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I see the red dust clear
High up on the red rock
Stands the shadow with the spear
The land here is strong
Strong beneath my feet
it feeds on the blood
it feeds on the heat
The rhythm is below me
The rhythm of the heat
The rhythm is around me
The rhythm has control
The rhythm is inside me
The rhythm has my soul
The rhythm of the heat
The rhythm of the heat
The rhythm of the heat
The rhythm of the heat
Drawn across the plainland
To the place that is higher
Drawn into the circle
That dances round the fire
We spit into out hands
And breathe across the palms
Raising them up high
Help open to the sun
Self-conscious, uncertain
I'm showered with the dust
The spirit enter into me
And I submit to trust
Smash the radio
No outside voices here
Smash the watch
Cannot tear the day to shreds
Smash the camera
Cannot steal away the spirits
The rhythm is around me
The rhythm has control
The rhythm is inside me
The rhythm has my soul
San Jacinto is another outstanding track on this album. One of my favorite to see live.
I saw that tour, in Houston. That opening was moving!
Other things I recall: him walking on the armrests, out into the audience, during Lay Your Hands on Me and I held him up!!
Running and leaping with makeup and wireless mic during Shock the Monkey, only to stand rock still at the finish during Biko.
NO, it's proliferant.
wow! thanks for that vivid story!
Thank goodness you're not in charge around here! Take your negativity back to Facebook, please.
Not enough of peter on here genius
My rating: 9 - OUTSTANDING
Are you asserting that Native American rituals aren't cultural, but are somehow ... what, biological? Magic?
Native Americans don't go to malls in your world?
I don't know about your perception of this song. When it came out I was transfixed and it still has power. I am not so sure that an untrained native American, or for that matter, a skilled musician, would create something with the power of this piece. It is not a little possible that Peter Gabriel based this song on experiences that transcend his specific background. In some ways it speaks to the power that lies unleashed in all human minds, released by various plant-based molecules and lying in wait for those who can get access. The similarity you see to Dances with Wolves is odd, but that's what individual perceptions are about. And the mall? You just wandered pretty far afield there...
Here you go!
For me: 9 - Outstanding :-)
Same for me - what was I thinking only rating this as an 8. Bumping up from an 8 > 9.
Gabriel’s song is based, in large part, on psychologist C.G. Jung’s autobiographical description of a nocturnal ritual dance (the n’goma) among villagers in the Sudan (in Africa). Carl Jung (1875-1961), as you may or may not know, was an influential psychologist and student of Sigmund Freud. In the autobiographical interviews collected in Memories, Dreams, Reflections (New York: Vintage Books, 1961), Jung outlines his own fears of the local villagers in a particular area of the Sudan, that, to him, seemed less welcoming than those in previous African villages.
Sixty men, along with women and children, gathered together and lit fires before beginning what Jung labels “savage singing, drumming, and trumpeting” (p. 271). Jung expresses that “I did not know whether I ought to feel pleased or anxious about this mass display”, a statement which reveals a tension to which I turn below. So the uncomfortable Jung decided to join in the dancing, however hesitantly, and was somewhat comforted to notice the approval he received from the villagers for doing so.
As time passed, Jung reports, “the rhythm of the dance and the drumming accelerated” (p. 271). Here Jung begins to reveal his fears in noting that “the natives easily fall into a virtual state of possession. That was the case now. As eleven o’clock approached, their excitement began to get out of bounds. . . The dancers were being transformed into a wild horde, and I became worried about how it would end” (p. 271).
...
Here, then, was the “advanced” European academic in fear of having his soul stolen by the “rhythm of the heat”, and yet unable to come to terms with his own fear and unable to analyze himself fully, let alone the supposedly “primitive” villagers.'
— The story behind a song: Haunted by “The Rhythm of the Heat” (Peter Gabriel and Carl Jung)
It's easy to dismiss "complex, thoughtful, referential, abstract" as pretentious. Don't the bastards get you down.
hayduke2 wrote:
Gabriel’s song is based, in large part, on psychologist C.G. Jung’s autobiographical description of a nocturnal ritual dance (the n’goma) among villagers in the Sudan (in Africa). Carl Jung (1875-1961), as you may or may not know, was an influential psychologist and student of Sigmund Freud. In the autobiographical interviews collected in Memories, Dreams, Reflections (New York: Vintage Books, 1961), Jung outlines his own fears of the local villagers in a particular area of the Sudan, that, to him, seemed less welcoming than those in previous African villages.
Sixty men, along with women and children, gathered together and lit fires before beginning what Jung labels “savage singing, drumming, and trumpeting” (p. 271). Jung expresses that “I did not know whether I ought to feel pleased or anxious about this mass display”, a statement which reveals a tension to which I turn below. So the uncomfortable Jung decided to join in the dancing, however hesitantly, and was somewhat comforted to notice the approval he received from the villagers for doing so.
As time passed, Jung reports, “the rhythm of the dance and the drumming accelerated” (p. 271). Here Jung begins to reveal his fears in noting that “the natives easily fall into a virtual state of possession. That was the case now. As eleven o’clock approached, their excitement began to get out of bounds. . . The dancers were being transformed into a wild horde, and I became worried about how it would end” (p. 271).
...
Here, then, was the “advanced” European academic in fear of having his soul stolen by the “rhythm of the heat”, and yet unable to come to terms with his own fear and unable to analyze himself fully, let alone the supposedly “primitive” villagers.'
— The story behind a song: Haunted by “The Rhythm of the Heat” (Peter Gabriel and Carl Jung)
I like the simpler explanation that he was simply trying to provide material for The Blue Man Group.
Michael_Dean wrote:
Oh glad, I found you, an Expert of Pretentiousness.
Would it not be handy to have a quick reference chart, seeing that we have so many citations of pretentiousness here in the comments section. Please arrange the following in order of pretentiousness. If you will do this work, I promise to post the chart every time I see an offense registered. We can call it the MrsTom Pretentiousness Gradient, MTPG for short. Not to be confused with Empty Peter Gabriel, of course, THAT'S a whole other chapter, let's just handle these one at a time and in order. (Was that too Pretentious?). ah... wait... we were talking about something...... THE LIST ! ! ! I I'll have 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 love me!) (Now, I think that WAS pretentious).
The MrsTom Pretentiousness Gradient - M.T.P.G. (Not to be confused with Empty Peter Gabriel, of course)...
MrsTom wrote:
Michael_Dean wrote: Oh glad, I found you, an Expert of Pretentiousness.
Would it not be handy to have a quick reference chart, seeing that we have so many citations of pretentiousness here in the comments section. Please arrange the following in order of pretentiousness. If you will do this work, I promise to post the chart every time I see an offense registered. We can call it the MrsTom Pretentiousness Gradient, MTPG for short. Not to be confused with Empty Peter Gabriel, of course, THAT'S a whole other chapter, let's just handle these one at a time and in order. (Was that too Pretentious?). ah... wait... we were talking about something...... THE LIST ! ! ! I I'll have 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 love me!) (Now, I think that WAS pretentious).
Pretentiousness of the Highest Level
Indubitably Pretentious
Certainly Pretentiousness
Moderately Pretentiousness
Twinkie Defense Pretentiousness
Barely Pretentious
Criminally Pretentious
Chewbacca Defense Pretentious
Almost Pretentiousness
MTPG Pretentious
Oh glad, I found you, an Expert of a bit crap too.....
Michael_Dean wrote:
The MrsTom Pretentiousness Gradient - M.T.P.G. (Not to be confused with Empty Peter Gabriel, of course).
10.) MTPG Pretentious - Pretentiousness that precedes all other Pretentiousness, the Pretentiousness from which all Pretentiousness is borne. Big Bang MTPG some have named it - BBMTPG.
09.) Pretentiousness of the Highest Level - The inflationary epoch occurred at approximately 10−36 seconds after the Big Bang. Following the inflationary period, The Pretentiousness continues to expand, but at a less rapid rate. This is why some "Good" music actually can exist.
08.) Criminally Pretentious - deliberate, willful, malicious, spiteful, wicked, cruel or violent Pretentiousness.
07.) Certainly Pretentiousness - deliberate, but not violent Pretentiousness.
06.) Indubitably Pretentious - Pretentiousness Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, you will do the Time for this one.
05.) Twinkie Defense Pretentiousness - Pretentiousness attributed to insanity AND is defensible in a Court of Law. These offenses are often "Settled Out of Court".
04.) Moderately Pretentiousness - A level of Pretentiousness that is still defensible, but does not oblige insanity.
03.) Barely Pretentious - This is Pretentiousness that just made it over the line.
02.) Almost Pretentiousness - This is Pretentiousness so feeble that it doesn't really count.
01.) Anomalous Pretentiousness - Sometimes it's there, sometimes not. Physicists are baffled, naming it a non-zero vacuum energy Pretentiousness. In the special case of vacuum energy, general relativity stipulates that the gravitational field is proportional to ρ+3p (where ρ is the mass-energy density, and p is the Pretentiousness).
00.) Chewbacca Defense Pretentious - Red Herring Pretentiousness, not actually pretentiousness at all, 'tis a strategy, should not be listed here.
The native man does not stand on the rock (Uluru), for it is sacred, and they find it offensive when others do!
fredriley wrote:
This song does not directly have anything to do with indigenous Australians. It is based on Carl Jung's writing about his experience with a group of drummers and dancers in Africa.
The native man does not stand on the rock (Uluru), for it is sacred, and they find it offensive when others do!
fredriley wrote:
He does not need to ask for permission, nor do the natives of Oz need to feel offended. They do not even need to listen to this song.
Stronger even, why do you feel the need to bring up the potential for offence here? Surely you don't feel offended yourself? Why then state unequivocally that 'they find it offensive'? Rest assured that those natives can take care of themselves - they've been doing so for several tens of thousands of years. They do not need someone from the other side of the planet to tell them they (should) feel offended.
In short, think for yourself and let others do their own thinking. Don't bring up the subject of 'offence' when there is no call for it, there is enough of that going around as it is. Also, grow some skin against all those potential offenders, sticks and stones may break your bones but words can only hurt you if you allow them to. Put yourself above the subject of offence, and above those supposed offenders. Don't try to get the world to adjust to each and every potential 'offence', before you know it there won't be any word left to utter for fear of offending someone - anyone...
The native man does not stand on the rock (Uluru), for it is sacred, and they find it offensive when others do!
fredriley wrote:
Get that kid a set of drums.This song is awesome.
very profound comment
profound!
moving!
compelling!
inspiring!
Oh Yeah... Want to buy some 45mm uzis?
profound!
moving!
compelling!
inspiring!
Richard Evans Schultes (SHULL-tees) was a biologist (January 12, 1915 – April 10, 2001) and may be considered the father of modern ethnobotany, for his studies of indigenous peoples' (especially the indigenous peoples of the Americas) uses of plants, including especially entheogenic or hallucinogenic plants (particularly in Mexico and the Amazon), for his lifelong collaborations with chemists, and for his charismatic influence as an educator at Harvard University on a number of students and colleagues who went on to write popular books and assume influential positions in museums, botanical gardens, and popular culture.
His book The Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers (1979), co-authored with chemist Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, is considered his greatest popular work: it has never been out of print and was revised into an expanded second edition, based on a German translation by Christian Rätsch(1998), in 2001.
I really dig this piece : )
Richard Evans Schultes (SHULL-tees) was a biologist (January 12, 1915 – April 10, 2001) and may be considered the father of modern ethnobotany, for his studies of indigenous peoples' (especially the indigenous peoples of the Americas) uses of plants, including especially entheogenic or hallucinogenic plants (particularly in Mexico and the Amazon), for his lifelong collaborations with chemists, and for his charismatic influence as an educator at Harvard University on a number of students and colleagues who went on to write popular books and assume influential positions in museums, botanical gardens, and popular culture.
His book The Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers (1979), co-authored with chemist Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, is considered his greatest popular work: it has never been out of print and was revised into an expanded second edition, based on a German translation by Christian Rätsch(1998), in 2001.
I really dig this piece : )
The horror...The horror...
A brilliant album but...
even better is the German version. He remixes it a bit and kinda gets a second chance on how he wants it to sound. For instance, this tune is better on the German.
BillG said:
Actually we do all of that: gentle compression on the stream as a whole, modern masters where available, and lowering the level on newer material. The volume-matching of the music files themselves is a work in progress — and we're not willing to add more aggressive compression to the entire stream — so the overall effect is still short of perfect. But hopefully getting better all of the time.
Yes, better and better, sez I.
Yes, this true. Volume equalization on an automatic basis is very difficult without compromising fidelity. Every song is a little different, some engineers like to burn the songs hotter than they should in an attempt to catch your attention.
Its a difficult problem to solve when playing songs 24/7.
...nah, it's not blasphemous: the cacaphony of strings is an interesting interpretation, certainly...
...the biggest problem i have with these pre-loudness-wars masters in the mix on radio paradise is that they're barely audible by comparison to everything else in the stream, so they kind of disrupt the flow: bill should do some sort of volume-equalisation on his end, be that through massaging everything with a touch of compression, replacing older material with modern masters, or just turning down the gain on newer material to match old RIAA loudness levels...
...hey, speaking of new blood, here comes ane brun!..
BillG said:
Actually we do all of that: gentle compression on the stream as a whole, modern masters where available, and lowering the level on newer material. The volume-matching of the music files themselves is a work in progress — and we're not willing to add more aggressive compression to the entire stream — so the overall effect is still short of perfect. But hopefully getting better all of the time.
Yes, better and better, sez I.
Almost exact same experience here. Saw that show in K.C. in a small hall. It changed everything. The next time he came here was with the New Blood Orchestra thingy (nearly 30 years later.) I snoozed. Still, will always have '82! Masterpiece.
...nah, it's not blasphemous: the cacaphony of strings is an interesting interpretation, certainly...
...the biggest problem i have with these pre-loudness-wars masters in the mix on radio paradise is that they're barely audible by comparison to everything else in the stream, so they kind of disrupt the flow: bill should do some sort of volume-equalisation on his end, be that through massaging everything with a touch of compression, replacing older material with modern masters, or just turning down the gain on newer material to match old RIAA loudness levels...
...hey, speaking of new blood, here comes ane brun!..
Actually we do all of that: gentle compression on the stream as a whole, modern masters where available, and lowering the level on newer material. The volume-matching of the music files themselves is a work in progress -- and we're not willing to add more aggressive compression to the entire stream -- so the overall effect is still short of perfect. But hopefully getting better all of the time.
A little Lanacane might clear that up.
Best concert I ever saw, "Secret World", worst concert ever was ...ok, most disappointing concert ever was, "I'll scratch mine"
Movie scared the pee outta me. Something about being buried alive does not sit well with my palete.
Does somebody moderate this forum and could we please not have such language here...? And I don't mean Croatian, but the content, which is just a series of curses.
very good comment!
...nah, it's not blasphemous: the cacaphony of strings is an interesting interpretation, certainly...
...the biggest problem i have with these pre-loudness-wars masters in the mix on radio paradise is that they're barely audible by comparison to everything else in the stream, so they kind of disrupt the flow: bill should do some sort of volume-equalisation on his end, be that through massaging everything with a touch of compression, replacing older material with modern masters, or just turning down the gain on newer material to match old RIAA loudness levels...
...hey, speaking of new blood, here comes ane brun!..
Or you could simply turn the volume up and down as needed. Geez.....
Does somebody moderate this forum and could we please not have such language here...? And I don't mean Croatian, but the content, which is just a series of curses.
Well, obviously.
(Google Translate choked on that entry, I'll have you know).
They were probably stoned as goats.
Betting they were still harboring the vain hope that Larry would ditch his music career and become a lawyer, or a doctor. You know, something where random drug-testing is mandatory, and which would be "respectable" in dinner-party conversation: "Our son's a DOCTOR!" Sorta loses something in the translation when they're forced to say, "Our son's a, uh, musician."
Well said... miss you so much...
Everybody in my hotel room loves this song...
but tough to dance to
...nah, it's not blasphemous: the cacaphony of strings is an interesting interpretation, certainly...
...the biggest problem i have with these pre-loudness-wars masters in the mix on radio paradise is that they're barely audible by comparison to everything else in the stream, so they kind of disrupt the flow: bill should do some sort of volume-equalisation on his end, be that through massaging everything with a touch of compression, replacing older material with modern masters, or just turning down the gain on newer material to match old RIAA loudness levels...
...hey, speaking of new blood, here comes ane brun!..
Amazing that his voice still has such power!
This is an amazing album, and one of my favorites of all time.
He did "The Family and The Fishing Net" at the show, and I've always thought that song has a similar feel and pacing to this one.
Cool stuff.
Like his other songs better here on RP...
I'm going with "transcendent".
Probably my fave PG song and album.
No rhythm nor heat detected.
Then you might want to check your wrist for a pulse.
No rhythm nor heat detected.
Pressed the PSD button too soon?
No rhythm nor heat detected.
(Just kidding. I know the answer.)
Nope!
in my opinion, there are some gods that did not reach this level of magic!
the final part is simply the best drum/percussion-piece ever published in rock music, imho
hah, yes!! That was my first introduction to this song, and the reason I sought out all of PG's older albums, I'm so glad he's playing this regularly again with the New Blood Orchestra
I agree.....he is(was?)the ultimate showman.
At this concert I sat next to Larry Fast's parents(synth player)....they didn't like smoke eminating from our side.
They never clapped and never said a word.
They were probably stoned as goats.
Betting they were still harboring the vain hope that Larry would ditch his music career and become a lawyer, or a doctor. You know, something where random drug-testing is mandatory, and which would be "respectable" in dinner-party conversation: "Our son's a DOCTOR!" Sorta loses something in the translation when they're forced to say, "Our son's a, uh, musician."
Had completely forgotten about that....so since I read your comment I went back and watched the episode (took some digging, not free on hulu anymore), excellent episode. The music fit well.
That video has been pulled due to copyright laws. Feh. I do love this song, though. It's compelling and vital - makes me want to wrap a big ol' scarf around my body and tribal-dance. Fortunately, I don't yield to these impulses, and the world's a better place as a result.
mmmmh
a Radio Paradise catch phrase?
Talk about standing the test of time?
I am with you, broham. I don't think there is any other artists that has fallen out of favor more with me over the years than this guy. At one time, I even liked some of his songs. Now,
This is my favorite album by Peter. Love it. I saw Peter on this tour at the Richfield Coliseum in Ohio back in November of 1982. He opened with The Rhythm of the Heat and I lost my mind. The entire band marched down from the back of the Coliseum through the crowd onto the floor up to the stage. And the show just got better from there. I never get tired of this song or any of the other ones on this album. They are timeless.
San Jacinto is another outstanding track on this album. One of my favorite to see live.
my fav p.g. album, too. san jacinto my fav song on it, too.