Passion Play, Songs of Spirit, Love, and Outrage, delivers a rich, expansive mix of Springsteen-esque rock anthems, introspective pieces reminiscent of the deeper work of Peter Gabriel, and loony-tune Police-meets-Spike-Jones satire, with a fiery honesty and a full-on band…and once again, George has performed virtually all the parts himself.

What unifies this album, with its calculated flow of tender love songs, aching search for meaning, interlude, and blistering satire? It’s the passion, the love for another, the quest for that which is higher, and the profound wish for a better world. These emotions play upon the landscape, like fierce sunlight ever burning through storm clouds: Passion Play.

About the songs of Passion Play:

The idea was to have a little intro piece which borrows the motifs from Forget to Remember and states them quietly in the beginning, giving the album a sort of wraparound. Note the final “uh-oh” chord. As usual, there’s Trouble In Paradise.

Written after reading Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas years ago. Thanks for the inspiration, Hunter S. Thompson…I trust you’re in a better place now.
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This song was just music and a title until last year when a book I’d been reading, Buddhism Without Beliefs, by Stephen Batchelor, helped to shed some light on the subject of living in the moment, which is something that doesn’t always come easily to me.
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I wanted to write a very real love song about a very real relationship, and I wanted it to be perfect. If it’s not perfect, it’s as close as I’m humanly able to get it. The music came to me while I was sitting in church one day, which kind of figures.
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I borrowed a character from an older song of mine, an old wretch, and gave him the starring role in this one. I wonder if a person can more easily find God by looking inward, not outward. Is it also possible to have a relationship with the Divine without the guilt and shame we so often attach?
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“Tell a lie long enough, and loud enough, and eventually the people will believe it.” -Adolph Hitler.
“You can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.” -Abraham Lincoln
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Hey kids!!! We’re all going to the CIRCUS!!! I have this recurring vision that Ronald McDonald and that creepy little “Chuckie” doll were found to be first cousins. Be afraid, be very afraid.
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I got to visit St. Tropez in the fall of 2004 for a lovely, romantic three days. The song, however, was written many years before about my disenchantment with the Record Biz. The post-9/11 rewrite has given it a larger and deeper dimension. Forever the optimist, I remain convinced that indeed, Somewhere Is Love...
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This is one of those songs I’m not sure there’s a meaning to. There are several possibilities, each weaving in and out of the other: 1) the old “life is but a dream” concept, 2) what goes around comes around, 3) paradox is all around us.
Take your pick, and be assured there are no wrong answers
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