Most of Peter Gabriel's songs have lyrics made up of various images that come to him, but "Solsbury Hill" was a rare autobiographical song, dealing with his break as lead singer of the band Genesis and anticipation of his new challenge as a solo artist.
This was Gabriel's first single as a solo artist. It was a big deal for him, since the song proved that he could write and perform a hit on his own with a song that was meaningful to him. He remarked in interviews at the time that he was especially pleased with the song and surprised that it was a single, since at one point he was going to leave it off the album.
Built around an acoustic guitar riff, this song is much more simple and toned-down compared to Gabriel's extravagant work with Genesis. As a solo artist, Gabriel proved completely unpredictable, venturing into pop, electronica, world music... whatever lit his fire. His next album, produced by Robert Fripp, was hitless, but his 1986 album So found a huge audience and holds up as a classic.
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