Don't Give Up (Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush song)

Did You Know?

• Gabriel performed the song with Sinéad O'Connor at the An Embrace Of Hope concert in Chile in 1990.
• The song was featured in the final broadcast of Europa TV in November 1986.

Background

The song was inspired by Depression-era photographs by Dorothea Lange showing poverty in Dust Bowl conditions, which Gabriel saw in the book In This Proud Land. He also cited unemployment in the United Kingdom under Margaret Thatcher as further inspiration. Gabriel wrote lyrics about a man whose unemployment strains his domestic relationship, drawing on a television program about unemployment's effects on family life and his own personal difficulties. The title came from his former wife Jill, who would say "don't give up" when he experienced deep depressions.

Recording

Initial ideas for the song date back to 1981 during recording of Gabriel's fourth self-titled solo album at Ashcombe House, Somerset. Gabriel built the song around a tom-tom pattern with a three-against-four polyrhythm programmed onto a drum machine, tuning the tom-toms to different pitches for Tony Levin to emulate on bass guitar. Levin placed a nappy behind his strings to dampen the sound, having mistakenly thought nappies were not sold in the UK. Richard Tee contributed piano in the bridge to add a gospel feel. Gabriel did not conceive the song as a duet and originally sang all choruses himself, but later felt a man-woman relationship would work better. He approached Dolly Parton, who turned it down, so Kate Bush took her place; Bush delivered an "excellent" vocal on her second attempt. Initial demos were around seven minutes long before editing.

Legacy

Elton John attributed his sobriety to the song, particularly Bush's lyric "Rest your head. You worry too much. It's going to be all right. When times get rough you can fall back on us. Don't give up." Actor Matthew Perry, who struggled with substance and alcohol addiction, was enamored with the song; it was played at his funeral in November 2023 and he referenced it in signed copies of his autobiography. Gabriel said multiple people told him the song "came at a very good time in their life," and recalled a well-known American comedian saying it saved his life.

Other versions

Willie Nelson and Sinéad O'Connor recorded a duet cover of the song in 1993, included on Nelson's album Across the Borderline produced by Don Was. O'Connor sang Kate Bush's parts. A sepia-toned music video was produced, and funds raised by single sales exceeded $300,000. Martin Monkman of AllMusic called the duet the "most stunning song" on the album and "a brilliant piece of casting," adding that it was "quietly triumphant and every bit as powerful as Gabriel and Bush's original."

John Davis of Austin American-Statesman described the pairing of Nelson's "crisp, autumnal baritone" with O'Connor's "ethereal, spun-steel counterpoint" as "little short of haunting." Bill DeYoung of Gainesville Sun called the duet "heartfelt," and Paul Freeman of Los Angeles Times called it "a striking duet." Music & Media remarked that Nelson's version "makes a rodeo queen out of his duet partner." Roger Morton of NME felt the pair's version "is quite dignified enough to stand up on its own."