Peter Gabriel Quotations

One thing that really appeals to me is this idea of music being a living thing that has an evolution that, in a way, enables the artist to sell a process rather than a piece of product.

I think another thing is that we don't really want exclusivity. We accept that it is in the artist's interest to be on sale in every place where they sell music.

I think that you get the mood of a song stronger if you get it right that way. On the other hand, you put some songs out live and they don't catch flight. They just flop. It is hard to tell until they are out there.

I think it is the weak and the young and the minorities that you need to look after to get a healthy creative environment - to get a lot of choices, a lot of different styles of music, a lot experimental stuff that everyone else feeds off.

I'm a bit cynical that it ever will be addressed properly. I think it is healthy to get some sort of copyright protection. But some of it has gone on forever.

I think one of the things about writing in the studio is that the song hasn't matured, if you like, so quite often the vocals are early attempts. Whereas once you've taken it out on the road a bit, you learn more about a song.

The industry does have some influence on who gets other awards. With the Mercury Prize, they don't. Jon comes from the business, but his heart is still very much in the music. Currently, we have about 12 major names that have said they want to be a part of MUDDA.

We wrote a little manifesto with just some ideas on how this digital revolution could transform music-making itself, and that is the part that people have generally ignored so far. They've been totally preoccupied with the business side of it, but not so much with how the new formats - or the freedom of formats - could change the nature of what exactly is created.

More and more people are going to download their music, and if it all stays free and there is no control over the payments, then it will be difficult for younger artists to make a livelihood.

If we can use some of the footage that our partners have created to campaign and we think we should and there needs to be action and there needs to be action now.

I love 5.1. Sometimes you can't squeeze everything in comfortably into a stereo picture. There is a lot more space in a 5.1 environment.

From the pain come the dreamFrom the dream come the visionFrom the vision come the peopleFrom the people come the powerFrom this power come the change

When they had (Nelson) Mandela shows in London the bill was really mixed and I don't think we lost any viewers as a result. African artists are strong, charismatic and compelling, and I think they hold people's attention.

I think FIFA just want (to say), 'Anything the Olympics can do, we can do better.' It's a pretty big audience.

We are trying to change things and allow artists to be at the front of the food chain and become their own retailers and keep a big part of the margin. They can get paid directly as the money comes in and they can monitor it day-to-day totally transparent. That is a model that I would like to see adopted by the music business.

We had some good cameramen, and Hamish Hamilton, who did the direction, is very talented.

People go on and on about the copyright issue, and that is central to what is going on now. Someone sent me an article from the Register this morning about this person named Fisher who has proposed an extra $6 per month on every broadband user's bill that would supply enough revenue to pay all the money that is earned from records and films.

There was one that we worked on in production called "My Head Sounds Like That." We did it in a couple of shows where we were performing to smaller audiences without production and it was one of the stronger songs.

It looks different now, but we've had lots of discussions about how much to refer to that,

It's like owning a big playpen and someone else is going to pay for it,

Still Growing Up: Peter Gabriel Live & Unwrapped.

We've got to get in to get out.

I was introduced to lots of great music through my local record store. It was a place where people knew music and they knew me, and could make great suggestions and discoveries. Whether it is in the physical world or on-line, the value of a great and knowledgeable record store has not gone away

From the pain comes the dream. From the dream comes the vision. From the vision come the people. From the people comes the power. From this power come the change.

I try when I'm writing to fill my head and my ears with all sorts of stuff and then let it settle and filter through. At a certain point it seems like fruitless activity because you're taking a lot of time and not seeming to get anything. And then, slowly, you realize you've actually digested elements and that your thinking is being freed up and the way you build up compositions is changed as a result of what you've been listening to.

One doubt, one voice, one war, one truth, one dream....

Letting go, it's so hard The way it's hurting now To get this love untied So tough to stay with this thing 'cos if I follow through I face what I denied I'll get those hooks out of me And I'll take out the hooks that I sunk deep in your side Kill that fear of emptiness, that loneliness I hide.

Holding still for a moment, what a moment this is, Oh for a moment of forgetting, a moment of bliss

Whenever we defend democracy we find oil.

When we started OD2 in 1999, we were really expecting to work more with independents and so on because the major labels were spending millions on their own Pressplay and equivalents online, which haven't been very successful.

I love 5.1. Sometimes you can't squeeze everything in comfortably into a stereo picture. There is a lot more space in a 5.1 environment.

Concerning iTunes, the deals have mainly been done with the record companies. But the artists, with some exceptions, haven't been very well-represented. This is partly because the record companies have largely been copyright owners.

There has always been a strong relationship between music and religion. It is because they both plug directly into the heart and can have real power for good or evil.

All of the buildings, all of those cars Were once just a dream In somebodys head.

Climbing up on Solsbury Hill I could see the city light Wind was blowing, time stood still Eagle flew out of the night He was something to observe Came in close, I heard a voice Standing stretching every nerve I had to listen, had no choice

They think so small, they use small words. But not me, I'm smarter than that, I've worked it out. I'm stretching my mouth to let those big words come on out.

I come to you defenses down with the trust of a child.

I get lost, sometimes. Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart.

Whistling tunes we're kissing baboons in the jungle.

You can blow out a candle, but you can't blow out a fire.

I stood in this unsheltered place, 'til I could see the face behind the face.

I like the touch and the smell of all the pretty dresses you wear.

Yeah, in the digital world, it is so much easier to put stuff out without a great deal of paraphernalia and fanfare.

With no guilt and no shame, no sorrow or blame. Whatever it is, we are all the same.

With the man in the woman, and the woman in the man. In the blood of Eden lie the woman and the man.

In your eyes I see the doorway to a thousand churches.

The UN Declaration of Human Rights laid down what any person might reasonably expect, yet there are remarkably few people who enjoy these rights. With cameras in the hands of activists and meaningful distribution of those images, we will witness what really goes on in this world and hopefully want to change it.

The dream is a world in which anyone who has anything bad happen to them has a chance of getting their story uploaded, being seen, being watched.

The earthly power sucks shadowed milk from sleepy tears undone, from nippled skin as smooth as silk the bugles blown as one.

The outside world is black and white with only one color dead.

Once the flames begin to catch the wind will blow it higher, oh Biko, Biko.

The book of love has music in it In fact that's where music comes from Some of it is just transcendental Some of it is just really dumb

To keeping silence I resigned My friends would think I was a nut Turning water into wine Open doors would soon be shut So I went from day to day Though my life was in a rut 'Til I thought of what I'd say Which connection I should cut

Having lots of people talking highly of you and respecting your art and your work, this is one of the best feelings that you can have.

Artists everywhere steal mercilessly all the time and I think this is healthy.

Fear, she's the mother of violence.

The rhythm is below me, the rhythm of the heat. The rhythm is around me, the rhythm has control. The rhythm is inside me, the rhythm has my soul.

With this darkness all around me, I like to be liked. In this emptiness and fear, I want to be wanted. Cause I love to be loved.

Those of us who have the eyes and ears of the media have a responsibility to amplify the voices of the voiceless.

Music is a spiritual doorway its power comes from the fact that it plugs directly into the soul, unlike a lot of visual art or textual information that has to go through the more filtering processes of the brain.

Music is a spiritual doorway. ... Its power comes from the fact that It plugs directly into the soul.

At the heart, it is world music that I do. It's all connections. Ultimately, we're all connected.

I look at the time with you to keep me awake and alive.

Words, they climb all over you/'Til they uncover you From where you hide.

Dream big and surround yourself with brilliance, even if you end up dressed up like a flower or a sexually transmitted disease.

Self-conscious, uncertain, I'm showered by the dust. But the spirit enters into me and I submit to trust.

Deadlines are things that we pass through on the way to finishing.

Everybody nose dive, hold your breath, count to five. Back slap, booby trap, cover it up in bubble wrap. Room shake, earth quake, find a way to stay awake. It's going to blow, it's going to break, this is more than I can take.

Watch out for music. It should come with a health warning. It can be dangerous. It can make you feel so alive, so connected to the people around you, and connected to what you really are inside. And it can make you think that the world should, and could, be a much better place. And just occasionally, it can make you very, very happy.

I hold the line, the line of strength that pulls me from the fear.

Whenever there's a camera around, a video or film camera, it's a great deal harder for those in power to bury the story.

In your eyes the light the heat in your eyes I am complete in your eyes I see the doorway to a thousand churches in your eyes the resolution of all the fruitless searches in your eyes I see the light and the heat in your eyes oh, I want to be that complete I want to touch the light, the heat I see in your eyes

Surround yourself with brilliance.

People have the strength to overcome their bodies. Their beauty is in their minds.

It's only in uncertainty that we're naked and alive.