Album: Peter Gabriel
Year: 1980
. . .
It probably goes to my age that two of the running subplots of Certain Songs are 1960s/1970s songs about SPACE! and 1980s songs about nuclear destruction, the latter of which “Games Without Frontiers” is an absolutely stellar example.
Featuring spooky guitar and synth noises, a disjointed but steady drum beat, “Games Without Frontiers” opens with a Kate Bush-sung hook that I misheard for, well, decades really. I can’t remember if there was a lyric sheet on my copy of Peter Gabriel, but what I’ve heard her sing was:
She’s so pop-u-lar
She’s so pop-u-lar
She’s so pop-u-lar
She’s so pop-u-lar
When in reality, she was actually chanting:
Jeux sans fron-ti-ères
Jeux sans fron-ti-ères
Jeux sans fron-ti-ères
Jeux sans fron-ti-ères
I mean, I don’t speak French, and I’d never heard of Jeux Sans Frontières, the TV show that inspired the song (and was called It’s a Knockout in the U.K.) and Kate Bush’s vocals are kinda wispy and backgrounded against the ever-changing synth weirdness.
And I can’t be the only one who misheard this: it’s even referenced on the song’s Genius page.
But of course, none of that would matter if “Games Without Frontiers” wasn’t a near-perfect combination of hooks, weirdness and apocalyptic. So while the verses warn about nationalism and the abstracting of your enemies into easily-dismissed stereotypes, the pre-chorus is what catches your ears.
Whistling tunes, we hide in the dunes by the seaside
Whistling tunes, we piss on the goons in the jungle
It’s a knockout!
With Gabriel, producer Steve Lillywhite and engineer Hugh Padham providing one of the greatest whistling hooks in all of popular music — maybe Otis Redding at the end of “Dock of the Bay” or Peter Wolf at the end of “Centerfold” beat it — that plays almost like a synthesizer riff (and continues on even after Gabriel starts singing the pre-chorus), it’s so brutal, brilliant and staggering, it almost makes the actual chorus seem like an afterthought.
Almost. Because it’s pretty fucking chilling itself.
If looks could kill, they probably will
In games without frontiers, war without tears
If looks could kill, they probably will
In games without frontiers, war without tears
Games without frontiers, war without tears
It all adds up to one of the greatest singles of the post-punk era, and was Gabriel’s biggest single to date, making it to #4 in the U.K., and, er #48 here in the U.S. And while he would have bigger singles — “Sledgehammer” was deservedly a world-wide top 10 and even topped the U.S. charts — I don’t think he ever made a better one.
“Games Without Frontiers”
“Games Without Frontiers” official video
“Games Without Frontiers” original video
“Games Without Frontiers” performed live in 1987
The Certain Songs Database
A filterable, searchable & sortable somewhat up to date database with links to every “Certain Song” post I’ve ever written.
Certain Songs Spotify playlist
(It’s recommended that you listen to this on Spotify as their embed only has 200 songs.)
Support “Certain Songs” with a donation on Patreon
Go to my Patreon page
No comments:
Post a Comment