Musically, it’s a potent mixture of driving Copeland drums, treated rhythm guitar, synth bass, quasi-industrial samples and some great Hammond organ by Simon Clark.Īnother much rockier version – featuring Jerry Marotta on drums – was also recorded but scrapped just before the mastering stage. ‘Big Time’ is Gabriel’s amusing, self-mocking, Randy Newmanesque satire on success and celebrity – ‘This drive for success is a basic part of human nature and my nature’, he later said. While musically very rich and dark (I always think of Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ when I hear that opening minor chord), lyrically it is possibly a little half-baked. ‘We Do What We’re Told (Milgram’s 37)’, concerning social psychologist Stanley Milgram’s infamous experiments, was originally recorded for Melt in 1980. The song’s Brazilian/African groove predates Paul Simon’s Graceland by six months or so. Gabriel’s low-octave vocals apparently had to be recorded first thing in the morning for maximum deepness. ‘Mercy Street’, dedicated to poet Anne Sexton, shows evidence of Lanois’ influence its opening ambient textures resemble Brian Eno’s ‘Under Stars’ which Lanois co-produced.
‘Don’t Give Up’ was inspired by a BBC TV documentary about the effect of unemployment on British family life, and also the photography of Dorothea Lange, portraying dust-bowl conditions during the Great Depression. ‘Red Rain’ opens with some resplendent Copeland hi-hat work, and ends with the kind of piano/vocal coda that Simple Minds excelled at – the influences were now flowing both ways. He had a new twist on Stewart Copeland’s style and also somehow found the time to fit occasional tom-tom flurries into his grooves too. French-African newcomer Manu Katche amazed everyone with his drumming, particularly on ‘That Voice Again’ and ‘In Your Eyes’. Joni Mitchell’s then husband Larry Klein also plays some lovely fretless on ‘Mercy Street’. Check out his ‘drumstick bass’ (later marketed as Funk Fingers!) on ‘Big Time’. Musically, Gabriel very much leaned on tried-and-tested collaborators such as Rhodes and Tony Levin – it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing bass on So.
‘It is the most upset I’ve seen him at the studio,’ guitarist David Rhodes remarked. Lanois once even nailed him into a back room to force him to come up with some lyrics – Gabriel was not amused, at least not for a few hours. Working at home was intended to save money on big studio fees and also speed up the creative process, but lyric-writing was still a big problem and a lack of words necessitated two missed release deadlines for So: 31st July 1985 and 14th December 1985. So was mainly recorded at Gabriel’s home studio, Ashcombe House near Bath. Lanois helped him whittle them down to 12, and then six months of pre-production began, focusing on song structures and arrangements. Gabriel came up with 20 new songs by early 1985. Gabriel later credited Lanois and his then wife Jill for steering him back towards more positive thoughts, and much more ‘up’ music and lyrics. He mixed and released an excellent live album and looked for solace in film soundtrack work, producing two fairly inconsequential tracks: ‘ Walk Through The Fire‘ from ‘Against All Odds’ and ‘ Out Out‘ from ‘Gremlins’.įar more substantial was his soundtrack for Alan Parker’s ‘Birdy’, but, most importantly, it was the project that introduced him to So co-producer Daniel Lanois. In interviews, Gabriel has described the ’83/’84’ period as a dark time in his life.