close, I heard a voiceStanding, stretching every nerveI had to listen, had no choice

I did not believe the informationJust had to trust imaginationMy heart going “Boom-boom-boom”“Son, ” he said“Grab your things, I’ve come to take you home”Hey, back home

To keep in silence I resignedMy friends would think I was a nutTurning water into wineOpen doors would soon be shut

So I went from day to dayThough my life was in a rut‘Til I thought of what I’d sayWhich connection I should cut

I was feeling part of the sceneryI walked right out of the machineryMy heart going “Boom-boom-boom”“Hey, ” he said“Grab your things, I’ve come to take you home”Hey, back home

When illusion spin her netI’m never where I wanna beAnd liberty, she pirouetteWhen I think that I am free

Watched by empty silhouettesWho close their eyes but still can seeNo one taught them etiquetteI will show another me

Today I don’t need a replacementI’ll tell them what the smile on my face meantMy heart going “Boom-boom-boom”“Hey, ” I said“You can keep my things, they’ve come to take me home”

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

55 thoughts on “Peter Gabriel – Solsbury Hill”

  3. Pingback: Peter Gabriel – Solsbury Hill – MobsterTiger

  4. I had heard Solsbury Hill ten’s of times, most notably in the Cameron Crowe – Vanilla Sky film (Great soundtrack btw!), but I never put 2 and 2 together.
    Like you, I’m largely unfamiliar with Gabriel (apart from his So album) and Genesis, but this is a really good song. This all reminds that there is a Genesis song I loved in my youth which I must try to find now.

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    1. I haven’t heard it that much at all…so this is new to me….which is a good place to be!
      Yea Genesis before Phil singing…I’m lost but I’m starting to explore.

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  6. I think “Solsbury Hill” may have been the first Peter Gabriel song I heard on the radio. I’ve always loved it and feel it’s one of his most accessible earlier songs. I only started paying closer attention to Gabriel’s solo work when he came out with “So” in 1986.

    In the wake of that great album was also the only time I saw him, in Cologne, Germany – great show! One thing I remember is how Gabriel interacted with spotlights that were mounted on telescopic arms that moved toward him and then retracted. My description doesn’t do the action justice, but it looked really cool.

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    1. Those eighties songs were my first and for decades…the only exposure. This is more my wheelhouse as far as sound.
      Yea he must have been great to see live…he did believe in putting on a show no doubt.

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      2. Yea…but So didn’t hit me like a lot of people…you don’t have to guess why lol…that sound…so listening to this acoustic driven song…is like brilliant!
        But I agree….it’s an acquired taste….

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    1. I first saw him on MTV…I liked some of those songs of the 80s but I love this. He is a great artist and a complete out of the box one at that.

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    1. Yes it was….that is what surprised me. When I hear the word Prog…I think of Yes or someone like that…so I think I will like his version of Genesis a lot.

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  9. Thanks for the mention & link! His leaving Genesis was a rare case where both sides benefitted greatly…he had more freedom & put out some big-selling , award-winning albums & Genesis let Phil Collins move to the front, went in a pop direction & went from cult following to one of the biggest bands in the world. This is a fine song and funny thing, not a hit when it came out (at least here) but now accepted as a staple of ’70s Music and Alt rock radio

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    1. I love this….it is still prog but down to earth at the same time. I’m not as big of a fan of the 80s stuff…wow who would have thought that? LOL…but I love this….I’m going to listen to some early Genesis.

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  10. Yeah, I like the song, maybe..it’s like that hit that keeps on giving, I do like PG’s connection to Canada and Bob Ezrin…but it’s that hit you hear over and over and over again, and covered-Sarah McLachlan meh? Canadian celtic band Coig which is awesome) saying that, a huge fan of Gabriel…always unique marches his own way and takes his chances….

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    1. He is unique no doubt. In the 80s I saw that completely…but I like this a lot…I’ve never listened much to early Genesis but I wan to do that.

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    1. Yea…just hearing the song…it has everything you would want…I thought it would have done better as well.

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  12. It was amazing how many people selected Genisus or its offspring last week for the Song Lyric Sunday theme of finding a song from a compilation or greatest hits album. I have heard this a lot lately, but it is the kind of song that you never get tired of.

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  15. Years ago two Canuck bands showed up to town Finger 11 and I Mother Earth and they jammed this tune together . 10 guys, two bands acoustically.
    In one word… “brilliant”

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  16. I came to most of Peter Gabriel’s music late, long after he’d gone solo. I’ve always loved Solsbury Hill, possibly his best early song.

    My favourite by far, though, is a later song called In Your Eyes, the best version of which is from his Secret World tour:

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  18. I follow a guy out of Kit Carson, Co. Ever heard of Radioman? He is a huge Gabriel fan. Interviewed him. Radioman is Keith Curry. We are all the same age. He has YEARS of music posts on BitChute. Gabriel was kinda strange when fronting Genesis but, once “Shock the Monkey” came out, I was a fan.

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    1. LOL…that is why I didn’t like him…Shock the Monkey and Sledge Hammer…too much of that damn 80s production…it left me cold…but this…this I love!

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      1. Gabriel has morphed over the years. With Genesis, it was weird Prog Rock. Once he left, he had to deal with 80s production. Shock The Monkey was clearly a throwback from his early years but, the music was 80s. Ever heard Games Without Frontiers? As he has aged, his music has become less “in your face.” That voice of his is so unique…reminds me of Dolores O’Riordan.

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      2. I’m listening to it now…I like the melody of it and it’s not too bad produced…it’s not heavy 80s anyway. So I like that one.
        Imagine something…imagine a good song but with Neil Youngs voice (for you…you hate his voice…I love his voice)…that is how that 80s sound gets to me…it distracts from the song…like fingernails on a chalk board.
        I just heard Ann Wilson say the other day…they would love to redo their 80s stuff again just so they could strip that crap off.

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      4. Ok…those are the exceptions…but you get my point…and there are some 80s songs I can stomach with that stuff in it…Howard Jones – No One Is To Blame…so I do like a few.

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      7. With the exception of the hair metal bands…they forgot what a guitar was… but yea…it’s the production…and yea…it was way too much.

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  19. Peter has been sporadically good at avoiding the spotlight for intervals and dropping a track that clicked with the charts, starting with this one. Games Without Frontiers, Sledgehammer and Don’t Give Up being the biggest and best. When he was on fire, he was hot!

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  20. Peter Gabriel searches for deep soul understanding of life that’s not provided by 80s pop songs he started with. “Your Eyes” is one example..

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