"I Don't Remember" is a song written and recorded by English rock musician

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

, released as the fourth and final single from his third eponymous studio album in 1980. Although originally only released as an A-side single in the United States and Canada, a live version released with the album '' Plays Live'' (1983) reached No. 62 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and remained in the Top 75 in Britain for 4 weeks. The song was included in Gabriel's compilation album ''

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'' (1990) and two different versions were included in ''

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'' (2019).

Background and recording

Early iterations of the song were performed by Gabriel on the tour to promote his second eponymous studio album (a.k.a. "Scratch", having debuted on the concert on 23 August 1978. The basic tracks for first studio recording of "I Don't Remember" were laid down by Gabriel and his backing band at

Trident Studios Trident Studios was a British recording facility, located at 17 St Anne's Court in London's Soho district between 1968 and 1981. It was constructed in 1967 by Norman Sheffield, drummer of the 1960s group the Hunters, and his brother Barry. ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

during a day off on the "Scratch" tour in Autumn 1978, co-produced by Stephen W. Tayler. A week later, work on the song continued at Atlantic Studios in New York on tour, where overdubs were done including

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...

's guitar, followed by vocals and mixing at Paragon Studios in Chicago. This marked the beginning of work on his third studio album, for which the song would be re-recorded. The early studio version of the song was originally planned to be released as the A-side of the first single from the album in Europe and Japan, however a

Charisma Records Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der ...

executive thought the guitar solos were not radio-friendly. This version was later relegated to the B-side of the single " Games Without Frontiers" from ''Peter Gabriel (3: Melt)'' in those territories. The song made pioneering use of the

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, using samples of

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s being smashed and bricks being banged for the melody.

Track listing

12" US/Canada single (1980)

# "I Don't Remember" – 5:56 # "

Shosholoza "Shosholoza" is an Nguni song that was sung by the mixed tribes of gold miners in South Africa. It is a mix of Zulu and Ndebele words, and can have various other South African languages thrown in depending on the singers. It was sung by all-mal ...

" – 5:19 # " Biko (Remixed Version)" – 8:58 # " Here Comes The Flood" – 4:57

7" US single (1980)

# "I Don't Remember" – 3:23 # "Shosholoza" – 5:22

7" Canada single (1980)

# "I Don't Remember" – 3:39 # " Intruder" – 5:00

Live version

7" UK single (1983)

# "I Don't Remember" – 4:58 # "

Solsbury Hill Little Solsbury Hill (more commonly known as Solsbury Hill) is a small flat-topped hill and the site of an Iron Age hill fort, above the village of Batheaston in Somerset, England. The hill rises to above the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon ...

" – 4:43 # " Kiss of Life" – 5:12

12" UK single (1983)

# "I Don't Remember" – 4:58 # "Solsbury Hill" – 4:43 # "Kiss of Life" – 5:12 # " Games Without Frontiers" – 3:27 # " Family Snapshot" – 4:57

Personnel

— vocals, piano, synthesizer *

Larry Fast Lawrence Roger Fast (born December 10, 1951) is an American synthesizer player and composer. He is best known for his 1975–1987 series of synthesizer music albums (''Synergy'') and for his contributions to a number of popular music acts, inclu ...

— processing * David Rhodes – guitar, backing vocals *

– electric guitar * Dave Gregory — electric guitar *

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (since 198 ...

–

Chapman Stick The Chapman Stick is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. A member of the guitar family, the Chapman Stick usually has ten or twelve individually tuned strings and is used to play bass lines, melody lines, ...

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— drums

Charts

Cover versions

* English singer

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...

sang the song with Peter Gabriel on May 12, 1979, at a memorial concert at the

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for Bill Duffield, a lighting director who died during Bush's 'Tour of Life' tour. *Australian singer

Daryl Braithwaite Daryl Braithwaite (born 11 January 1949) is an Australian singer. He was the lead vocalist of Sherbet (1970–1984 and many subsequent reunions). Braithwaite also has a solo career, placing 15 singles in the Australian top 40, including t ...

recorded a cover of the song for his 1988 studio album, ''

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''. His cover samples the drumbeat of " Big Time", another song by Peter Gabriel. *Scottish-American singer and musician

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

recorded a cover for Gabriel's 2013 compilation album ''

And I'll Scratch Yours ''And I'll Scratch Yours'' (originally announced as ''I'll Scratch Yours'') is a compilation album developed by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. Initially slated for release in 2010, the album was released on 24 September 2013. The origi ...

'', mixed by Peter Dillett and released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

on 26 June 2010.

References

External links

'Peter Gabriel – I Don't Remember' Music Video
on YouTube / Directed by Marcello Anciano, produced by

Eric Fellner Eric Fellner, (born 10 October 1959) is a British film producer. He is the co-chairman (along with Tim Bevan) of the production company Working Title Films. Early life and education Fellner was born to a Jewish family in England. From 1972 t ...

/ (C)

EMI Music Publishing EMI Music Publishing Ltd. is a British multinational music publishing company headquartered in London, owned by parent company Sony Corporation of America. In May 2018, Sony Music Publishing agreed to increase its stake in EMI to 90%, pending ...

, 1983
Lyrics to this song
on

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{{authority control Peter Gabriel songs 1980 songs 1980 singles 1983 singles Songs written by Peter Gabriel Song recordings produced by Steve Lillywhite Charisma Records singles Geffen Records singles Mercury Records singles Post-punk songs