Unbearably Poignant, Deliciously Cathartic

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"Blood of Eden" from Peter Gabriel's album "Us" represents Gabriel at his most poignant, both as a vocalist and a songwriter. The overt, raw (yet always wry) celebration of sexuality that characterizes such songs as "Sledgehammer," "Kiss that Frog," and "Steam" here gives way to the expression of the unbearable pain of uncoupling.

Eden as referenced in this song represents the mythical perfect bliss of "the man in the woman and the woman in the man." The "blood" of Eden refers to the heartbreak of undoing that bond of bliss.

While biblical imagery is persistent throughout the song, Gabriel also throws in an artful Shakespeare quotation: "Is that a dagger or a crucifix I see?" This nod to Lady Macbeth seems to suggest that "the woman" has done violence to their bond--something that tracks with what supposedly was going on in Gabriel's life around the time the album was recorded.

"At my request, you take me in," he sings in the amorphous, free-flowing bridge. "What a moment is this...A moment of forgetfulness...a moment of bliss..." This is followed by a high-pitched, deeply plaintive cry in Gabriel's unique, broken-voice style. Strongly implicit in that heartrending cry is that both lovers are painfully aware that they have just made love for the last time.

At its most basic, "Blood of Eden" is the ultimate "breakup sex" song. At a deeper level, it is a heartbreaking, deeply affecting work of art, sure to provide the sensitive listener with a delicious catharsis.


Copyright 2012 by William K. Ferro
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