In Your Eyes: What happened to the churches?

Rubystreak · August 7, 2003, 4:44am

I’ve heard Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” twice in the last 24 hours, and I’ve noticed that the line “I see the doorway to a thousand churches” has been excised from the song. Is this some new development? Does anyone know why it was changed? I love this song and liked that line, so now I’m scratching my head over this edit. Any insight appreciated. Thanks.

SmackFu · August 7, 2003, 4:57am

His version, right? Not the crappy new-ish live version by someone else?

Rubystreak · August 7, 2003, 5:00am

His version, though it may be live, I cannot recall exactly.

bleach · August 7, 2003, 4:17pm

I did a Usenet search on google about it. Here are the results. In the discussion, a PG fan named “laure” said that there’s an intro/outro that PG does live but isn’t on the original So 1986 album:

Then a big PG fan named Dan Pulliam weighed in with this:

The lyrics have been around since So’s debut in 1986 in
one form or another. However, their implementation in the song as performed in
concert has always been a live exclusive. The original version of In Your Eyes
(before the constraints of vinyl were taken into account and time
considerations forced the track to be truncated slightly on the format) more
closely resembled the Single Mix, running 6:15, than any subsequent version on
vinyl or cd. This ever-elusive “A-side” to the In Your Eyes 12" and 7" singles
is rarely even mentioned by those wanting a “different” version of In Your Eyes
than what is included on the album. This constantly baffles me, as it is the
closest thing to a studio version of how he performs the song live as has ever
been officially released (and, in my opinion, it’s hands down THE BEST studio
version of the song in existence). In this version, he sings the extra lyrics
at the end of the song, but not at the beginning. Also, the first chorus does
not contain the lines “I see the doorway to a thousand churches,” or “oh, I see
the light and the heat,” leaving those two lines for expansion in the second
verse. Youssou has an extended section toward the end of the track, as does
the “deep voice” effect. This version was never released as a cd single, for
dj-only use or otherwise. It was (and is) only available on vinyl. There is
also a Radio Edit which incorporates the extra lyrics at the end of the song,
also released in 1986. The interesting thing to note about this track is that
it is actually an edit of the Single Mix, not the album cut. This version runs
4:54 and has Peter singing a few beats sooner at the beginning, truncates the
second chorus to match the first, all but eliminates Youssou’s section near the
end, but (curiously) does leave the extra lyrics at the end intact. It also
fades out quicker at the end of the track. The Special Mix, while it does
feature the extra lyrics at the beginning and end of the song (making it the
only studio version in any form to do so), it also eliminates virtually all of
the REST of the song in favor of African tribal rhythms and ambiance. I don’t
consider this a “version” of In Your Eyes for this reason, but strictly a
creative rethinking of the whole arrangement. There’s also a so-called “remix”
of In Your Eyes circulating on some of the more well-known file-sharing agents
called the Special Remix. This is nothing more than a fan-made spliced
version, combining elements from the Special Mix and the Album Version to
incorporate the extra lyrics into the song at the beginning and the end. But
this is NOT an official version by any means. Discerning ears can even detect
where the splices were done. This one runs 8:19 and is for die hards (like me)
only. Those looking for an “official” studio release of In Your Eyes with
extra lyrics at the beginning AND end…good luck. It just ain’t out there.
The only true studio versions are as follows:

Radio Edit (edit of Single Mix; extra lyrics at end) - 4:54
Album Version (no extra lyrics) - 5:27
Single Mix (A-Side to IYE single; extra lyrics at end) - 6:15
Special Mix (extra lyrics at the beginning and end; hardly any other lyrics) -
7:14
Special Remix (Spliced Remix–not a true release; extra lyrics at beginning and
end) - 8:19 FAN-MADE

Yep, sports fans, that’s it. All the confusion boils down to those five
versions when it’s all said and done, and only four of them really count. The
only times Peter has EVER officially released the song with the extra lyrics
intact at the beginning AND end of the track were the PoV releases and the
Secret World Live releases. In any case, the song has only ever played intact
when it has been done live.

This may indirectly answer the question about the churches. I think Dan is saying that PG used the 1000 churches image for a shorter cut but perhaps the “real” lyrics are what he performs live.

Moirai · August 7, 2003, 6:20pm

I have heard both the album and live versions and have always heard the line included. Maybe I just don’t listen to enough different versions?

bobkitty · August 7, 2003, 9:10pm

I’ve noticed for a number of years that “popular” music stations cut that line throughout the song for some reason that I have never been able to quite fathom. The local 80s station plays what appears to be the Radio Edit, but the “thousand churches” line is in all the choruses (contrary to what bleach’s post states).

Methinks there are more than 5 versions out there.

Dexdan · October 20, 2017, 11:52pm

Sorry to open this up again, but I just saw this board, even though I’ve been looking for the same answer since I first noticed the missing line in 2001. I also had the people who think they’re being clever by mentioning other versions, but none of those only delete the line in question. I never did find an answer, so would just blame it on Clearchannel, as they own most commercial radio stations in the US, and the full version was played on school, public, and better stations. I could never figure out who it offended, buf since it was on Clearchannel, I assumed Christians misinterpreted the lyric. It also never made sense to cug it out, either, as “the resurrection of all the fruitless searches” never had a line to rhyme with, like the other lines in the chorus do.
However, inthe past year or so, it seems it is back, just as mysteriously as it had disappeared 16 years ago.

ekedolphin · October 21, 2017, 3:25am

Welcome to The Dope, Dexdan! Hope you stick around.

Melbourne · October 21, 2017, 9:56am

When I DJ’d student radio, we played popular tracks on cartridges (tape), which eliminated the need to handle an que up vinyl singles. Since the carts where made up by us, it was also possible to simply remove bad dents and scratches.

If they were programmed by a single operator, it might have been something as simple as that.