You could have a steam train
If you'd just lay down your tracks
You could have an aeroplane flying
If you bring your blue sky back

All you do is call me
I'll be anything you need

You could have a big dipper
Going up and down, all around the bends
You could have a bumper car, bumping
This amusement never ends

I want to be your sledgehammer
Why don't you call my name
Oh let me be your sledgehammer
This will be my testimony
Show me round your fruit cakes
'Cause I will be your honey bee
Open up your fruit cakes
Where the fruit is as sweet as can be

I want to be your sledgehammer
Why don't you call my name
You'd better call the sledgehammer
Put your mind at rest
I'm going to be-the sledgehammer
This can be my testimony
I'm your sledgehammer
Let there be no doubt about it

Sledge sledge sledgehammer

I kicked the habit (I kicked the habit)
Shed my skin (Shed my skin)
This is the new stuff (This is the new stuff)
I go dancing in, (We could go dancing in)
Oh won't you show for me (Show for me)
I will show for you (Show for you)
Show for me (Show for me), I will show for you

Yea, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I do mean you
Only you, you've been coming through
Going to build that power
Build, build up that power, hey
I've been feeding the rhythm
I've been feeding the rhythm
Going to feel that power, build in you

Come on, come on, help me do
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you
I've been feeding the rhythm
I've been feeding the rhythm
It's what we're doing, doing
All day and night, come on and help me do, come on and help me do



Lyrics submitted by Novartza

Track duration: 05:17

"Sledgehammer" as written by Peter Gabriel

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Sledgehammer song meanings
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31 Comments

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  • -1
    General Comment:Peter Gabriel tried to make pop here. Pop has a lot of shit to attract the wrong things. But, Peter Gabriel was used to making meaningful music, so he did and disguised it as pop, with sexual innuendos.

    He describes a little of how he's trying to change the music industry. "This is the new stuff, I go dancing in." Always, pop is an engineered thing. I know this from the business. You have one person, made up of many people. One face, one vocal, one songwriter, and lots of studio engineers. He's not like that. He makes his own music. He goes dancing in, alone.

    But really, he's trying to say who people need to be in the 80's world. In the 80's world, kind of like now, people are commercial. People spray up their hair, and go disco, and lose their minds, lose their ideas. He wants to be the sledgehammer and break away the plastic, so to speak. He wants you to be who you really are under all these things you've covered yourself with.

    If you show who you really are for him, he will show who he really is for you. Be yourself.
    Flag mudtubon November 04, 2012   Link
  • +3
    My Interpretation:Oh c'mon everybody--it's sex! Not to take away from anybody's higher-minded interpretations, but the terms used are almost blatant. Peter is awesome for being able to write so blatantly about sex and still have people wondering "Is that what he meant?"

    First, listen to the overall tone of the song--it's upbeat, playful--almost silly. If PG wanted a brooding song, then by gosh he would have brooding music.

    Second--What's all this, if not sexual innuendo?
    "You could have a steam train, If you'd just lay down your tracks."
    Well darling, if you lay down your "tracks" (legs?), you'll get the "steam train." (ahem). I just peripherally mention the notion of a train entering a tunnel....

    "You could have an aeroplane flying, If you bring your blue sky back."
    I think this is maybe a "don't be a grouch" admonition (blue skies vs. being under a cloud). Maybe if she cheers up, he'll give her an airplane. :D


    "You could have a big dipper, Going up and down, all around the bends."
    Think of the bends, and ups and downs as the curves on a female body. The Big Dipper...well, you get it.

    "You could have a bumper car, bumping. This amusement never ends."
    Bumping. Bumping! Do I have to list the relevant euphemisms for sex that use the word "bump"?

    "Show me round your fruit cakes, 'Cause I will be your honey bee.
    Open up your fruit cakes, Where the fruit is as sweet as can be."
    Imagery of a flower "opening" for a bee (pollination/fertilization), or a butterfly searching for nectar.

    Third, the wind-up and the pitch...

    "I kicked the habit"
    I agree with other commentators here that this is probably a nun's habit, symbolic of chastity (or being a "monk"). It could also mean getting out of a rut for the "new stuff" of adventure.

    "Shed my skin"
    Literally, getting buck naked, but also shedding skin like a snake, which sheds skin when it is growing. You can even take that a couple of ways--emotionally and...you know...a snake. (Am I just dirty minded, or is Pete really hitting this sex theme hard--like a sledgehammer?)

    "This is the new stuff I go dancing in."
    The song breaks this sentence up and makes it sound like two different thoughts, but it isn't. The new stuff he goes dancing in (he just shed his skin) is Ye Olde Birthday Suit. He's nekked, and he's looking for trouble!

    "Oh won't you show for me? I will show for you."
    He's prancing around naked now, asking for a little reciprocation here. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

    Even way back when I was a stupid teenager I thought this song might be about sex, but I thought everything was about sex then. It seems that I might have been right. But as much crap that gets put into song about sex, this song doesn't have a "dirty" feel to it--it's almost a one-on-one party. Very clever and oddly wholesome musical expression of sexual intimacy.
    Flag drdisasteron August 04, 2012   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:it's about selfishness and dictatorship of ppl(especially men)in relationships...the kind of ppl that offera plane and ask for a sky..they promise to change their bad habits..but it's only the clothes that change(u can see in the video..
    Flag Chaqmolon May 19, 2012   Link
  • +4
    General Comment:The song is about sex. Don't overthink it. All three verses are clearly referring to sexual acts or sexual parts, and others have explained it perfectly above. Even the video begins with swimming sperm, and the last fruit he eats is a cherry.

    The one line the "drug" proponents point to as the start of their explanation is "I've kicked the habit." A habit is also a religious garb, typically worn by nuns, monks, and other religious orders. Kicking the habit is followed by shedding his skin. The combination of those two suggests throwing away his inhibitions and/or peeling off his clothes. It is a great play on words. Enjoy!
    Flag Mrkhan1024on November 16, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is such a great song! OMG! Great ideas for the song and the video!!!
    Flag megallion November 13, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:@etcnvb: I completely agree with your interpretation. I had always thought of the lyrics meaning a change in musical direction for Peter. Phrases such as "steam train" meaning big hit and "lay down...tracks" meaning musical tracks and "this is the new stuff" meaning "new style of music stand out for me. In the context of the whole album, the song Big Time ties furthers this meaning with Peter talking about (albeit, poking fun at) his recent success. To be honest, I've believed that Peter felt that this album was a bit of a sell out. Phrases such as "I'll be anything you need", "This amusement never ends", and "Where the fruit is as sweet as can be" all support this.

    At any rate, it's a good song, gave Peter a lot of Exposure and a solid financial boost to allow him to get one step closer to building his Real World studio.

    My take on it, for what it's worth.

    Mike
    Flag MisterMikeon September 13, 2011   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:i always thought that this song was about sex since the first time i heard it, all the innuendo are known or recognised by me even though english is a foreign language to me. i also read in those days that it was about liberation and peter's new creative direction and new found spirituality, i think that even if this song is not about sex, it must surely and purposely have been made to sound like sex, its too obvious for it not to be
    Flag MsManomenon August 04, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song, of any of his numerous hits, probably best defines Peter's talent for both music and script. I can understand how the general naivete of the pop audience doesn't understand the metaphorical references inherent in this song, but even a cursory study of Peter's work suggests a transcendental moment in his career with this song/album, the "new stuff" as he defines it...that has nothing to do with sex (at least within the framework of this song). Don't take this song out of it's context...look at this, the album and his previous work leading up to this for a bit more definition. For example, his previous release to So was Birdy, an eccentric and not altogether blithely score to a strangley dark and complex film study of mental illness...musically complex and poignant, but several layers deeper in the pysche than his works that followed.

    A little research, and industry knowledge, of So's producer (Daniel Lanois) also lends some insight into the metamorphosis that he was experiencing at this time in his career, an evolution that he sublimely describes in this song. Peter references this freedom and "rythm" with his newfound clarity, but doesn't dismiss his previous experiences, rather he paints them as catalysts to his new sense of self. Steamtrains, aeroplanes, big dippers...all phantasmagorical and dreamy references, some intentional, some not to the "amusements" that are all part of the experience. To the musician "rythm" and "power" are synonmous with the athlete in "the zone" and Peter's excitement of his progression is plainly obvious in this song...to construe these as sexual connotations is obtuse. Daniel did much (musically) do help pull Peter in this new direction, a more positive direction. This departure from a darker period, as Peter's illustrates in Sledgehammer, has given him freedom of mind and body, and as with nearly everyone that evolves from this type of situation, clarity in their purpose which for Peter is his amazing musical talent.

    Peter isn't exactly a fly by night...from Car, Melt and Birdy to So, Passion and Us to his most contemporary works, his studies in tribal dance to electronica, his entire career embodies the spectrum of depth and vision that only the most inclined can pursue. Peter was (is) among the brightest and most talented of musicians, but his turmoils with society always weighed heavily in his life and his work. A contemporary study of a very similar situation is Dave Matthews, and not at all ironic that he chose to cover this song in recent years, although Dave's demons are a bit more personal. While I am not his biggest fan, Peter has my utmost respect for the integrity and passion with which he approaches his work and pursuit of social reform. An visionary in his art, Peter is largely responsible for pushing the innovation of music and the industry.

    The remark by needle too "It's a song about Gabriel reaching a more....reflective stage in his life" is as astute as it is sublime...judging by the avatar, I would assume a similar frame of reference. Defining this song as about sex is simply pedestrian; however, Peter would probably remark that that's why they call it the autonomy of art.
    Flag etcnvbon July 12, 2011   Link
  • -2
    General Comment:Cant believe what people are writing about this song. Sex? Total nonsense.

    Listen to the lyrics.

    'I've shed my skin' - so what is he now?

    'This is the new stuff' - the new what?

    'I go dancing in' - who goes dancing in?

    What does he say after 'Why don't you call my name?' - What name does he call out?

    I mean ffs its fkn obvious what he's singing about -
    'Why don't you call my name'

    'Put your mind at rest'

    'This will be my testimony'

    'Let there be no doubt about it'

    Its a song about Gabriel reaching a more...... reflective stage in his life.
    Flag needle_tooon May 10, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I love the video to this song, it's so damn trippy. Yes, it's about sex, maybe a drug reference or two thrown in there, especially in the video. Also, the first two lines he sings before the first verse are slurred but kinda sound like "cocaine, everybody do it." A whole lot of songs are really about both sex and drugs, two of a musicians favourite things
    Flag GermanOrganistBrockon March 22, 2011   Link

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