The Rhythm of the Heat

"The Rhythm of the Heat" is a song written and performed by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. Released in 1982, it is the opening track off his fourth self-titled album. In 1985, the song was used during the opening scene of "Evan" in season one of Miami Vice and also appeared in the Oliver Stone film Natural Born Killers in 1994.

An instrumental reworking of the song, titled "The Heat", was later included on Gabriel's 1985 Birdy soundtrack album. Gabriel also did an orchestral re-recording of "The Rhythm of the Heat" on his New Blood album in 2011.

Background
The working title for "The Rhythm of the Heat" was "Jung in Africa", referring to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung's experiences visiting the continent. Gabriel was a reader of Jung's work and learned that the psychiatrist had observed a group of African drummers and dancers in Kenya. During Jung's time with them, he became overwhelmed by their performance and worried that the music and dancing would subsume him. Gabriel sought to evoke these emotions in "The Rhythm of the Heat".

"I love the idea of this guy who shaped a lot of the way we think in the West, who lives in his head and in his dreams suddenly getting sucked into this thing that he can't avoid where he has to let go of control completely and feels that he has become possessed in a way, not by a devil but by this thing which is bigger than him and I think there is a bit of that sense of the European exploring African music."

Recording
"The Rhythm of the Heat" was one of the first songs Gabriel developed for his fourth studio album. In its earliest stage, the song consisted of raw vocals and a basic backing track. Similar to other songs on the album, Gabriel built "The Rhythm of the Heat" around a series of rhythms rather than a chord progression, making use of drum machines and a rhythm box to accomplish this. Most of the music for "The Rhythm of the Heat" was finished early on, whereas other musical ideas on the album were worked on in the studio with producer David Lord.

The song begins with a looped sample of a swanee whistle played on a Fairlight CMI. Another sample from the Fairlight, the "Pizztwang", was created by slowing down dulcimers and other stringed instruments; this sound enters following a brief wordless vocal passage from Gabriel. In addition to a standard drum kit, Jerry Marotta also played a heartbeat pattern on a surdo, which is faded-in during the second verse.

Gabriel sought to evoke a Ghanaian war dance during the ending of "The Rhythm of the Heat" and supplemented the section with loud bass accents. The Ghanaian drums during the song's ending were played by the Ekome Dance Company, an Afro-Caribbean performance group based in Bristol. Lord had previously worked with the ensemble at Crescent Studios and requested that they play on the recording.

Live performances
Prior to the song's official release, "The Rhythm of the Heat" was previewed at the first World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival in 1982, which was co-founded by Gabriel two years prior. Members of the Ekome Dance Company also joined Gabriel onstage for this performance. The song served as the set opener for Gabriel's Security Tour, where members of his band walked through the audience playing marching drums before reaching the stage. During this performance, Gabriel sang on a raised platform where his movements were "outlined by dramatic backlighting" according to concert reviewer Bill Provick. Gabriel also performed the song in 2007 during his Warm Up Tour in Europe, which included a stop in Wiltshire for the 25th anniversary of WOMAD.

In 2010, when Gabriel was touring his Scratch My Back cover album, "The Rhythm of the Heat" was added to the setlist for the purpose of supplementing the setlist with original material. For these performances, Gabriel decided to forgo drums in favor orchestral instrumentation conducted and arranged by John Metcalfe. Gabriel continued to play the song in orchestral form through 2012, including as part of a seven song set at the Hop Farm Festival.

Critical reception
Louder characterised "The Rhythm of the Heat" as one of Gabriel's most ambitious compositions. Adam Sweeting of Melody Maker said that the song's ending "builds up intensity and massive atmosphere", further adding that it would serve as a fitting soundtrack for a Peter Weir film. Peter Gabriel biographer Spencer Bright thought that the song was "Gabriel's most powerful expression of rhythmic power and explores his perennial obsession with spiritual transformation, in this case Jung's experiences in Africa". Paste ranked the song number 12 on its list of the top 20 greatest Peter Gabriel songs.

Personnel
Credits from the album's liner notes.
 * Peter Gabriel – vocals, Linn programming, Fairlight CMI, Prophet-5, surdo
 * Tony Levin – bass guitar
 * Larry Fast – Moog synthesizer, Prophet-5
 * Jerry Marotta – drum kit, surdo
 * Ekome Dance Company – Ghanaian drums
 * David Rhodes – backing vocals
 * John Ellis – backing vocals