The Song Of The Day Is A Woman's Desperate (But Unsuccessful) Plea To Her Man Not To Take His Own Life

"No One Wants You When You Lose."

Kate Bush’s sublime voice desperately seeks to reach him through the pain, to remind him of the love that filled his life and will fill it again if he can find a way up from the depths of his misery.

Those of us who grew up with Genesis and Peter Gabriel have likely unconsciously edited their musical history. As a fan of both, I simply chose to remember that Gabriel left the band for a successful solo career and Genesis never missed a beat (I’m sorry. I can’t help it.) with Phil Collins.

My happy reminiscence is that in 1975, Gabriel left the band and soon thereafter released the brilliant “So;” the album’s hit song Solsbury Hill was his loving goodbye to the boys in Genesis.

Sadly, none of that is true.

“So” (1986) was Gabriel’s fifth solo album. The previous four were compelling experiments in electronica and world music, but commercial failures. By the mid-1980s Gabriel’s career was apparently over and his mental health had badly deteriorated. "So” was a deeply personal work; he record…