Blood of Eden
Released 29th March, 1993Blood of Eden was the third single from Peter Gabriel’s sixth solo album US, and was released on 29 March 1993.
Recorded at Real World Studios Blood of Eden was written by Peter, produced by Daniel Lanois and Peter and engineered by David Bottrill.
“Sinead O’Connor’s voice means that musically there is something to set it off – two emotional, needy voices, in a way. We actually had quite a lot of trouble with the song. Initially, Daniel Lanois wasn’t keen on this at all and it didn’t settle down. I couldn’t get the groove to work and it went through probably four or five different feels, and less became more in terms of the rhythm content because it verged on sounding trite. But there was also, in the central part of the song, musically and lyrically, a point of union, a breakthrough. So, emotionally, I feel close to this song.”
The single cover, designed by Malcolm Garrett / Assorted images, features an image by Zadok Ben David, one of a selection of artists commissioned to design a piece of art for a specific track on the album. Image photographed by David Scheinmann.
Blood of Eden. Zadok Ben David. Israel.
The single first charted in the UK on 3 April 1993, peaked at 43 and stayed in the Top75 for 4 weeks.
The accompanying video for Blood of Eden was directed and produced by Nichola Bruce and Michael Coulson.
Performers on Blood of Eden
Bass: Tony Levin
Programming: David Bottrill
Additional programming: Richard Blair
Hit hat: Daniel Lanois
12 string guitar: David Rhodes
Bridge guitar: Gus Isidore
Violin: Shankar
Doudouk: Levon Minassian
Vocals: Sinead O’Connor, Daniel Lanois
Keyboard bass: Peter Gabriel
Bridge section from a mix by Richard Chappell
The single itself was released on a number of formats in the UK:
7”
A Blood of Eden [album version] 6.35
B Mercy Street* 8.00
Written by Peter Gabriel. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Peter Gabriel. Recording and mix engineered by David Bottrill, assisted by Richard Blair.
* Remixed by William Orbit, engineered by Robert Hill. Additional overdubs by William Orbit, Sugar J and Mark Rutherford.
CD Single
1 Blood of Eden [album version] 6.35
2 Mercy Street 8.00
CD Single Digipack
1 Blood of Eden [album version] 6.35
2 Mercy Street 8.00
3 Sledgehammer* 4.53
** Written by Peter Gabriel. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Peter Gabriel. Engineer by Kevin Killen.
Cassette
Blood of Eden [album version] 6.35
Mercy Street 8.00