Peter Gabriel
Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats

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next song Peter Gabriel: Passion Peter Gabriel: Secret World Peter Gabriel: Revisited Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: Plays Live Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel (1st album: Car) Solsbury Hill
(Gabriel)
Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night
He was something to observe
Came in close, I heard a voice
Standing stretching every nerve
Had to listen had no choice
I did not believe the information
[I] just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom boom boom
"Son," he said "Grab your things,
          I've come to take you home."

To keepin' silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Tho' my life was in a rut
"Till I thought of what I'd say
Which connection I should cut
I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" he said "Grab your things
         I've come to take you home."


When illusion spin her net
I'm never where I want to be
And liberty she pirouette
When I think that I am free
Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes but still can see
No on taught them etiquette
I will show another me
Today I don't need a replacement
I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" I said "You can keep my things,
          they've come to take me home."
next song previous song Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: Plays Live Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel (3rd album: Melt) I Don't Remember
(Gabriel)
I got no means to show identification
I got no papers show you what I am
You'll have to take me just the way that you find me
What's gone is gone and I do not give a damn
Empty stomach, empty head
I got empty heart and empty bed
I don't remember
I don't remember

I don't remember, I don't recall
I got no memory of anything at all
I don't remember, I don't recall
next song previous song Peter Gabriel: Secret World Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: So Sledgehammer
(Gabriel)
you could have a steam train
if you'd just lay down your tracks
you could have an aeroplane flying
if you bring your blue sky back

all you do is call me
I'll be anything you need

you could have a big dipper
going up and down, all around the bends
you could have a bumper car, bumping
the amusement never ends

I want to be your sledgehammer
why don't you call my name
oh let me be your sledgehammer
this will be my testimony

show me round your fruitcage
'cause I will be your honey bee
open up your fruitcage
where the fruit is as sweet as can be

I want to be your sledgehammer
why don't you call my name
you'd better call the sledgehammer
put your mind at rest
I'm going to be-the sledgehammer
this can be my testimony
I'm your sledgehammer
let there be no doubt about it

sledge sledge sledgehammer

I've kicked the habit
shed my skin
this is the new stuff
I go dancing in, we go dancing in
oh won't you show for me
and I will show for you
show for me, I will show for you
yea, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I do mean you
only you
you've been coming through
going to build that powerr
build, build up that power, hey
I've been feeding the rhythm
I've been feeding the rhythm
going to feel that power, build in you
come on, come on, help me do
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you
I've been feeding the rhythm
I've been feeding the rhythm
it's what we're doing, doing
all day and night
next song previous song Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: Birdy Peter Gabriel: Plays Live Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel (3rd album: Melt) Family Snapshot
(Gabriel)
The streets are lined with camera crews
Everywhere he goes is news
Today is different
Today is not the same
Today I make the action
Take snapshot into the light, snapshot into the light
I'm shooting into the light

Four miles down the cavalcade moves on
Driving into the sun
If I worked it out right
They won't see me or the gun

Two miles to go, they're clearing the road
The cheering has really begun
I've got my radio
I can hear what's going on

I've been waiting for this
I have been waiting for this
All you people in TV land
I will wake up your empty shells
Peak-time viewing blown in a flash
As I burn into your memory cells
'Cos I'm alive

They're coming 'round the corner with the bikers at the front
I'm wiping the sweat from my eyes


And the governor's car is not far behind
He's not the one I've got in mind
'Cos there he is-the man of the hour, standing in the limousine
"I don't really hate you

We were made for each other

I want to be somebody

 If you don't get given you learn to take
And I will take you."

Holding my breath
Release the catch
And I let the bullet fly

All turned quiet-I have been here before
Lonely boy hiding behind the front door
Friends have all gone home
There's my toy gun on the floor
Come back Mum and Dad
You're growing apart
You know that I'm growing up sad
I need some attention
I shoot into the light
next song previous song Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: So Mercy Street
(Gabriel)
looking down on empty streets, all she can see
are the dreams all made solid
are the dreams all made real

all of the buildings, all of those cars
were once just a dream
in somebody's head

she pictures the broken glass, she pictures the steam
she pictures a soul
with no leak at the seam

lets take the boat out
wait until darkness
let's take the boat out
wait until darkness comes

nowhere in the corridors of pale green and grey
nowhere in the suburbs
in the cold light of day

there in the midst of it so alive and alone
words support like bone

dreaming of mercy st.
wear your inside out
dreaming of mercy
in your daddy's arms again
dreaming of mercy st.
'swear they moved that sign
dreaming of mercy
in your daddy's arms

pulling out the papers from the drawers that slide smooth
tugging at the darkness, word upon word

confessing all the secret things in the warm velvet box
to the priest-he's the doctor
he can handle the shocks

dreaming of the tenderness-the tremble in the hips
of kissing Mary's lips

dreaming of mercy st.
wear your insides out
dreaming of mercy
in your daddy's arms again
dreaming of mercy st.
'swear they moved that sign
looking for mercy
in your daddy's arms

mercy, mercy, looking for mercy
mercy, mercy, looking for mercy

Anne, with her father is out in the boat
riding the water
riding the waves on the sea
next song previous song Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: Secret World Shaking The Tree
(Gabriel/Youssou N'Dour)
We are shaking the tree (2 times)

Waiting your time, dreaming of a better life
Waiting your time, you're more than just a wife
You don't want to do what your mother has done
(she has done)
This is your life, this new life has begun
It's your day -- a woman's day
It's your day -- a woman's day

Turning the tide, you are on the incoming wave
Turning the tide, you know you are nobody's slave
Find your sisters and brothers who can hear all the truth
In what you say
They can support you when you're on your way
It's your day -- a woman's day
It's your day -- a woman's day

We are shaking the tree (2 times)

Changing your ways, changing those surrounding you
Changing your ways, more than any man can do
Open your heart, show him the anger and pain
So you heal
Maybe he's looking for his womanly side

And you feel you had to be so strong
And you do nothing wrong, nothing wrong at all
We're gonna to break it down
We have to shake it down, shake it all around

We are shaking the tree (repeat and fade)
next song previous song Peter Gabriel: Secret World Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: So Don't Give Up
(Gabriel)
in this proud land we grew up strong
we were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win
I never thought I could fail

no fight left or so it seems
I am a man whose dreams have all deserted
I've changed my face, I've changed my name
but no one wants you when you lose

don't give up
'cos you have friends
don't give up
you're not beaten yet
don't give up
I know you can make it good

though I saw it all around
never thought that I could be affected
thought that we'd be last to go
it is so strange the way things turn

drove the night toward my home
the place where I was born, on the lakeside
as daylight broke, I saw the earth
the trees had burned down to the ground

don't give up
you still have us
don't give up
we don't need much of anything
don't give up
'cause somewhere there's a place
where we belong

rest your head
you worry too much
it's going to be alright
when times get rough
you can fall back on us
don't give up
please don't give up

'got to walk out of here
I can't take anymore
going to stand on that bridge
keep my eyes down below
whatever may come
and whatever may go
that river's flowing
that river's flowing

moved on to another town
tried hard to settle down
for every job, so many men
so many men no-one needs

don't give up
'cause you have friends
don't give up
you're not the only one
don't give up
no reason to be ashamed
don't give up
you still have us
don't give up now
we're proud of who you are
don't give up
you know it's never been easy
don't give up
'cause I believe there's a place
there's a place where we belong
next song previous song Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: Birdy Peter Gabriel: Plays Live Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel (4th album: Security) San Jacinto
(Gabriel)
Thick cloud - steam rising - hissing stone on sweat lodge fire
Around me - buffalo robe - sage in bundle - run on skin
Outside - cold air - stand, wait for rising sun
Red paint - eagle feathers - coyote calling - it has begun
Something moving in - I taste it in my mouth and in my heart
It feels like dying - slow - letting go of life
Medicine man lead me up though town - Indian ground - so far down
Cut up land - each house - a pool - kids wearing water wings
   - drink in cool
Follow dry river bed - watch Scout and Guides make pow-wow signs
Past Geronimo's disco - Sit 'n' Bull steakhouse - white men dream
A rattle in the old man's sack - look at mountain top - keep
   climbing up
Way above us the desert snow - white wind blow

I hold the line - the line of strength that pulls me through the
   fear
San Jacinto - I hold the line
San Jacinto - the poison bite and darkness take my sight - I hold
   the line
And the tears roll down my swollen cheek - think I'm losing it -
   getting weaker
I hold the line - I hold the line
San Jacinto - tellow eagle flies down from the sun - from the sun

      We will walk - on the land
      We will breathe - of the air
      We will drink - from the stream
      We will live - hold the line
next song previous song Peter Gabriel: Revisited Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel (1st album: Car) Here Comes The Flood
(Gabriel)
When the night shows
the signals grow on radios
All the strange things
they come and go, as early warnings
Stranded starfish have no place to hide
still waiting for the swollen Easter tide
There's no point in direction we cannot
             even choose a side.

I took the old track
the hollow shoulder, across the waters
On the tall cliffs
they were getting older, sons and daughters
The jaded underworld was riding high
Waves of steel hurled metal at the sky
and as the nail sunk in the cloud, the rain
             was warm and soaked the crowd.

Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent
in any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.

When the flood calls
You have no home, you have no walls
In the thunder crash
You're a thousand minds, within a flash
Don't be afraid to cry at what you see
The actors gone, there's only you and me
And if we break before the dawn, they'll
            use up what we used to be.

Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent
in any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.

< Repeat chorus once >
next song previous song Peter Gabriel: Secret World Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: So Red Rain
(Gabriel)
red rain is coming down
red rain
red rain is pouring down
pouring down all over me

I am standing up at the water's edge in my dream
I cannot make a single sound as you scream
it can't be that cold, the ground is still warm to touch
this place is so quiet, sensing that storm

red rain is coming down
red rain
red rain is pouring down
pouring down all over me

well I've seen them buried in a sheltered place in this town
they tell you that this rain can sting, and look down
there is no blood around see no sign of pain
hay ay ay no pain
seeing no red at all, see no rain

red rain is coming down
red rain
red rain is pouring down
pouring down all over me

red rain-
putting the pressure on much harder now
to return again and again
just let the red rain splash you
let the rain fall on your skin
I come to you defences down
with the trust of a child

red rain is coming down
red rain
red rain is pouring down
pouring down all over me
and I can't watch any more
no more denial
it's so hard to lay down in all of this
red rain is coming down
red rain is pouring down
red rain is coming down all over me
I see it
red rain is coming down
red rain is pouring down
red rain is coming down all over me
I'm bathing in it
red rain coming down
red rain is coming down
red rain is coming down all over me
I'm begging you
red rain coming down
red rain coming down
red rain coming down
red rain coming down
over me in the red red sea
over me
over me
red rain
next song previous song Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel (3rd album: Melt) Games Without Frontiers
(Gabriel)
Hans plays with Lotte, Lotte plays with Jane
Jane plays with Willi, Willi is happy again
Suki plays with Leo, Sacha plays with Britt
Adolf builts a bonfire, Enrico plays with it


It's a knockout
If looks could kill, they probably will
In games without frontiers-war without tears
Games without frontiers-war without tears

Jeux sans frontieres
Jeux sans frontieres
Jeux sans frontieres

Andre has sa red flag, Chiang Ching's is blue
They all have hills to fly them on except for Lin Tai Yu
Dressing up in costumes, playing silly games
Hiding out in tree-tops shouting out rude names


It's a knockout
If looks could kill they probably will
In games without frontiers-wars without tears
If looks could kill they probably will
In games without frontiers-war without tears
Games without frontiers-war without tears

Jeux sans frontieres
Jeux sans frontieres
Jeux sans frontieres
next song previous song Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: Plays Live Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel (4th album: Security) Shock The Monkey
(Gabriel)
Shock the monkey to live
Shock the monkey to live

Cover me when I run
Cover me through the fire
Something knocked me out' the trees
Now I'm on my knees
Cover me, darling please
Monkey, monkey, monkey
Don't you know when you're going to shock the monkey

Fox the fox
Rat the rat
You can ape the ape
I know about that
There is one thing you must be sure of
I can't take any more
Darling, don't you monkey with the monkey
Monkey, monkey, monkey
Don't you know you're going to shock the monkey

     Wheels keep turning
     Something's burning
     Don't like it but I guess I'm learning

Shock! - watch the monkey get hurt, monkey

Cover me, when I sleep
Cover me, when I breathe
You throw your pearls before the swine
Make the monkey blind
Cover me, darling please
Monkey, monkey, monkey
Don't you know you're going to shock the monkey

     Too much at stake
     Ground beneath me shake
     And the news is breaking

Shock! - watch the monkey get hurt, monkey

Shock the monkey
Shock the monkey
Shock the monkey to life
next song previous song Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: Plays Live Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel (4th album: Security) I Have The Touch
(Gabriel)
The time I like is the rush hour, cos I like the rush
The pushing of the people - I like it all so much
Such a mass of motion - do not know where it goes
I move with the movement and ... I have the touch

I'm waiting for ignition, I'm looking for a spark
Any chance collision and I light up in the dark
There you stand before me, all that fur and all that hair
Oh, do I dare ... I have the touch

     Wanting contact
     I'm wanting contact
     I'm wanting contact with you
     Shake those hands, shake those hands
     Give me the thing I understand
     Shake those hands, shake those hands
     Shake those hands, shake those hands

Any social occasion, it's hello, how do you do
All those introductions, I never miss my cue
So before a question, so before a doubt
My hand moves out and ... I have the touch

     Wanting contact
     I'm wanting contact
     I'm wanting contact with you
     Shake those hands, shake those hands
     Give me the thing I understand
     Shake those hands, shake those hands

Pull my chin, stroke my hair, scratch my nose, hug my knees
Try drink, food, cigarette, tension will not ease
I tap my fingers, fold my arms, breathe in deep, cross my legs
Shrug my shoulders, stretch my back - but nothing seems to please

     I need contact
     I need contact
     Nothing seems to please
     I need contact
next song previous song Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: So Big Time
(Gabriel)
I'm on my way, I'm making it
I've got to make it show, yeah
so much larger than life
I'M going to watch it growing

the place where I come from
is a small town
they think so small
and use small words

but not me
I'm smarter than that
I worked it out
I've been stretching my mouth
to let those big words come right out

I've had enough, I'm getting out
to the city, the big big city
I'll be a big noise with all the big boys
so much stuff I will own
and I will pray to a big god
as I kneel in the big church

big time
I'm on my way-I'm making it
big time  big time
I've got to make it show yeah
big time  big time
so much larger than life
big time
I'm going to watch it growing
big time

my parties have all the big names
and I greet them with the widest smile
tell them how my life is one big adventure
and always they're amazed
when I show them round my house to my bed
I had it made like a mountain range
with a snow-white pillow for my big fat head
and my heaven will be a big heaven
and I will walk through the front door

big time
I'm on my way-I'm making it
big time  big time
I've got to make it show-yeah
big time  big time
so much larger than life
I'm going to watch it growing
big time  big time
my car is getting bigger
big time
my house is getting bigger
big time
my eyes are getting bigger
big time
and my mouth
big time
my belly is getting bigger
big time
and my bank account
big time
look at my circumstance
big time
and the bulge in my big big big big big big big
next song previous song Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: Passion Zaar
(Gabriel)
   --- instrumental ---
Peter Gabriel: Us previous song Peter Gabriel: Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats Peter Gabriel: Plays Live Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel (3rd album: Melt) Biko
(Gabriel)
September '77
Port Elizabeth weather fine
It was business as usual
In police room 619
Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko
Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko
Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja


When I try to sleep at night
I can only dream in red
The outside world is black and white
With only one colour dead
Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko
Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko
Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja


You can blow out a candle
But you can't blow out a fire
Once the flames begin to catch
The wind will blow it higher
Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko
Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja


And the eyes of the world are
         watching now
         watching now