Hush, Hush, Hush Lyrics
Losing their strength and form
Sixty year man on twenty year old skin
Skeleton, your eyes have lost their warmth
Look to your father for some support
Says your daddy's touch
Sleep sleep sleep
Says the hundredth sheep
Peace peace peace
May you go in peace
The one that you wanted wasn't a girl
All your life you kept it hidden inside
Now when you step you stumble, you die
Says your daddy's touch
Sleep sleep sleep
Says the hundredth sheep
Peace peace peace
May you go in peace
You'll be Henry the 8th
Wake up tomorrow, Alexander the Great
Open your eyes in a new life again
Oh maybe next time
You'll be given a chance
Hush...
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."
@LittleBriddie I know this is a really old reply, but I wanted to put this out there… It is one of the most beautiful songs. I don’t think there’s disapproval. I always imagined the father saying “hush, hush, hush”. I thought Peter Gabriel represented the father and what he’s saying. 28 years later and this song still chokes me up.
@LittleBriddie I know this is a really old reply, but I wanted to put this out there… It is one of the most beautiful songs. I don’t think there’s disapproval. I always imagined the father saying “hush, hush, hush”. I thought Peter Gabriel represented the father and what he’s saying. 28 years later and this song still chokes me up.
@LittleBriddie I know this is a really old reply, but I wanted to put this out there… It is one of the most beautiful songs. I don’t think there’s disapproval. I always imagined the father saying “hush, hush, hush”. I thought Peter Gabriel represented the father and what he’s saying. 28 years later and this song still chokes me up.
@LittleBriddie I know this is a really old reply, but I wanted to put this out there… It is one of the most beautiful songs. I don’t think there’s disapproval. I always imagined the father saying “hush, hush, hush”. I thought Peter Gabriel represented the father and what he’s saying. 28 years later and this song still chokes me up.
the album is "this fire" 1996 its a great album, i think. just listen to the whole thing from start to finish. really great. :)
wow, excellent analyzation of the piece. i never thought. i would listen and think it was just a lullaby but then again i used to listen to this CD when i was 13. i totally agree with LittleBriddie on her interpretation of the song. excellent.
Yeah, I'm 14 and I thought the same until I recently became more interested in Paula Cole and decided to look up some of her songs. LittleBriddie is right, based on what I've seen just about everywhere that the meaning of this song is discussed. I probably could have guessed some of that from the lyrics, but I didn't really pay attention to what the lyrics were at all until my recent interest sprouted.
Yeah, I'm 14 and I thought the same until I recently became more interested in Paula Cole and decided to look up some of her songs. LittleBriddie is right, based on what I've seen just about everywhere that the meaning of this song is discussed. I probably could have guessed some of that from the lyrics, but I didn't really pay attention to what the lyrics were at all until my recent interest sprouted.
yep me too. always thought it was about someone dying of cancer until i got a bit older and realized it was about a young person dying of AIDS. i think the music at the end of this is just incredible, i close my eyes and it just takes me somewhere else.
what album is this song on?
Does anyone else think the message in the last stanza is reminiscent of the song "All the Pretty Little Horses"? I absolutely LOVE this entire album, musically and lyrically, but this song is definitely one of the better ones. And I think Gabriel's voice fits the sad fatherly role in this song perfectly, especially in contrast to Cole's dreamy voice of an outsider seeing their incredibly deep pain.
Wow! You guys are so terrific being able to tell the possible meaning of the song. LittleBriddie...u r great to come up with that, and also HiOnMusic.
Thnks to the both of you.
This song appears to be about a young man who finally embraced his sexuality and when he did he caught AIDS. He was afraid to come out to his family because he thought they wouldn't accept him. But, it seems, by the father singing in the end, trying to comfort him, that he loves his son regardless and would have supported him whether he was gay or not and the tragedy is that the son had to live in the closet when he didn't need to.