PETER GABRIEL - HERE COMES THE FLOOD

Released: February 25, 1977

Album: Peter Gabriel (Car)

“Here Comes the Flood” is a song from Peter Gabriel’s 1977 debut solo album. It was written soon after leaving Genesis in 1975. Inspired by a dream, the song envisions a society where telepathy exposes people’s true thoughts—those who are open and honest will adapt, while others will struggle. Gabriel described it as a “mental flood… a release, a wash over the mind.”

The song was originally part of a larger concept involving a character named Mozo, loosely based on Moses and alchemical themes, though Gabriel never completed the project. He also drew inspiration from his fascination with shortwave radio, believing that psychic energy, like radio signals, intensified at night. The song was conceived during a summer evening at his cottage, where he experimented with meditation by running downhill with his eyes closed, believing he had discovered an “energy point” on the hillside.

Although the album version was heavily produced, Gabriel later felt it was overdone. He preferred stripped-down versions performed live or included in his “Shaking the Tree” compilation, which better captured his original vision of the song’s atmospheric and introspective nature.