Steam (Peter Gabriel song)

"Steam"
Single by Peter Gabriel
from the album Us
Released4 January 1993 (1993-01-04)[1]
GenreFunk rock[2]
Length
  • 6:03 (album version)
  • 5:19 (video edit)
  • 4:45 (radio edit)
LabelGeffen
Songwriter(s)Peter Gabriel
Producer(s)
Peter Gabriel singles chronology
"Digging in the Dirt"
(1992)
"Steam"
(1993)
"Blood of Eden"
(1993)
Music video
"Steam" on YouTube

"Steam" is a song by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, released in January 1993 by Geffen Records as the second single from his sixth album, Us (1992). Gabriel, who wrote the song and produced it with Daniel Lanois, has said that the song is about a relationship in which the woman is sophisticated, bright, cultured, and knows everything about anything while the man knows nothing about anything; however, he does know about the woman, and she does not know much about herself.[3][4]

"Steam" reached number ten on the UK Singles Chart, number 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and number one on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. In Canada the single became a number-one hit, topping the RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart on the week of 27 February 1993, replacing Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" after a 10-week run. "Steam" also charted within the top 10 in Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand and Portugal.

An alternative version of this song called "Quiet Steam" was a B-side on the "Digging in the Dirt" single. It is a lo-fi take on the version that appeared on Us.[5] On Secret World Live, "Steam" is preceded by the "Quiet Steam" version.

  1. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 26 December 1992. p. 23. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  2. ^ Randall, Mac (10 July 2002). "Gabriel, Beck and Miller Struggle With Gravity". The New York Observer. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  3. ^ All About us video compilation, Peter Gabriel, 1993 (VHS format only)
  4. ^ All about... us Archived 16 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine header Steam
  5. ^ Scarfe, Graeme (2021). Peter Gabriel: Every Album, Every Song. United Kingdom: SonicBond. p. 135. ISBN 978-1-78952-138-2.