Peter Gabriel has released an update of his anthem 'Biko' through Playing For Change. It is, quite simply, stunning. It literally brought me to tears.
I then proceeded down the rabbit hole of memories past. Peter Gabriel's music, specifically his fourth eponymous solo album, would send my musical interest in a completely different direction. The obligatory suburban diet of Top 40 and classic rock would rapidly fade and my interests in suburban 'culture' would fade just as quickly as I sought to break free. I didn't know where I was going but I sure knew where I didn't want to be.
I would be a huge fan through So. My musical interests would veer off into a completely different trajectory after that but there are so many memories wrapped up in his music from that period of time, I was transported instantly when I watched the documentary of the 'making of' of So.
In listening to him reflect and to see him now, it became clear to me that our entire journey when younger is this search for meaning and for giving expression to it along the way. We don't know where we're going and the goal remains blurry, fuzzy, and unclear. Art gives voice to that search.
We become something of a vortex into which swirls all of our experiences, our pursuits, our loves, our foibles, and our strivings. At some point, we reach the apex of this pursuit and we pause and reflect. Often, we become comfortable. For some, that is the goal. For some, that leads to bewilderment because we aren't sure what's next.
The Matrix has become something of a metaphor, a modern 'Bible' to give expression to such things in our journey. Our youth is represented by Neo and Trinity's journey through the sentinels, ascending ever higher toward bursting through the clouds. What lies beyond that remains a vision and a hope. All we know is that we need to shake this darkness, that there is something out there in the great beyond.
And then there is that moment of bliss where we have that breakthrough.
And this look on Trinity's face says it all.
I've had several of these moments. Peter Gabriel's fourth album was one of them. The opening of "The Rhythm Of The Heat" changed my life in an instant. I was intoxicated. Even today, it never ceases to move me.
There have been several that have left me spellbound but, quite honestly, the majority of the journey isn't the instant awareness but the gradual unfolding of the journey punctuated by those pivotal moments.
The challenge is that once we've burst through the clouds, leaving all the sentinels behind us, and we see the sun that we do not get comfortable and cease striving.
