Hear Peter Gabriel’s New Song ‘A Hard Lesson’

Allison Rapp Sun, May 31, 2026 at 12:34 PM UTC

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©Real World Records / Theo Wargo, Getty Images

Peter Gabriel has shared another new song from his oialbum, this one called “A Hard Lesson.”

According to Gabriel, the song is the oldest of the entire project having been started back “in the late 80s or early 90s” when he was visiting Senegal, West Africa.

“I was falling in love with the music I heard there,” he said in a statement to his email subscribers. “I loved the tension created by the use of polyrhythms, particularly the threes and fours, so that was the start of this song. It’s a quirky, strange and long track but it’s a journey. It’s about trying to find a place, your place, how you fit in. I’ve enjoyed playing with old R&B and folk references as well.”

As for why Gabriel hadn’t completed the song until recently, he explained: “Sometimes things take time — most people do stuff a lot faster — but I have no problem with understanding my own process. Some things will mature and evolve spontaneously and some will just stay hidden-away in a box until their moment in the light appears.”

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Like all the other oi songs Gabriel has released, “A Hard Lesson” will eventually have two mixes, a bright-side mix by Mark “Spike” Stent and a dark-side mix by Tchad Blake. Today, the bright-side is available for listening below.

The Artwork for ‘A Hard Lesson’

As with Gabriel’s otheroi songs, “A Hard Lesson” comes with its own unique artwork. This time it features still images from a film called Cuentos Patrioticos by Francis Alys.

Cuentos Patrioticos sees the filmmaker reenacting a historical moment in Mexico’s political history. Back in 1968, civil servants were forced to congregate in the main square of central Mexico City to welcome the new government, but instead they bleated like sheep to signify their protest.

“I saw this image of the pole, the man and the sheep and it leapt out at me,” Gabriel said. “In the film, Francis Alys is seen walking in that same square in Mexico City, followed by one sheep and then other sheep come and join in and they continue around in a circle. It’s quirky and strange and I love it. I think it is a very cool art film, I hope you check out more of his work.”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”