Last week, Peter Gabriel debuted a new song, “Why Don’t You Show Yourself” on-stage in Denmark, closing out the electric set of his “Back to Front” tour. But, given that no audio or video of the performance existed, the track itself remained a mystery. Fortunately, thanks to some wise Youtube uploaders, we now have documented proof.
Turns out, “Why Don’t You Show Yourself” is a brooding piano ballad, aided by elegant violin and Tony Levin’s double-bass. Manu Katche’s drum kit briefly pushes the song into a crawling groove before it collapses again, Gabriel floating into his falsetto.
Gabriel has performed the song five times as of this story — it appears to be a regular part of his European tour setlist.
Check out two clips of the track below. The first is a live performance from Amsterdam (filmed from the nosebleeds, it still offers a decent recording of the track); the second is a straight-up audio recording — but of surprisingly strong quality.
I’ve only heard it a few times now, but it’s pretty damn lovely. What do you think of the track?
