I DON'T REMEMBER

"I Don't Remember" is a terrific Peter Gabriel single, even though the record company made an odd choice IMHO. I'm reviewing the 12" maxi single for the simplest reason; it has more music on it. SECURITY was the studio album PG put out in 1983. The lead song "I Don't Remember" was at least 4 years old at this point. For instance, there's a YouTube video of Gabriel performing it at Rockpalast in 1978. So why would the record company choose this song to release at this point?

The single also contains the brilliant, but overplayed, "Solsbury Hill" and the propulsive "Kiss of Life". "I Don't Remember" is a fine song, but I think it pales slightly in comparison to the other two tracks. Lyrically, "I Don't Remember" seems to be about searching for identity. The other two songs seem to be concerned with one of Gabriel's thematic obsessions; spirituality and ecstasy or sex. Taken together, these make up a brief, but very enjoyable, sampling of Gabriel's extensive discography.