The album 's lyrics deal mostly with birth and especially death . The opening track , " Darkness " , is a song about overcoming fears . " Growing Up " is a summation of life put to a pulsating beat . " Sky Blue " is a track Gabriel claimed to have been working on for 10 years before finishing it . The track " No Way Out " is the first track to deal with death solely , though death is a common theme across the entire album . " I Grieve " was conceived after Gabriel looked over his catalogue of music as if it were a catalogue of emotional tools . He found one major missing tool to be one to cope with death and therefore " I Grieve " was born . Gabriel performed the song live on the television show '' Larry King Weekend '' on the first anniversary of September 11 attacks in the U.S. , during which Gabriel said that his two daughters were living in New York City and he could not contact them for some time , and that this song was for people who did not hear anything from their relatives then . It was not , however , written specifically for 9/11 , having appeared on the '' City of Angels '' soundtrack in 1998 ( in an earlier version ) and performed live prior to 9/11
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Up (Peter Gabriel album)