Wallflower (Peter Gabriel song)

"Wallflower" is a song by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel from his fourth eponymous studio album released in 1982. The song was released as a single in the Netherlands but did not chart. Some of the instrumentation from "Wallflower" was incorporated into "Under Lock and Key" and "At Night", which appeared on Gabriel's 1985 Birdy soundtrack album. He also performed the song with an orchestral arrangement for his 2011 New Blood album. Lyrically, "Wallflower" touches upon human rights issues, specifically the treatment of political prisoners.

Background

Gabriel recorded a demo of "Wallflower" during the recording sessions of his 1980 eponymous release. The demo contained melodic aspects that were eventually used on his 1982 eponymous release, although the lyrics took some additional time to develop. After originally considering a romantic set of lyrics to accompany the instrumentation of "Wallflower", Gabriel instead took some inspiration from the human rights work of Amnesty International. In an interview with Alan Freeman, Gabriel explained that he decided to orient the lyrics around prisoners of conscience after viewing an Amnesty International television program related to the topic. The song later became popular amongst Amnesty International workers; Gabriel occasionally prefaced live performances of the song by mentioning the work of Amnesty International.

"Wallflower" was the only song from Gabriel's 1982 eponymous album that was not previewed at the first World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival, which he had co-founded in 1980. He dedicated the song to International Bridges to Justice in 2011 to promote the organization's advocacy for legal protections, including the right to a lawyer.

Radiohead's refusal to cover the song

In February 2010, Gabriel released Scratch My Back, an album comprising orchestral covers of 12 different musical artists. The concept of this project was to participate in a song exchange; the artists who Gabriel covered on Scratch My Back would record one of his own compositions for the companion album And I'll Scratch Yours. Thom Yorke of Radiohead had contacted Gabriel in advance of Scratch My Back's release to express interest in recording a rendition of "Wallflower" in return for Gabriel covering Radiohead's song "Street Spirit (Fade Out)". In a podcast posted on his website, Gabriel said that he was "very excited" to hear their rendition of "Wallflower".

However, around the time Scratch My Back was released, Gabriel told The Sun that he had not been in contact with Yorke for several months and was unsure if Radiohead would cover "Wallflower" for And I'll Scratch Yours. Gabriel had sent the band a code to access the cover of "Street Spirit" in advance of Scratch My Back's release; the code also provided Gabriel with information on the number of times the band streamed the song, which indicated that they listened to it once. Despite Yorke claiming that he never listened to Gabriel's cover of "Street Spirit", Gabriel said that the band was reportedly displeased with some of the creative liberties he took with the song, which he believed contributed to Radiohead's decision not to cover "Wallflower". When I'll Scratch Yours was released in 2013, "Wallflower" was not included in the track listing.

Critical reception

Adam Sweeting of Melody Maker described "Wallflower" as an "ode to political prisoners, prisoners of conscience, anyone behind bars." While Sweeting said that the song was "not badly done", he questioned the grandiosity of the composition and believed that it would better serve as a diary entry rather than a commercial release for the public. In his book Without Frontiers: The Life and Music of Peter Gabriel, Daryl Easlea said that "Wallflower" was "one of Gabriel's most beautiful and overlooked ballads". Tim Bowness of Louder Sound described the song as a "hymnal highlight" with a "claustrophobic and poignant prisoner of conscience narrative."

Personnel

Peter Gabriel – lead and backing vocals, Fairlight CMI, Prophet-5, piano
David Rhodes – electric guitar
Tony Levin – bass guitar
Larry Fast – Prophet-5
David Lord – Fairlight CMI, piano
Jerry Marotta – drums

References

Bowman, Durrell (2 September 2016). Experiencing Peter Gabriel: A Listener's Companion. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 114–115, 120. ISBN 9781442252004.
^ Scarfe, Graeme (2021). Peter Gabriel: Every Album, Every Song. United Kingdom: SonicBond. pp. 38, 43. ISBN 978-1-78952-138-2.
Fielder, Hugh (2 October 1982). "Don't Touch Me There: Hugh Fielder Gets and Earbending From Peter Gabriel". Sounds. p. 29. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
Pedelty, Mark (2013). "Peter Gabriel: The Masked Activist". In Pedelty, Mark; Weglarz, Kristine (eds.). Political Rock. Ashgate. p. 26. ISBN 9781409473053.
^ Easlea, Daryl (2014). Without Frontiers: The Life and Music of Peter Gabriel. London, UK: Omnibus Press. pp. 218, 224. ISBN 978-1-4683-0964-5.
"International Bridges To Justice - get involved". PeterGabriel.com. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
David J. Prince (2 January 2010). "Peter Gabriel Goes Orchestral For Covers Album". Billboard.com. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
"Radiohead to cover Peter Gabriel's "Wallflower"". Consequence. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
Adshead, Adam (26 January 2010). "Radiohead set to cover Peter Gabriel's 'Wallflower'". NME. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
"Peter Gabriel reveals communication breakdown with Thom Yorke". UNCUT. 12 February 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
Rogers, Jude (2 June 2010). "Peter Gabriel: 'It doesn't have anything to do with witchcraft!'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
"Peter Gabriel: And I'll Scratch Yours, PopMatters". PopMatters. 18 October 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
Sweeting, Adam (11 September 1982). "Holding On to Life". Melody Maker. Retrieved 27 August 2024 – via The Genesis Archive.
Bowness, Tim (9 October 2015). "Tim Bowness Reviews Peter Gabriel's Security". louder. Retrieved 30 August 2024.

v t e Peter Gabriel
Studio albums	Peter Gabriel (Car) Peter Gabriel (Scratch) Peter Gabriel (Melt) Peter Gabriel (Security) So Us Up Scratch My Back New Blood I/O
Live albums	Plays Live Plays Live Highlights Secret World Live Live Blood Back to Front: Live in London Growing Up Live
Singles	"Solsbury Hill" "Modern Love" "D.I.Y." "Games Without Frontiers" "No Self Control" "Biko" "I Don't Remember" "Shock the Monkey" "I Have the Touch" "Wallflower" "Sledgehammer" "In Your Eyes" "Don't Give Up" "Big Time" "Red Rain" "Shaking the Tree" "Digging in the Dirt" "Steam" "Blood of Eden" "Kiss That Frog" "While the Earth Sleeps" "When You're Falling" "The Barry Williams Show" "More Than This" "Growing Up "Burn You Up, Burn You Down" "Darkness" "Down to Earth" "Panopticom" "The Court" "Playing for Time" "I/O" "Four Kinds of Horses" "Road to Joy" "So Much" "Olive Tree" "Love Can Heal" "This Is Home" "And Still" "Live and Let Live"
Songs	"Here Comes the Flood" "On the Air" "Intruder" "Family Snapshot" "The Rhythm of the Heat" "San Jacinto" "That Voice Again" "Mercy Street" "We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37)" "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)" "Come Talk to Me" "Secret World" "Sky Blue"
Soundtracks	Birdy Passion OVO Long Walk Home
Compilations	Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats Revisited Hit Rated PG Flotsam and Jetsam
Concert tours	Secret World Tour Back to Front Tour i/o The Tour
Films	Secret World Live Growing Up: Live Still Growing Up: Live & Unwrapped
Video games	Xplora1: Peter Gabriel's Secret World Eve Myst IV: Revelation
Other	Discography Genesis WOMAD Passion – Sources The Story of OVO Millennium Dome Show Play: The Videos Big Blue Ball And I'll Scratch Yours Real World Records Real World Studios Solid State Logic (SSL)
Peter Gabriel discography

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