More than This (Peter Gabriel song)
song by the English singer-songwriter and rock musician Peter Gabriel (2002)
"More Than This" is a song by English rock musician Peter Gabriel from his 2002 album, Up. The song was released as the second single from Up and became the only song from the album to chart in the UK, reaching number 47. It was also included on the Growing Up Live concert film in 2003. Live performances of the song featured projections of a balloon suspended above the stage.
Background
Work on "More Than This" began late in the development process for Up. Daniel Lanois, who previously worked as a co-producer on some of Gabriel's previous albums, left a Fender Telecaster guitar behind at Real World Studios, so Gabriel decided to sample the instrument on a keyboard. Gabriel quipped that he "can't play guitar to save my life, but I can make noises on it." He drew further inspiration from a groove on a cassette that he encountered while traveling the Italian Alps.
The song begins with manipulated guitar sounds from Gabriel's keyboard, after which the first verse starts. These guitar samples also return in the song's second verse. Lyrically, the verses describe a long walk to an unfamiliar place and a vision of people struggling at sea.
“More than This (Peter Gabriel song)” enters the record as song by the English singer-songwriter and rock musician Peter Gabriel (2002). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what More, than and Peter can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“More than This (Peter Gabriel song)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, More, than and Peter provides the most credible route into that argument.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q12861029. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2002 and 2003.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “More than This (Peter Gabriel song)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow More than This (Peter Gabriel song) primary sources, More than This (Peter Gabriel song) archive and More research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “More than This (Peter Gabriel song)”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “More than This (Peter Gabriel song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.