"Steam" is a song by English
rock musician
Peter Gabriel, released in December 1992 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 very lo-fi take on the popular version that appeared on the album. On Secret World Live, "Steam" is preceded for a minute or so by the "Quiet Steam" version.
Critical reception
In his weekly UK chart commentary,
James Masterton stated, that the correspondingly ingenious video for "Steam" "will propel this into the Top 10."[5] Alec Foege from Spin felt that the song, "with its pressure-cooked chorus (Give me steam / And how you feel can make you real) and greasy organ riff, practically parodies
Prince's '
Cream'."[6] Mike Joyce from The Washington Post viewed it as "such sure-fire Top 40 ammo" and "a likable (if shamelessly obvious) sequel" to Gabriel's 1986 hit '
Sledgehammer'.[7]
Music video
The surreal music video for "Steam" was directed by
Stephen R. Johnson, who also directed the videos for Gabriel's earlier hits "
Sledgehammer" and "
Big Time". The director said he wanted to cram the video with as many "things" as possible.[8] The video features digital imagery and numerous instances of sexual symbolism.[9] This video was later shown on the 1994 video,
Computer Animation Festival Vol. 2.0.[10]