Solsbury Hill

By Fernando Rodríguez

Regarding his song “Solsbury Hill” (1977), Peter Gabriel has written: “It’s about being prepared to lose what you have for what you might get, or what you are for what you might be. It’s about letting go. By letting go, you create the space for something new to happen. It’s a personal struggle to learn to jump off the diving board.” The fundamental meaning of Gabriel’s words is to be willing to accept change within oneself; to let go of long-held beliefs, opinions, or perspectives in order to grow beyond them. This is very difficult for most adults to do without a personal revelation of some kind. So, if we take into consideration that the song was a direct result of a moment of meditation of Gabriel on Solsbury Hill, we can infer that the change within the English musician was sudden and not as a result of a gradual transition. Isn’t it reasonable to assume then that something significant happened in Peter Gabriel’s life while meditating on Solsbury Hill?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Oct 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781483474397

Book preview

SOLSBURY HILL

Peter Gabriel’s Psychic Phenomenon

(The Spiritual Experience behind the Song)

FERNANDO RODRÍGUEZ SANTANDER

Copyright © 2017 Fernando Rodríguez Santander.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored,

or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical,

or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the

case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized

reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard

Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972,

1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

ISBN: 978-1-3004-8684-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-7439-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017912711

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 06/22/2021

This book was originally written in Spanish. Every effort has been made to translate it into English in the best possible way. The author and co-translator of this book apologises in advance for any mistakes the reader might find in it. He hopes that the essential meaning of this work can be understood.

Unfortunately, the author of this book did not get permission to quote the lyrics of Solsbury Hill (1977) by Peter Gabriel. To better understand some passages of this work, it is recommended that you have on hand the lyrics of the song, which are available on numerous websites.

To

Susana, my dear mother

He is free from self-display, and therefore he shines.

Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Acknowledgements

This book would not have been possible without generous help from my friends Fernanda Herrera, Joel Van Ess, Scott Gutelius, Jerry Chater, Alejandra Harth, Víctor Benavente, Raúl Álvarez, Cinthya Szezesny, Eduardo Aguirre, Tony Camilleri, Rita Pollarolo, Francisco Durand, Christine McCarthy, Charles Drassler, Robert Kory, Alejandro Cárdenas, Violeta Pastor, Manuela Forno, Mary Caruso, and Álvaro Roca-Rey.

I would like to sincerely thank Stefania Crivello for letting me use her beautiful drawing of Peter Gabriel on the cover of this book. Her generosity speaks for itself.

I cannot fail to give great thanks to the director-screenwriter Sylvain Despretz, who provided crucial information on the English musician. His friendship and kindness were very helpful to me.

Especially, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Mark Unger, my dear uncle. Without his profound knowledge and invaluable help, this book would have never seen the light of day.

Preface

To some extent this book is the result of chance. Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I was always intrigued by the rumour that an unusual event had occurred in the life of my uncle. The sporadic but enigmatic comments about his spiritual experience gradually awakened my curiosity.

In 2007 the appropriate circumstances to hold two private conversations with this reserved and, by then, not-very-close uncle finally arose. These conversations not only marked the beginning of a gradual transformation of my vision of life but also germinated the seeds of many of the ideas that, years later, would make up this book.

The remaining doubts about my uncle’s amazing spiritual experience were dispelled by my reading of Richard Maurice Bucke’s outstanding book Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind (1901). It was the reading of this work that led me to believe that Peter Gabriel (one of my favourite artists) could have experienced the same psychic phenomenon as my uncle – and that Solsbury Hill (1977), one of his masterpieces, could be linked to it.

In 2013, after some initial doubts, I decided to embark on this unconventional literary project. I felt that, perhaps, I was in a privileged position: on one hand I had followed with fascination and loyalty Gabriel’s career since my adolescence, and on the other hand, I had been corresponding for years with my uncle about the transcendental psychic phenomenon called cosmic consciousness. This book is the natural result of the convergence of both circumstances.

Fernando Rodríguez Santander

Foreword

I have not read another book about a rock musician that comes to such a transcendental conclusion. Is it possible to revalidate the concept of God through the story behind a song? The answer to this unusual question is naturally deduced from reading this valuable research.

The deepening of Peter Gabriel’s moral behaviour could have its roots in the experience of a higher grade of consciousness capable of transforming our current understanding of life. The implications of this work expose a future where the sense of identity will be not only altered but radically transformed.

I have no doubt that if Richard Maurice Bucke would have written his prominent work Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind (1901) today, Peter Gabriel would have been included as one of the probable instances of cosmic consciousness that arose during the past century. Even though Gabriel is not obliged to comment on this research, it would be very interesting to know his opinion about it.

One of the virtues of Solsbury Hill: Peter Gabriel’s Psychic Phenomenon (The Spiritual Experience behind the Song) is having found the appropriate language to address a complex matter. Based on a considerable amount of sources, the author brings forward the indications and coincidences that conclusively support his reasoning. This work (a private hypothesis made public) contains all the elements to become not only a cult classic about Peter Gabriel but also an essential research to understand his life and works.

Johanna Brahim Bianchi

Preambles

The texts that appear before the first chapter are intended to present essential ideas included in this book. They have been inserted in order to acquaint the reader with the main postulate hereof.

It was about, you know, sitting and meditating on Solsbury Hill.¹

Peter Gabriel on his song Solsbury Hill

Upon freeing consciousness from bodily constrictions and the limitations of worldly existence, an almost indescribable feeling of fulfilment is produced in the cosmic consciousness² recipient. The recipient of such higher grade of consciousness experiences the metaphysical unity³ of everything (Totality⁴ or God) and, this way, discovers his or her true⁵ existential reality.

In the second verse of Solsbury Hill (1977), Peter Gabriel says that he felt himself to be a part of the scenery (Solsbury Hill and the view around). When the observer and the observed merge, it is not just knowledge; it is pure consciousness.

Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heav

ens opening [or being parted], and the Spirit like a dove de

scending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heave

ns: "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased."

Mark 1:10–11

The metaphor created by Peter Gabriel in the first verse of Solsbury Hill (1977) has noticeable similarities with the Bible story that symbolises the experience of cosmic consciousness of Jesus. This Bible story was originally told in the Gospel of Mark 1:10–11.

Climbing up on Solsbury Hill

I could see the city light

Wind was blowing, time stood still

Eagle flew out of the night

He was something to observe

Came in close, I heard a voice

…

"Son, he said, Grab your things, I’ve come to take you home."

A civil holy man need not ever enter a church, nor does he need to worship a god with any defined name or image. Such a man, having risen above purely personal interests–not only socially and globally conscious but also cosmically conscious–is able to act for the benefit of the world. In knowing that he is united with others he understands that their suffering is his suffering, but their joy is also his joy.⁶,⁷

Alejandro Jodorowsky

For me, the rhythms he uses reflect the primitive, and his vocals reflect the sublime – it’s as if the spirit and the flesh are together right there.⁸

Martin Scorsese on Peter Gabriel

At the beginning of the All about Us documentary (Coulson 1993), Peter Gabriel, in slow motion, takes his hands off his face and opens his eyes, seeming to symbolise some kind of awakening, as if he were realising something for the very first time. This symbolisation is displayed at the precise moment in which the concept of us is presented and explained. Us (1992) is not only the title of Gabriel’s tenth solo album but also a pronoun that he often uses to refer to human beings as one indivisible whole. A human being who has entered into cosmic consciousness is fully aware as a result of his or her experience that all life forms are different in shape but equal on spiritual level.

(Regrettably, despite numerous requests, the author of this book was not given the rights to use any images from this documentary for reasons unexplained.)

In 2011 Alejandro Jodorowsky, who experienced cosmic consciousness in the seventies, said, "Everything is God. We live in a God! They blind us so we won’t realise. We live in I, when we are us."⁹

You often talk about ‘them not us’, the idea that this is somehow used to create barriers between different cultures and different races. I wondered if this thing of breaking down divisions between people was still overridingly important to you?

"Yeah, I think it’s enormously important. I genuinely believe that the arts, and music in particular, are a great vehicle for opening doors and allowing for some understanding between peoples. On the plane travelling to Senegal this last time, there were quite a few people going