For the cover version of this song by Erasure, see Solsbury Hill (Erasure song).

"Solsbury Hill" is a song by British musician Peter Gabriel, about spending a moment of reflection atop Solsbury Hill in Somerset, England. Gabriel wrote the song after his departure from the prog rock band Genesis, of which he had been the lead singer since its inception, explaining the reasons behind his departure. It was his debut single. The single reached the Top 70 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It was used for the soundtracks of the 2001 film Vanilla Sky, and the 2004 film In Good Company. A cover version by Erasure became a hit in 2003. Sarah McLachlan has also covered the song.

It was also used in the trailers for Big Fish and the popular satirical trailer for Stanley Kubrick's The Shining features the first verse.

The song uses the rare septuple (7/4) meter time signature.

External links

• http://www.solsburyhill.org
• 'Shining' Trailer

• http://www.writersforliteracy.org/solsburyhill.mp4.zip An mp4 video showing how to play the basic melody of Solsbury Hill on the guitar. This mp4 video file is viewable on Macs, Windows and the iPod that plays videos. (About 35.2 megabytes in file size and about 4 minutes in duration.)
• http://www.solsburyhill.org/essays/car.htm#solsbury Solsbury Hill song explained on SolsburyHill.org
• http://www.jun-music.f2s.com/midi/rock/barat/Peter%20Gabriel%20-%20Solsbury%20Hill.mid Solsbury Hill midi file (very small file, accessible to dial-up Internet users)

1977 singles | Peter Gabriel songs