About the artist: Peter Gabriel (1950) is a British singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched a very successful solo career, with so far 13 studio albums. Peter Gabriel currently has eight songs in my list of about 200 best pop/rock songs of all time (and one as a part of a duo).
About the song: After his commercial breakthrough with the album So and the hit single Sledgehammer, Peter Gabriel typically did not cash in, but took six years to release his next regular studio album Us in 1992. The single Steam may be the best known track, but the highlight of the album is Blood of Eden, a bitter but beautiful song which deals with a broken relationship, undoubtedly inspired by his own divorce in that time. The lyrics are as usual great, with lines such as "I caught sight of my reflection, I caught it in the window, I saw the darkness in my heart, I saw the signs of my undoing" and the poignant Shakespearian "is that a dagger or a crucifix I see you hold so tightly in your hand?". Sinéad O'Connor provides additional vocals, and Peter Gabriel himself has stated that emotionally he feels very close to this song. Run time 6:37.
