Washing of the Water

Peter Gabriel live on his current tour

I cried like a baby when Peter Gabriel opened the concert with this song last night so you’re getting it today.

This song is off his US album, which he wrote in the wake of his divorce. The lyrics talk about dealing with deep emotional pain and wanting the river to wash it away. The reason I cried? This song was a touchstone while I was going through chemo last year. It ties in both the physical pain I was in as well as my grief at the death of my father and my mother’s dementia. Through a series of miracles I ended up really close to the stage (I’ve written about the concert experience on my other blog, Catalysts of Change) and the wonder of that, of having come so far in a year, was overwhelming.

I’ll try and give you a taste of the live experience. This video is not terribly clear but you can notice it starts off with Gabriel and his longtime tour companion Tony Levin playing around a campfire. I love how it starts so simply and beautifully.

For a very different version, here’s Gabriel and Chris Martin at the former’s induction into the R&R Hall of Fame. I saw a lot of praise for this version online but Gabriel is not in good voice here.

Of course, if you want to hear the original, when his voice was much younger and the arrangement much different, you can listen to this instead.

Whichever version you choose, enjoy your song of the day!