Peter Gabriel found more of “Sledgehammer” after its ending

Peter Gabriel knew what music he wanted to honour with “Sledgehammer”: the soul and blues of his youth, especially Otis Redding. He worked with horn players who had played with Redding, his favourite singer. The single came out on 21 April 1986, ahead of So.

“You have to be patient,” Daniel Lanois said of Gabriel’s way of finding a melody. The producer described a process that began with a rhythmic foundation. For “Sledgehammer”, they also kept playing beyond the planned ending. Gabriel improvised vocals there; those ideas were later moved into earlier parts of the song.

Gabriel’s own account of making So adds another consideration. He credits Lanois with teaching him to recognise a good performance before the pursuit of a perfect sound loses it. Deciding when to record and deciding what to keep are different jobs: an extended session can yield just a few useful phrases.

The official video accompanies this article. Its running order tells us how the song was eventually arranged, not when each idea arrived. The finished track does not show all the decisions about what to keep.