Re: Wow! Lamb discussion? You could do a whole newsgroup on that!

[mtdca!gfd@att.att.com]

In article <890809155754799.AKPG@Mars.UCC.UMass.EDU> (UMass-Mailer 4.04), Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU writes:
> Well, sad to say, the real truth of the matter is that no matter what you
> read into it, "The Lamb" is basically a tour of Peter Gabriel In Heroin
> Slumberland.  In fact, by the end of the recording process, the rest of
> the band had to step in and finish up the writing of the 3rd and 4th sides
> because PG was so strung out he practically couldn't function.
> 
Do you have a source for this info?  In the book about Gabriel that
came out recently, he was asked very specifically about drugs and I
got the impression that that is not what he is or was about at all.
Yes, there some very obvious drug references; but I had been (until
I read your mail) been under the belief that he was drug free.  In
the book he said that after a singal puff of weed he had to lie down
because he was so dizzy and that he never did it again.

> comment? (-: ).  Thus, "I've got sunshine in my stomach... ...and I can't
> keep me from creepin' sleep".
Definitely a drug reference.  But drugs were a big part of the scene 
back then and he must have been acutely aware of these symptoms.

> So, it 'takes place' somewhere in PG's brain... Who is Rael?  Gabriel, maybe.

Yes.  It is clear that it is a metaphorical "place"; but like all story
tellers, (and a drug related inspiration does not nullify the validity of
a story to me.  Edgar Allan Poe reputedly wrote all of his works will on
herion, I believe.)  Gabriel made a world for his characters to live and
there were echos of the world we live in today all around him.  That is
what I was after as part of the discussion. 

> A side of his personality, maybe.  Maybe John and Rael are two sides of the
> same person (PG).  The Chamber of 32 Doors means NADA (except to PG, maybe).
> There are no allegories to the peice as a whole.  Don't read so much into it.
>...
> anything great, but I can enjoy it anyway".  If anything, the 'idea' of
> the LP is that LP's don't NEED big 'ideas' to be enjoyable.  Just sit back
> and enjoy the twisted storyline.... that's all I do now...

Well, fine for you;  If you don't wish to look beyond the enjoyment value
of music (although I myself consider reflecting on the authors intentions
and devices part of my own style of enjoying).  I think that sitting back
and enjoying the "twisted storyline" may be closing your eyes to the 
possibility of getting a broader sense of enjoyment out of a work.  Of
course, that is my opinion and you should do what you like.  Anyway,
to me, the lyrics don't show the signs of sarcasm or drug induced 
meaninglessness which you had mentioned.  Anyway, you will exuse me if I
try to elicit others with differing opinions on the subject to speak up
on the subject. That is, by the way, one of the 32 doors I may open, is
it not?

George