Peter Gabriel, “The Boy in the Bubble” (Download)
Before Scratch My Back made it into the hands of the music buying public, I was able to get an advanced copy through my friends at Popdose and give it a good listen. Now, I must confess that Peter Gabriel is an artist that I was very much a fan of back in the ’80s. I even took my mom and dad to see him on the “So” tour back in ’86 (they loved it, by the way). But something happened in the years after So came out: Peter’s music started becoming less inspired and more taken with technique.
When it was announced Gabriel was doing a covers album, I kind of groaned inside. I mean, here’s a guy who’s level of musicianship is in the stratosphere and yet he feels it’s important to devote time and energy to covering songs made famous by other musicians. Crazy. And while this album is not something that you’ll have on high rotation on your iPod, you might find some songs powerful in small doses. Case in point: Gabriel’s cover of “The Boy in the Bubble” (written by Paul Simon). Simon’s version is quirky and the lyrics have a kind of post modern feel of disjointed images smashed together. When Gabriel gets his hands on the song, however, it becomes more of a meditation on the current state of our world. Have a listen for yourself and enjoy!
2 thoughts on “Thursday’s Song: “The Boy In The Bubble””
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I wasn't sure about this at first, because it's SO different. But I warmed up to it, and really like it a lot. You're right, it seems quite timely.
He must have been reading the lyrics and thought "Oh, I know what to do with this song!" Alas, he did roughly the same thing with the other cover tunes. Ah well, I never pegged Gabriel as a Johnny One-Note.