Yesterday evening, I went to with friends to see Peter Gabriel play a concert in Cardiff. I’d agreed to go months ago but with no great enthusiasm. Although I have many of his albums clips I’ve seen of him in concert suggested he was a poser and a bit “up himself” (if you’ll excuse the colloquialism!)
I came away thinking how disappointed I’d have been to miss such a terrific concert. He played a 2 hour set which was in three parts, acoustic, electronic and performance. (The performance being the Album “So” played completely.) This was all accompanied by a brilliant light show.
Most of the music he played was well known to me but he did play one or two new pieces (to me anyway) one of which was called “Why don’t you show yourself?”
He has recorded "Why Don't You Show Yourself?" for a forthcoming film, Words With Gods. Words With Gods is an anthology of nine short films centred on religion and spirituality and set for release next year. The films directors include Mira Nair, Guillermo Arriaga and Hideo Nakata.
The song “Why don’t you show yourself?” contains a great deal of theology. It speaks about someone searching for God. Someone who is desperate to find God. Someone who wants God to come into the world now.
As I heard this song performed on the 2nd December, 3 days into Advent, it really struck a chord with me. For me, it is a song that perfectly picks up one of the themes of Advent – the longing for Christ to come again in to the world.
I found the words of the song on a fan’s Facebook page so I can’t guarantee their accuracy. https://www.facebook.com/Peter.Gabriel.Europe/posts/640488176002447
More about the Words without Gods project can be found here
http://www.wordswithgods.com/peter-gabriel/
The web site has an audio track of Peter Gabriel performing the track.
Why don't you show yourself
Why don't you show yourself
Why don't you show yourself
Was that something whispering in the leaves
I can smell your breath within a breeze
Something lying at your feet
Making you alive more complete
And we rely on
All that's forgotten
With the way that destiny
Can pull you down
So we are searching
Searching for you
And we go hunting
Hunting for you
And in this empty space
In this hollow place
Why don't you show yourself
Why don't you show yourself
Life and death
The strong and the weak
The only thing you think about
Is exactly what you seek
We look for footprints
We look for clear signs
Look for any presence
That we can find
And still we're searching
Searching for you
And we go hunting
Hunting for you
And in this flesh and bones
In this man's heart
Why don't you show yourself
Why don't you show yourself
Hard to find you
Harder to see
The way you're talking
And the way you ' re set to be
In you I find me
Why don't you show yourself
And we go hunting
Hunting for you
And we we're hunting
Hunting round this world
And in this wounded place
Why don't you show your face
Why don't you show yourself
Why don't you show yourself
Peter Gabriel
www.petergabriel.com
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