Okay, so Peter Gabriel’s latest single is a social commentary, blah blah blah Springercakes. Did he choose Greg Brady by accident, or am I missing something? (also, has anyone heard the whole CD? It sounds like he recorded the music and lyrics on different days).
Check out the Onion A.V. Club’s review of it. They more or less address everything you’ve asked about:
http://www.theonionavclub.com/avclub3836/music3836.html
(It’s the third review on that page)
It’s a tough call. I have to admit I have no idea where it’s coming from. On the one hand, it’s fairly uncondemning, so it comes off as more of a simple description of that type of TV, rather than a tirade vs. it. After all, the song narrator/show’s host freely admits everything he’s doing, without sugarcoating it. Maybe it’s an apologia: we’re supposed to see those shows from the Springer point of view–the simple truths of it, and the love the host has for this piece of f’d up human melodrama he’s created (and his regret upon being replaced).
But I still don’t get it. I’d be a lot happier if it was not on Up.
I’ve been looking for a cite, but I recall PG said on petergabriel.com (seems to be down right now) that he didn’t know Barry Williams was Greg Brady, and only found out afterwards. He might have said it in an interview elsewhere, too, or in the previews that were running before the album was released. I can’t seem to find it, though.
I think it’s pretty heavy-handed, myself, and not the best set of PG lyrics to come down the pike.