Peter Gabriel: No Guitars, No Drums, All Covers

AUDIE CORNISH, host:

2010 is shaping up to be a banner year for singer Peter Gabriel. The progressive rock icon just turned 60. Genesis, the band he founded, will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Gabriel's kicking off New Blood, a limited concert tour, and he's just released his first solo album in eight years. It's called "Scratch My Back," and it features Gabriel performing a dozen cover songs by newer artists like Bon Iver and Regina Spektor, and some familiar faces, like Talking Heads and David Bowie.

(Soundbite of song, "Heroes")

Mr. PETER GABRIEL (Singer): (Singing) We can be heroes just for one day.

CORNISH: Gabriel set a single creative restriction for this project: no drums and no guitars. But there will be a full orchestra instead, and in the coming months some of these artists will release covers of his songs as well.

Peter Gabriel joins us from his home studio in Wiltshire, England, to talk more about "Scratch My Back." Peter Gabriel, welcome.

Mr. GABRIEL: Thanks very much.

CORNISH: All right. Let's get right to it. "Scratch My Back" features a cover of a song by one of my favorite artists, Regina Spektor. It's called "Apres Moi." But first, let's hear the original.

(Soundbite of song "Apres Moi")

Ms. REGINA SPEKTOR (Singer): I must go on standing, you can't break that which isn't, isn't yours, yours. I must go on standing and on my own. It's not my choice.

CORNISH: What about this composition were you trying to reinterpret?

Mr. GABRIEL: Well, I think she's a very talented artist and I think it was the Russian quality of this song that I really was attracted to. And in fact when we were working on the arrangements, we tried to expand it in some ways.

(Soundbite of song "Apres Moi")

Mr. GABRIEL: Whereas a lot of the record is quite stark, this is not.

(Soundbite of song "Apres Moi")

Mr. GABRIEL: (Singing) I must go on standing, you can't break that which isn't, isn't yours, yours. I must go on standing and on my own. It's not my choice.

CORNISH: I'm wondering what these lyrics mean to you.

Mr. GABRIEL: I wasn't looking for specific storytelling with the lyrics, but there are sort of moods for me and emotions there that are very evocative. And it was, I think, on this track particularly, it was this melodic element that was the compelling component, although, you know, I think the words paint good pictures.

CORNISH: When you were looking at songs, did you approach them first by taking on the arrangements and the music rather than the lyrics?

Mr. GABRIEL: There are so many more things that I love the music of than the lyrics. The lyrics was often the reason that I didn't do a lot of songs that I like. 'Cause when you actually sort of strip them naked, it's not always that they're going to stand up. You know, some rock lyrics work well in one environment but don't hold up if you separate them from their roots. And I think nearly all of these lyrics are great lyrics regardless of the music.

CORNISH: And as you said, the music is naked, and in a way it's not a sort of toe-tapping situation here. This is very romantic. And by that I mean maybe dark. But they're not necessarily about misery, are they?

Mr. GABRIEL: No, they aren't all, but, I mean, but there are, you know, two, "Listening Wind" and "Boy in the Bubble," which touch on terrorism, and there are some bleak moments there. But I think for me it's quite a grown-up record. You know, it's not easy listening. And, you know, I love stuff like that you don't necessarily like at all at first but grows on you. And I think some of these songs are like that, or particularly these arrangements.

And I think it's a record that we see as a journey, you know. I know records are very much being seen as a selection of songs now. But I think the way we've put it together it's an old-fashioned album in the sense that you start at one point and end up at another.

CORNISH: We're talking with famed musician Peter Gabriel about his latest album "Scratch My Back."

One point you do start with is Paul Simon's song "Boy in the Bubble," which is from his 1986 album "Graceland."

(Soundbite of song, "The Boy in the Bubble")

Mr. PAUL SIMON (Musician): (Singing) These are the days of miracle and wonder. This is a long-distance call. The way the camera follows us in slow-mo, the way we look to us all.

CORNISH: Now, I also want to play a clip of your take of this song, "Boy in the Bubble" by Paul Simon.

(Soundbite of song, "The Boy in the Bubble")

Mr. GABRIEL: (Singing) It was a dry wind, and it swept across the desert, and it curled into the circle of birth. And the dead sand falling on the children, the mothers and the fathers and the automatic earth. These are the days of miracle and wonder. This is the long-distance call. The way the camera follows us in slow-mo, the way we look to us all. The way we look to a...

CORNISH: Now, why this song and why this approach?

Mr. GABRIEL: Well, I think Paul is a great songwriter and we discussed which songs of his to look at for me. And there were four songs that I was looking at and this was the one that I found the most interesting. And to me this is one of the great pop lyrics of the last century, I guess it is now, but its an extraordinary piece of writing.

(Soundbite of song, "The Boy in the Bubble")

Mr. GABRIEL: (Singing) Well, it's a turnaround jump shot, it's everybody jump start. Every generation throws a hero up the pop charts. Medicine is magical, and magical is art. Think of the boy in the bubble and the baby with the baboon heart...

We sort of sucked out all the African elements and you're left with this skeleton, which is an extraordinary thing in itself. And I think a lot of people, myself included, heard the lyrics in a different way and in a new context.

CORNISH: And he in turn covered your song "Biko." I mean, what was it like to trust your music to others?

Mr. GABRIEL: Well, it's been a lot of fun. I mean, you never quite know what you're getting and there's lots of great surprises that come through the e-mail. We're only about halfway in getting the sort of return match. And we may not get contributions from everyone - I hope we do.

The only person who was very clear at the outset that they didn't want to contribute was Bowie. And, you know, as an old Bowie fan I was sad about that, but fortunately Brian Eno was co-writer of "Heroes," which is the track in question. So, Brian really liked what he heard, so he's going to do a track. So, we sort of fulfilled the fairly arbitrary rules that way.

CORNISH: Another really gorgeous song on the album is "The Book of Love," which is by the band the Magnetic Field. Now, the lead singer said that he originally focused on the humor and your interpretation, I have to say, in its vocal delivery and its arrangement, focus on something entirely else and I want to play a clip of that song.

(Soundbite of song, "The Book of Love")

Mr. GABRIEL: (Singing) The book of love is long and boring. No one can lift the damn thing. It's full of charts and facts and figures, and instructions for dancing. But I, I love it when you read to me...

CORNISH: How do you think that your voice has changed?

Mr. GABRIEL: Well, I think it's lowered itself. I think the older you get, the more gravity gains. And you gain a couple of notes at the bottom and you lose a couple at the top. But, you know, if I listen to people like Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits that I love, or Johnny Cash, they do wonderful things with what they're given at that age. And there is a lived-in quality that I think you can acquire and I would hope to make use of that, too.

CORNISH: Peter Gabriel's latest album is "Scratch My Back." He joined us from the Real World Studios near his home in Wiltshire, England. Thank you for joining us.

Mr. GABRIEL: You're very welcome.

(Soundbite of song "Heroes")

Mr. GABRIEL: (Singing) I, I can remember, standing, standing by the wall. And the guns shot above our heads. And we kissed as though nothing could fall...

CORNISH: This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. Liane Hansen returns next week. I'm Audie Cornish. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.