FEATURE:
In the Arms of the Angel Gabriel…
The Spine-Tingling Impact of Kate Bush’s Vocal on Don’t Give Up
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I do get a bit annoyed…
when people refer to Don’t Give Up as ‘a Kate Bush song’, as it was written by Peter Gabriel and appears on his 1986 album, So. I guess, as it is a duet, one can say that it is sort of half-and-half, but it is very much a Gabriel song. I will come to the track in a bit, but there is a whole new feature waiting that explores the influence of Peter Gabriel on Kate Bush. When it comes to breakthroughs in music, Peter Gabriel introducing Kate Bush to the wonders and layers of the Fairlight C.M.I. counts as one of the most important. Bush used the Fairlight C.M.I. on Never for Ever in 1980 but more fully from The Dreaming (1982) onwards. The two worked together on Gabriel’s third self-titled album of 1980, and one can feel Bush adding something special to Games Without Frontiers, and No Self Control. Those vocal parts were backing parts, but she incorporated something special to each song! Although Gabriel never appeared on a Kate Bush studio album, his impact on her was big. He featured on Bush’s Christmas special of 1979; introduced as ‘the Angel Gabriel’, the two performed a haunting duo on Roy Harper’s Another Day. Gabriel also appeared on stage with Kate Bush and Steve Harley to cover The Beatles’ Let It Be at a benefit concert for Bill Duffield (a lighting engineer that died during Kate Bush’s The Tour of Life) in 1979.
The most complete and astonishing collaboration between Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush arrived on 1986’s Don’t Give Up. This article from the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia provides more details:
“Song written by Peter Gabriel. Originally released on his fifth studio album 'So' in 1986. Also released as a single from the album in October 1986. Gabriel originally wrote the song from a reference point of American roots music and he approached entertainer Dolly Parton to sing the song with him. However, Parton turned him down, so his friend Kate Bush took her place. She recorded her vocals in February 1986 at Peter Gabriel's home studio in Ashcombe House. Peter had already recorded his vocals, so she followed his lead. After this recording, she felt she had "messed it up" and so she returned later to sing it again.
Peter Gabriel has performed 'Don't Give Up' live various times, amongst others during his Secret World live tour in 1993. Kate Bush performed the song with him just once, when she was a surprise guest on Peter Gabriel's concert on 28 June 1987 at Earl's Court, London”.
The track was recorded during 1985 – which was a remarkably fertile period for Kate Bush -, and it reached number-nine in the U.K. I love to think of these two major artists enjoying some real highs getting together in the studio. Bush released Hounds of Love in 1985, whilst So was the first Gabriel album in four years. In terms of Kate Bush and her sound, there is a leap from the songs on Hounds of Love and what we hear on Don’t Give Up.
I don’t think Bush had been as heart-breaking and heart-warming up until this point. The sheer emotion and passion she put into the song is incredible - and I wonder whether Don’t Give Up inspired the direction of The Sensual World (1989) and songs like This Woman’s Work. I wanted to talk about this song, not only to show that Bush was a wonderful collaborator and there was this close harmony between her and Gabriel, but to prove how important the track is in 2020. In such a tough year, a song about a man losing his job and trying to keep his head above water sounds especially stirring and moving. I love the reassurance from Bush and what her voice does in the chorus. Don’t Give Up is one of Gabriel’s greatest songs, and I like the fact he was generous regarding giving Bush enough spotlight and a big role. It is one of those classic duets where the two have their own verses and then combine when needed. It is this conversation where Gabriel, as the hero, looks around and realises he is not the same man…then we have Bush providing a shoulder and reassurance. Right from the first verse, the emotions performed (by Gabriel) are so powerful: “No fight left or so it seems/I am a man whose dreams have all deserted/I've changed my name, I've changed my face/But no one wants you when you lose”. Gabriel is bereft and is searching for a new lease whilst Bush, as his lover/friend, gives these beautiful words of comfort: “Rest your head/You worry too much/It's going to be alright/When times get rough/You can fall back on us/Don't give up/Please don't give up”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush in 1987/PHOTO CREDIT: Dave Hogan/Getty Images
When Gabriel is at his most troubled – “Got to walk out of here/I can't take anymore/Going to stand on that bridge/Keep my eyes down below/Whatever may come/And whatever may go/That river's flowing/That river's flowing” –, Bush gives him this stability and knowledge that he has friends and is not alone. There have been songs before and since with similar themes, but I don’t think any have quite matched the intensity and sheer emotional impact of Don’t Give Up! Peter Gabriel is one of the most underrated singers ever, and he brings so much to the song. His vocal has a roughness and rawness to it, whereas Bush offers something sweeter. I know she was not happy with the first go she had at the song, but I love what is on the record as Bush sounds concerned-yet-strong; she provides this soft and sweet vocal, but there is also this real sadness and heaviness that seamlessly combines. Both are at their very best on the song and, in a rotten year, I think many people have taken a lot from this track and can relate to it. I think it is a song that people should listen to should they find themselves in a very bleak place. For Bush, this was her stepping into someone else’s world and adding something incredible; for Gabriel, Don’t Give Up was a standout on the So album. Sitting alongside songs like Sledgehammer, and In Your Eyes, he was in tremendous form as a songwriter! If you need some wisdom and words to give you strength, then consider Kate Bush’s in the final moments of Don’t Give Up: “Don't give up/'Cause I believe there's a place…
THERE’S a place where we belong”.