Talk:Peter Gabriel (IV Security)

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I've slightly edited some of the song interpretations contained in the article, as some of them are at best misunderstood, and at their worst, utterly mistaken. For example, shock the monkey is absolutely nothing to do with animal experimentation, nor is there any imagery evoked thereof. Gabriel has been at pains to explain, in song introductions at shows and as well as contained within the Spencer Bright biography, that the song is about jealousy - the shock therein the protagonist's anxiety at the 'discovery' (imagined or otherwise) of infidelity. The anxiety is highlighted to such an extent because one of the over-arching themes of the album is that of the overtaking of the somewhat more naturalistic aspects of humanity (as Gabriel saw them) by other, more artificial and ironically man-made ideals. The ideas of trust, communication and influence, coupled with their attachment to nature, enduring culture and ritual, are explored in every one of the songs, the antagonism generated by the meeting of the two providing much of the album's power and insight. For example, the Family and the Fishing Net explores the 'hidden' rituals performed within marriage ceremonies - a throwback to ancient rites, but retained, juxtaposed against modern convention. The theme is repeated in San Jacinto, where the titular mountain towers over the valley of golf courses, swimming pools and Frank Sinatras below, the mountain itself, a symbol of the recession of Native American culture (it is the mountain the boy of the story has to get back down after being bitten by a snake in order to become a brave) being submerged in the mainstream americana below. The album's first track is the most obvious juxtaposition of the two, detailing Jung's trip to Africa, whereby being confronted with the impassioned dances of locals to hynoptic drumming, Jung unavoidably confronted his own nature, his own constitution as a man at its most base level - a look into his own soul - which profoundly disturbed him. The song's build-up and climax describe this encounter. I could go on but to do so would be overstating the case and may ruin some of the enjoyment a listener may get from seeing the connections in other songs. - unsigned comment by 81.79.230.0 on 01:17 (UTC), February 10, 2006

""Shock the Monkey" a mediation on jealousy ..." Is that supposed to be a meditation on jealousy? Boris B 03:47, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes, fixed. "Jacques the Manqué" as about how French men with this name feel a sense of failure. Fantailfan 12:35, 19 August 2006 (UTC)