# Peter Gabriel's "games without frontiers" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-gabriels-games-without-frontiers/286174 "2005-01-23T01:27:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-gabriels-games-without-frontiers/286174/1 "2005-01-23T01:27:20Z")
Does it mean anything? I figure that it’s probably full of symbolism that I don’t understand. And then there’s one line that is completely ambiguous. It sounds like "Shere so " and then any three syllables if you’re imaginative. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-gabriels-games-without-frontiers/286174/2 "2005-01-23T01:32:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Does it mean anything? [Yup.](http://www.songfacts.com/detail.lasso?id=396) > [@](#): > > It sounds like "Shere so " and then any three syllables if you’re imaginative. Probably “Jeux Sans Fronteires,” French for “Games Without Frontiers.” It is frequently misheard as “She’s So Popular.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-gabriels-games-without-frontiers/286174/3 "2005-01-23T01:33:40Z")
> [@Strinka](#): > > Does it mean anything? I figure that it’s probably full of symbolism that I don’t understand. And then there’s one line that is completely ambiguous. It sounds like "Shere so " and then any three syllables if you’re imaginative. “Jeux sans frontieres” are the “Shere so” and ambiguous lines sung by the amazing Kate Bush. I’ll leave someone else to take a stab at the rest. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-gabriels-games-without-frontiers/286174/4 "2005-01-23T01:36:26Z")
[lyrics](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/p/peter-gabriel/107496.html) Possible meaning: plea for unity amongst various cultures and nationalities. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-gabriels-games-without-frontiers/286174/5 "2005-01-23T01:47:13Z")
Wow! That was fast. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-gabriels-games-without-frontiers/286174/6 "2005-01-23T01:57:27Z")
I don’t exactly know what Peter Gabriel was getting at (neither does he, I suspect), but Jeux Sans Frontieres was the name of a very successful TV game show of the 1970s. It involved teams of e.g. Swiss dentists and accountants representing their European towns in games such as Walking Across A Slippery Rotating Pole While Wearing A Silly Costume. Back then, this was enough to top the ratings across Europe. So I suppose Mr Gabriel was being terribly clever, juxtaposing a familiar TV gameshow with the serious business of nuclear disarmament. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-gabriels-games-without-frontiers/286174/7 "2005-01-23T20:06:46Z")
[You’re not the only person who’s wondered.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=122588) ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-gabriels-games-without-frontiers/286174/8 "2005-01-23T20:53:57Z")
A grab bag of names of obviously varying nationality, playing together. Then Adolf builds a bonfire, and the Italian kid joins him in playing with it. This sours the game for everyone. References to D-Day beaches and Vietnam jungle. It’s all a silly game, just like 1970s TV “It’s A Knockout” derived from the French format “Jeux Sans Frontieres”. Most kids have different flags, but they’re each got a homeland, except the little Asian girl, who appears to be disposessed of a nation. So we’ll play dress up and run around like children calling each other daft names. More tune whistling and a reference to goons in the jungle. All and all a dark look at what happens when international relations go bad, cleverly using a ridiculous game show and childs play as a juxposition. ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-gabriels-games-without-frontiers/286174/9 "2005-01-23T22:55:52Z")
My younger brother and I loved that song. We were about 11 and 12 when we memorized the lyrics and would belt it out over dinner or in the car. Good memories…