We were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win
I never thought I could fail
No fight left, or so it seems
I am a man whose dreams have all deserted
I've changed my face, I've changed my name
But no one wants you when you lose
Don't give up
'Cause you have friends
Don't give up
You're not beaten yet
Don't give up
I know you can make it good
Though I saw it all around
Never thought that I could be affected
Thought that we'd be last to go
It is so strange the way things turn
Drove the night toward my home
The place that I was born, on the lakeside
As daylight broke, I saw the earth
The trees had burned down to the ground
Don't give up
You still have us
Don't give up
We don't need much of anything
Don't give up
'Cause somewhere there's a place where we belong
Rest your head
You worry too much
It's gonna be all right
When times get rough
You can fall back on us
Don't give up
Please don't give up
Got to walk out of here
I can't take any more
Gonna stand on that bridge
Keep my eyes down below
Whatever may come
And whatever may go
That river's flowing
That river's flowing
Moved on to another town
Tried hard to settle down
For every job, so many men
So many men no one needs
Don't give up
'Cause you have friends
Don't give up
You're not the only one
Don't give up
No reason to be ashamed
Don't give up
You still have us
Don't give up now
We're proud of who you are
Don't give up
You know it's never been easy
Don't give up
'Cause I believe there's a place
There's a place where we belong
Don't give up, don't give up, don't give up
Don't give up, don't give up, don't give up
Don't give up, don't give up, don't give up
Don't give up, don't give up, don't give up
Don't give up, don't give up, don't give up
Don't give up, don't give up, don't give up
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter and human rights activist. He was the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving the band in 1975, he launched a solo career with "Solsbury Hill" as his first single. His fifth studio album, So (1986), is his best-selling release and is certified triple platinum in the UK and five times platinum in the US. The album's most successful single, "Sledgehammer", won a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards and, according to a report in 2011, it was MTV's most played music video of all time.
Gabriel has been a champion of world music for much of his career. He co-founded the WOMAD festival in 1982. He has continued to focus on producing and promoting world music through his Real World Records label. He has pioneered digital distribution methods for music, co-founding OD2, one of the first online music download services. Gabriel has also been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts. In 1980, he released the anti-apartheid single "Biko". He has participated in several human-rights benefit concerts, including Amnesty International's Human Rights Now! tour in 1988, and co-founded the Witness human rights organisation in 1992. Gabriel developed The Elders with Richard Branson, which was launched by Nelson Mandela in 2007.
Gabriel has won three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male in 1987, six Grammy Awards, thirteen MTV Video Music Awards, the first Pioneer Award at the BT Digital Music Awards, the Q magazine Lifetime Achievement, the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the Polar Music Prize. He was made a BMI Icon at the 57th annual BMI London Awards for his "influence on generations of music makers". In recognition of his many years of human rights activism, he received the Man of Peace award from the Nobel Peace Prize laureates in 2006, and Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008. AllMusic described Gabriel as "one of rock's most ambitious, innovative musicians, as well as one of its most political". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010, and as a solo artist in 2014. In March 2015, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of South Australia in recognition of his achievements in music.
A few years I ago I was asked to give the eulogy for a man who took his life with a gun leaving behind his widow and two daughters. He lost his professional job in the film industry and couldn't back on his feet again. Depression cam e in and did its thing.
Kate's "Because you have friends" lyric hits me hard because in his fall he alienated and badly treated his family causing a divide where and pretty much all of us friends sided with the family, not knowing of course where this was going. I'm sure it seemed to him at the end that he had no friends. I've successfully rationalized my way out of the "If onlys" and "I should haves" at this point but an emotional song like this can quickly bypass all that.
The best songs can be the most difficult to hear sometimes.
A few years I ago I was asked to give the eulogy for a man who took his life with a gun leaving behind his widow and two daughters. He lost his professional job in the film industry and couldn't back on his feet again. Depression cam e in and did its thing.
Kate's "Because you have friends" lyric hits me hard because in his fall he alienated and badly treated his family causing a divide where and pretty much all of us friends sided with the family, not knowing of course where this was going. I'm sure it seemed to him at the end that he had no friends. I've successfully rationalized my way out of the "If onlys" and "I should haves" at this point but an emotional song like this can quickly bypass all that.
The best songs can be the most difficult to hear sometimes.
Thanks for sharing that. I hope that in the coming years people come to understand more about trauma, neuroscience and the nervous system. We are naturally avoidant of people in depression because it affects our state negatively. People in depression naturally drive people away not due to some character flaw, but because their bodies are in a state of collapse that affects their thinking. With some understanding of what's really going on, compassion can overtake judgment and we can learn how to be with people in pain.
thanks bill
Words I didn't hear until quite late in life. Gets me every time I hear them. .
too easy
Don't give up.
Cheery song. I envision a guy standing on a bridge rail getting ready to jump. The song ends unresolved but I think he jumps.
Don't quite get this, and I'm even surprised to see other comments say they envision the same. I have actually witnessed someone committing suicide. So perhaps that's why I don't fantasize about it.
I see him at his lowest low somehow hearing a gift, a voice of reason, giving him the strength to carry on... To me, it's a message of hope and redemption.
Most would melt into tears...
Amazing. I did not know that. Thanks.
Peter Gabriel: ‘Kate Bush replaced Dolly Parton on ‘Don’t Give Up”
Everybody should have a First Aid Kate
Peter Gabriel originally approached Dolly Parton for the female lead. She turned it down, and thus we were blessed with Kate accompanying Peter and making this song the classic it is.
With Dolly, it probably would have been a classic too. Just a different one. In a perfect universe, we'd get both!
A few years I ago I was asked to give the eulogy for a man who took his life with a gun leaving behind his widow and two daughters. He lost his professional job in the film industry and couldn't back on his feet again. Depression cam e in and did its thing.
Kate's "Because you have friends" lyric hits me hard because in his fall he alienated and badly treated his family causing a divide where and pretty much all of us friends sided with the family, not knowing of course where this was going. I'm sure it seemed to him at the end that he had no friends. I've successfully rationalized my way out of the "If onlys" and "I should haves" at this point but an emotional song like this can quickly bypass all that.
The best songs can be the most difficult to hear sometimes.
I listened to this song a lot in the '80s and '90s but never paid close attention to the lyrics. It just seemed like an earnest ballad about the struggling working class man and his supportive spouse. Then I read these comments all these years later and realize the depth of pathos that was there all along for me to see. Now this song haunts me. A lot.
.... because my brother shot himself at age 31.