COURAGE

I was sixteen when Peter Gabriel's highly succesful album So (1986) came out. I still love it, but I have never really enjoyed the very outgoing hit songs 'Sledgehammer' and 'Big Time'. The latter I can hardly stand at all, but of course 'Sledgehammer' is deservedly a classic with its innovative music video, and admittedly it isn't a bad song per se. 'Courage' is a song that existed in the recording sessions of So but wasn't finished at the time. Well, I'm glad it didn't make it to the album, because to me it's equal to 'Big Time', another noisy and funky track I would have always skipped. A quarter of a century later it was finally finished, and it was included in the 25th anniversary box of So.

The drums and bass are mixed up very loud, giving the song a heavy funk flavour and, together with the stinging keyboard sounds, an unpleasant reminder of the mid/late 80's musical era when pop music was often overproduced in a horrible, noisy way. With another kind of arrangement it would be an OK (mediocre) Peter Gabriel song. The chorus is melodically better than the rest.

On the single the same song is featured also as "The Hexidecimal Mix" which is even worse to my ears. Good grief, remember those days of maxi singles and alternative mixes?

'Courage' certainly isn't the only Peter Gabriel song I have never listened to until now. (BTW, I just listened to 'Out Out' from the Gremlins soundtrack (1984) and didn't like it either, but I couldn't write the premier review for that single since the B side track isn't available in YouTube.) But apparently I'm not losing much with these unheard rare tracks.