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Playing For Time (Bright​-​Side Mix)

by Peter Gabriel

supported by
Martin Wykes
Martin Wykes thumbnail
Martin Wykes Wonderful, Wonderful Wonderful. I think Spike has done an incredible job. For me this totally bypasses the brain and goes straight to the nervous system and corny as it sounds I just bathe in it's sincerity and beauty.
I particularly like how the big ending has been treated orchestrally and the traditional band instruments left to support the orchestra rather than turning into a bit of crash bang wollop...for me that may have killed the moment...and WHAT a moment.
montgomeryrica
montgomeryrica thumbnail
montgomeryrica Love it…esp because I listened to both versions to compare—what a joy with such a truly special song. Overall, I prefer the rich, lushness of the dark-side mix. In the Bright Side Mix I really like the presence of the brushes at the beginning, but miss the presence of the bass trombone towards the end, like a big organ pedal anchoring the ending w/the lyrics. Favorite track: Playing For Time (Bright-Side Mix).
Keren Or-Paz
Keren Or-Paz thumbnail
Keren Or-Paz I like the dark side better. In the context of this song, talking about a planet orbiting in the far distance, and keeping memories, and time, for 10,000 years - I think the “far away” sound of the dark side is more accurate. It gives it more of the airy, ethereal feel, and sends shivers down my spine that are spikier. I really love this song. Favorite track: Playing For Time (Bright-Side Mix).
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about

Playing For Time is the third song to be released from the forthcoming album i/o. This is the Bright-Side Mix by Mark 'Spike' Stent.

The track is accompanied by a cover image featuring the work of visual artist Annette Messager.

Written and produced by Peter Gabriel, Playing For Time was recorded at Real World Studios in Wiltshire and The Beehive in London, and features Tom Cawley on piano. The orchestral arrangement, by Ed Shearmur, was recorded at British Grove Studios in London with a number of players who previously featured in the New Blood Orchestra.

‘Playing For Time is a song that I have been working on for a long time and have performed live, without lyrics, so some people may be familiar with it. It’s been an important song for me. It's about time, mortality and memories and the idea that each of us has a planet full of memories which get stashed inside the brain.

It is more of a personal song about how you assemble memories and whether we are prisoners of time or whether that is something that can actually free us. I do think it’s good to push yourself towards more bold or interesting experiences because then you will have richer memories to feed you when you get to my age. You also get taught by every meaningful experience that you go through.’

The presence of Tom Cawley on piano and Ed Shearmur’s arrangement, provide nice touch-points with Gabriel’s previous work. Cawley, having played piano on the New Blood Tour, was an obvious choice, ‘even though I performed and played piano live quite a lot I felt that this was something that I could get a real piano player in for and Tom Cawley is a brilliant musician.’ The connection to Ed Shearmur goes even further back;

‘I thought back to That’ll Do, the Randy Newman song that I sang, and Ed Shearmur had done a beautiful arrangement on that and I thought that maybe that sort of thing would really suit this song well, so we managed to track Ed down again. When I first heard the demos it brought a tear to the eye because I felt so much emotion in it, particularly at the end. That was definitely what I wanted to try and do with this song, to give that emotional journey. It means a lot to me.’

Gabriel’s thoughts about time were, in part, influenced by the work of the Long Now Foundation, and Danny Hillis’s extraordinary invention, The 10,000 Year Clock, which is an idea designed to try and encourage us to think long-term. ‘I’m sure that if we have a chance of surviving the existential problems that we now face we have to start thinking much bigger and longer to make some real headway. So, I think what they do is enormously valuable and there are some amazing talks on their website, so for those that want a deep dive into the role of time and long-term thinking, the Long Now Foundation is a wonderful place to start.’

Just like the two previous full moon releases, Playing For Time will come with differing mix approaches from Tchad Blake (Dark-Side Mix), Mark ‘Spike’ Stent (Bright-Side Mix) and Hans-Martin Buff’s Atmos In-Side Mix.

The artwork that accompanies this month’s release is by visual artist Annette Messager, whose work Gabriel has long been an admirer of.

I’d seen the work of Annette Messager, who is a wonderful artist, many years ago and nearly got her involved in the Art from Us project, but this time I thought she’d be exactly the right person to ask to do something for this song.

Annette has been a real pioneering sculptor and, if you look at the breadth of her work, you’ll find that she has influenced quite a few younger artists working today. It’s wonderful that she wanted to get involved. I strongly recommend you check out her work, it is full of life, even though a lot of it has death and memory at its heart.

lyrics

Far, far away
Out amongst the stars
There’s a planet spinning slowly
We call it ours

Any time, any day
Any moment that we bring to life
Will never fade away

Oh, all the moments come and go
While the memories ebb and flow
And play again, play again
Oh, there’s a hill that we must climb
Climb through all the mists of time
It’s all in here
What we’ve been through

Down, I’m getting it down
Sorting it out
So everything I care about
Is held in here
All of those I love, inside
Everybody’s playing for time
You and I still playing for time

There goes the sun
Back from where it came
The young move to the centre
The mum and dad the frame

Any space, any time
Any moment that we bring to life
Ridiculous, sublime

Oh, all the moments come and go
While the memories ebb and flow
And play again, play again
Oh, there’s a hill that we must climb
Climb through all these mists of time
It’s all in here
What we’ve been through

Down, I’m getting it down
Sorting it out so everything I care about
Is held in here
All of those I love, inside

The future shines a sunny day
Unpacked memories stored away
All the while the clock keeps ticking
You and I still playing for time

One by one the voices silenced
For they know that time will tell
It’s time that wears the crown
And time that rings the bell
All cards on the table
All hands are down
Everybody’s playing for time
Everyone’s still playing for time

Looking for a flicker in the face of the clock
Hidden in the mountain in the body of the rock
No-one seems to notice or to feel the aftershock
They’re all too busy playing for time
Everybody’s playing for time
You and I still playing for time

credits

released March 20, 2023
Words and Music by Peter Gabriel
Engineering by Oli Jacobs and Katie May
Additional engineering by Faye Dolle
Assistant engineering by Faye Dolle, Dom Shaw
Orchestral engineering by Lewis Jones
Orchestral assistant engineering by Tom Coath, Luie Stylianou
Pre-production engineering by Richard Chappell
Produced by Peter Gabriel
Mixed by Mark 'Spike' Stent
Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis
Recorded at Real World Studios, Bath, The Beehive, London and British Grove, London.
Cover photo: Mes voeux (avec nos cheveux) by Annette Messager

Drums: Manu Katché
Bass: Tony Levin
Piano: Tom Cawley
Synths: Peter Gabriel, Oli Jacobs
BVs: Peter Gabriel
LVs: Peter Gabriel

Orchestral Arrangement by Ed Shearmur
Violins: Everton Nelson, Ian Humphries, Louisa Fuller, Charles Mutter, Cathy Thompson, Natalia Bonner, Richard George, Marianne Haynes, Martin Burgess, Clare Hayes, Debbie Widdup, Odile Ollagnon
Violas: Bruce White, Fiona Bonds, Peter Lale, Rachel Roberts
Cellos: Ian Burdge, Chris Worsey, Caroline Dale, William Schofield, Tony Woollard, Chris Allan
French Horn: David Pyatt, Richard Bissil
Tenor Trombone/Euphonium: Andy Wood
Tenor Trombone: Tracy Holloway
Bass Trombone: Richard Henry
Tuba: David Powell
Orchestra Conductor: John Metcalfe
Orchestra Leader: Everton Nelson
Sheet Music Supervisor: Dave Foster
Orchestra Contractor: Lucy Whalley and Susie Gillis for Isobel Griffiths Ltd
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Peter Gabriel England, UK

Peter Gabriel is best known as a musician. He started his solo work in 1975 after leaving his old school group: Genesis. He has released eleven solo albums and written soundtracks for three films.
Peter is now writing and recording, and working on a plan to create a streaming service for digital medicine and an Interspecies Internet.
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