This is an amazingly powerful song. I think it's about a young, gay male who is dying of AIDS. His family probably doesn't approve, so he is afraid to go to them with his ailment. The part that Peter Gabriel sings is reassuring him that next time around things will be better. He will be someone important and special, and he won't die so young. This song makes me cry every time. It is a beautiful piece of music.
Yeah, you're mostly right based on what I've read in a lot of different places, but I don't think his family really disapproves so much as his father is trying to comfort him in his last moments. Maybe he's been afraid of his family's disapproval so he didn't come out to them until he realized he was dying, and then they are too heartbroken to care about his "choice."
Yeah, you're mostly right based on what I've read in a lot of different places, but I don't think his family really disapproves so much as his father is trying to comfort him in his last moments. Maybe he's been afraid of his family's disapproval so he didn't come out to them until he realized he was dying, and then they are too heartbroken to care about his "choice."
This is an amazingly powerful song. I think it's about a young, gay male who is dying of AIDS. His family probably doesn't approve, so he is afraid to go to them with his ailment. The part that Peter Gabriel sings is reassuring him that next time around things will be better. He will be someone important and special, and he won't die so young. This song makes me cry every time. It is a beautiful piece of music.
Yeah, you're mostly right based on what I've read in a lot of different places, but I don't think his family really disapproves so much as his father is trying to comfort him in his last moments. Maybe he's been afraid of his family's disapproval so he didn't come out to them until he realized he was dying, and then they are too heartbroken to care about his "choice."
Yeah, you're mostly right based on what I've read in a lot of different places, but I don't think his family really disapproves so much as his father is trying to comfort him in his last moments. Maybe he's been afraid of his family's disapproval so he didn't come out to them until he realized he was dying, and then they are too heartbroken to care about his "choice."