Peter Gabriel's Genius in His Seventies

Six gems from his 2023 album I/O

This is the third of my four posts about the genius of Peter Gabriel. — Mike

Musical intelligence and genius, Howard Gardner told us in the 1980s, arrives early in life and usually doesn’t last long. A few musicians are exceptions. Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) composed great songs into his seventies. But it’s hard to think of a rock musician who has.

So it is all the more amazing that Peter Gabriel (1950-) brought out a great album in 2023 — at age 73. He still has that rare sandy voice of his, and he has rare staying power. He was a genius in his twenties; he is still a genius in his seventies.

These two hours of songs were Gabriel’s first original music since 2002, and the album was 28 years in the making. I/O was worth the wait.

The songs are simpler than the songs of his younger days. And slower and gentler and mellower and subtler. The songs have even more of a timeless quality, marked by a sweet appreciation of his mortality. They reach even more deliberatively and thoughtfully for truth about the things that really matter. And they reach into the core of our souls.

The 12 pairs of songs — each on the jaunty Bright-Side Mix and on the glum Dark-Side Mix — show us that Peter Gabriel remains a legendary artist. Critics praise his songwriting and his vocals, and for the first time since 1986, Gabriel topped the UK Albums Chart.

Peter Gabriel has shaped our lives — and made us better people — because he “gets” life. To me, six of his songs on I/O rank up there with his most brilliant songs. His voice, which has aged beautifully, is as good as ever — expressive and clear — and his message about human nature is as authentic and uplifting as ever. Here are the six new Peter Gabriel songs I now count among my favorite songs of all time:

6. “Live and Let Live”

   Gabriel offers us a meaningful and evocative song that calls us into a place of courageous forgiveness. When we are burning with hurt and anger and hatred and vengeance, we can remain stuck there, belonging to our burden, or we can let our burden go and move on. As the hurt spins around in our mind, we can listen to the voice of our elders — President Mandela, Rev. Tutu, Dr. King — and, as we realize that “an eye for an eye” will leave the whole world blind, we can choose to lay our shackles down one by one.

5. “So Much”

With this poignant song, Gabriel draws us into the reminiscences of an older man as he remembers his younger years as flashes of fired rockets shooting for the sun. Now, with an aging body, even as his life winds down, even as he’s humbled by his limits, the man still yearns to make a difference, to live so much more, to give so much more. He knows that there is still a warm child within his being. He knows that there is still warmth between him and other people. And he resets his compass, navigates forward again, and aims to complete his course.

4. “i/o”

   A true gem. Gabriel conveys to us an upbeat sense of our connectedness in life’s holistic flow. Each of us stood up and learned to sing. We learned, we spread out. Most of all, we’ve learned that we don’t live apart. We are connected. Like water, life and energy and information — and love — are flowing freely into and out of each of us. Each of us is a part of everything. We all belong to everything.

   3. “Road to Joy”

   As you listen to this cool and funky song, imagine you have a near-death experience. Your body is brittle, swollen, and sore. Things turn dark and your body is surely gone. And then you come back into the world and wake up. You are alive. The blood flows again through your whole body from your head to your toes. Every part of you wakes up. Even better, your mind reveals to you who you are. You see a sharp picture in your head of your best self. You listen to the voices around you. You dance. You feel the warm love. You open up. And you choose to be that best self you are now visualizing you can be.

   

   2. “Love Can Heal”

   A true treasure. This song tenderly touches us and then peacefully soothes us in some deep space in our inner being. Its atmosphere is ethereal and spiritual, its sounds are mesmerizing and intoxicating. As Gabriel sings about the mess you’re in, your edifice slipping away and your defensiveness, and then sings of you breathing and facing sunlight and colors and a bed of green, you might tear up. Whether you shed a tear or not, you will surely leave the song ready to give in to the miraculous blessing of healing love — and then go out and share it.

1. “Playing for Time”

   This masterpiece is not only one of Peter Gabriel’s best songs ever, it is the best song by any musician in 2023. It is one of those rare songs I call a perfect song. It is pure. It is sublime.

   With both sadness and hope, it speaks to our souls. As the beginning dirge builds to a full orchestral tune, Gabriel offers us a subtly evocative lamentation. He reflects on the passing of life, on our brokenness, and on our nagging suspicions about the ways we’re wasting our time.

   The planet is spinning slowly. Our memories ebb and flow. Moments come and go. The young move to the center of the photo as the elders move toward the frame. The clock keeps ticking. Time has the power. Time rings the bell. One by one each voice is silenced. We keep looking for a flicker in the face of the clock. And we keep climbing.

   But even now, the light is moving. We are still reaching for a more authentic state of soul. Each moment we bring to life has value. All that we’ve been through, and everyone we care about, and all this love, is held in here, inside us. We don’t notice how we’re all playing for time, but as our unpacked memories lie stored away, the future still shines for us through this one sunny day.