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About This Track
“Games Without Frontiers” is a hit 1980 single by Peter Gabriel, released on his third self-titled solo album. It features Kate Bush on backing vocals and became his first UK Top 10 hit, peaking at #4. The song also peaked at #48 in the U.S. It ties with 1986’s Sledgehammer as his highest-charting song in the UK. The B-side to the single was two tracks combined into one: “Start” and “I Don’t Remember”.
Title and lyrics
The song’s title comes from a European game show, Jeux Sans Frontières, that featured teams competing for prizes while dressed in bizarre costumes. The British version of the show was called It’s a Knockout, a phrase that also appears in the song. The teams represented towns and cities from each country, so the games had an inevitable element of nationalism. While some games were simple races, others allowed one team to obstruct another.
The lyrics are seen as a critique of nationalism and war, which the song portrays as essentially childish. The tag line of the song, “Games without frontiers, war without tears” is a comment on the sublimation of the rivalries within Europe, caused by centuries of war, in a meaningless game.
The name Lin Tai Yu, which appears in the song, belongs to a character from the classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber.
Title and lyrics
The song’s title comes from a European game show, Jeux Sans Frontières, that featured teams competing for prizes while dressed in bizarre costumes. The British version of the show was called It’s a Knockout, a phrase that also appears in the song. The teams represented towns and cities from each country, so the games had an inevitable element of nationalism. While some games were simple races, others allowed one team to obstruct another.
The lyrics are seen as a critique of nationalism and war, which the song portrays as essentially childish. The tag line of the song, “Games without frontiers, war without tears” is a comment on the sublimation of the rivalries within Europe, caused by centuries of war, in a meaningless game.
The name Lin Tai Yu, which appears in the song, belongs to a character from the classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber.
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Albums featuring this track
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Shaking The Tree
Peter Gabriel
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Peter Gabriel (Melt)
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Shaking The Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats
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Shaking The Tree - Sixteen Golden Greats
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Shouts
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flickothewrist wrote:
For me a true creative master of genius , some of his work for Genesis will linger eternally in the annals of contemporary music, an all time great
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kikikirsche wrote:
Andre has a red flag, Chiang Ching´s is blue
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gotgore101 wrote:
Peter is aging gracefully!
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gezginrocker wrote:
gabriel & bush rulez!
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Drazba wrote:
saw gabriel do this live in support of the third album-totally amazing-
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ArmandMeyer wrote:
Love Kate Bush.
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jmbrace wrote:
Agreed
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dangergirl717 wrote:
Perfect~
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jimmyrabbitte wrote:
Once I figured out that you can sing the theme song to "Animaniacs" to this tune. Now I can't stop doing it.
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schultzdigital wrote:
great tune.
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mottly wrote:
Wow my player is playing a crazy remix - that's actually really awesome, wish I knew which it was...
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OU812_JT wrote:
Love it!!!
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Wildebrand wrote:
That ending is light years ahead of it's time...
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toto47 wrote:
Toller Titel, lange nicht mehr gehört!
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roaddog23 wrote:
love this song Ringo plays with it
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kokocijo wrote:
Jeux sans frontières...
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AliceInChains15 wrote:
Jeux sans frontieres
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EqNimda wrote:
This sounds so fresh that it could've passed as something that came out last week..
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seanbonner1 wrote:
If looks could kill they probably will....
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Jens33 wrote:
an all time classic!Peter`s work is amazing!:)
Track Stats
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94,925 Listeners
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Recent Activity
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Pink_Floyd79 added Games Without Frontiers to his Loved Tracks. yesterday evening
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arakiss21 added Games Without Frontiers to the playlist My playlist. Sunday morning
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arakiss21 added Games Without Frontiers to arakiss21’s library. Sunday morning
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aku86, pkyancey and not-I loved Peter Gabriel – Games Without Frontiers. Saturday evening
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yankeetodd added Games Without Frontiers to yankeetodd’s library. Saturday morning
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yankeetodd added Games Without Frontiers to the playlist traveling music. Saturday morning
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Clarissa_AV, sweettooth45, Sooto and 4 other people loved Peter Gabriel – Games Without Frontiers. Friday afternoon
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maddog0 added Games Without Frontiers to maddog0’s library. Wednesday morning
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the11thday, kdsurp, KJmyDJ and 1 other person loved Peter Gabriel – Games Without Frontiers. Tuesday afternoon
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laguba09 added Games Without Frontiers to the playlist for A...(Part 2). 9 days ago
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