Peter Gabriel shared an emotional salute to Kanzi, the late bonobo involved in famous studies on great ape language—and a fascinating musical experiment the former Genesis front man helped facilitate. Kanzi died on March 18, 2025, at age 44, prompting Gabriel to reflect on "one of the most remarkable experiences" of his life.
The "Shock the Monkey" singer, always eager to explore big ideas and ever curious about advancements in technology, grew intrigued by reports in the early 2000s of animals learning human language. He’d spent decades working with musicians from other cultures, frequently finding common ground through sound over words, which made him wonder: Could that same principle be applied to the human-ape relationship?
"[O]ne of the things we noticed working with musicians from all around the world is often when we didn't share any common language, we could sit down and make noises together, and we'd find a way to communicate," Gabriel told NPR in 2013. "So, I began some cold-calling to some of these places that had worked with apes, it was, particularly at that point, and spoke to Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, who was at the Language Research Laboratory [at Georgia State] in Atlanta. And when I just threw the idea out at her, she said 'come on down.'"
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As Gabriel notes in the tribute, the program focused on the "extraordinary" Kanzi and his half-sister Panbanisha. "[They had] shown amazing ability in communicating with lexigrams that Sue and her partner Duane had created. It was also clear that they had a good understanding of English." Upon arriving in Atlanta, they asked the apes to individually sit down at a keyboard and improvise music—first with Gabriel and then later with his band. "There were no rewards," he writes, "and it was as much an exploration for them as it was for me."
The chemistry wasn’t immediate, though. "It took time," he adds, "to build trust and to convince them that they could make any musical choices they wanted and that they would be properly listened to." He elaborated on the musical exchange to NPR, noting that the apes were familiar with percussion instruments but had never seen a keyboard. "And I was working particularly with this wonderful bonobo called Panbanisha, who was there with her baby, and she was I think, of the apes that I play the most, sort of sensitive and responsive," he said. "And we asked her in the end to play with just one finger. Of course she put her own spin on that and took that as two one fingers, but then she began to improvise. And that is on the tape that you've seen and heard."
In his tribute, he says the results left him "blown away": "It was almost as if I had travelled through time and was having a casual dialogue with my hominid ancestors." In a YouTube video posted in 2012 (the year Panbanisha died, at age 26), he smiled at the memory of their time together, enthusing, "There was clear, sensitive, sharp musical intelligence at work, and it was very exciting."
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Luckily for us, he’s also shared footage from these encounters, one featuring Gabriel’s synthesizer drone and another with a funkier, more rhythmic backing. (In the latter, you can clearly see Gabriel’s face and the bass guitar of longtime bandmate Tony Levin.) The apes respond with surprising musicality, appearing to repeat certain melodic phrases and display at least some sense of timing.
Gabriel was so moved by the experience that it inspired him to help establish Interspecies Internet, which describes itself as a "global multidisciplinary think-tank working to facilitate the acceleration of interspecies communication." It also stirred up a song: 2002’s "Animal Nation."
"If you were to arrive on another planet and discovered two species that were less than 1% different, you’d probably assume they could do many of the same things," Gabriel says while introducing the piece during the 2003 concert film Growing Up: Live. "Yet on this planet, we humans believe we are much smarter than our ape relatives, but in truth we’re only .6% difference in our DNA. Last year we had an amazing experience creating music with some bonobo apes. They turned out to have extraordinary understanding and sensitivity communicating and playing music with us."
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The song’s lyrics directly touch on his time with Kanzi and Panbanisha: "I didn't meet you in the jungle / Swinging from a tree / I sat down at the piano / You were playing with me," Gabriel sings. "I couldn't believe all the things you could do / The apes I've seen were in the zoo / They say we are unique with this language that we speak / But you have proved them wrong / Skinner and Chomsky, how could they be so blind / With evidence this strong? / Intelligent life is all around us."
The Ape Initiative writes that they’re working with Wildstar Films on a documentary focused on Kanzi’s life and cultural impact. In his memory, they’ve established the Kanzi Bonobo Fund to "ensure the lifelong support and care of Kanzi’s bonobo family members: Elikya, Nyota, Maisha, Mali, Clara, and Teco."
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You may have missed the actual meaning behind these 5 popular songs.
'Every breath you ...' what? 5 classic songs where people totally missed the meaning
I’ve never been a "lyrics guy"—as long as the words sound pleasing to the ear, are relatively interesting, and aren’t evil or distractingly dumb, I don’t care all that much what the singer is going on about. I’m focused on the dynamics, the color of the arrangements, the rhythms, and harmonies. It’s only natural that I’d misinterpret some songs over the years, including ones that I’ve heard a thousand times while walking around malls and supermarkets.
I know I’m not alone. And I’d argue there are plenty of factors behind this phenomenon: Some people take lyrics too literally, while others only focus on hooky choruses and fail to notice nuance in the verses. Context can also blind us—if the music is danceable and upbeat, you might fail to catch darker elements in the words. Still, it can be hilarious and/or shocking when hugely popular tunes are misinterpreted on a mass scale.
Speaking of which: Let’s consult a viral Reddit thread titled "Any songs that are (or were) misunderstood by the public?" There's a mountain of suggestions—everything from '90s Latin-pop hits to '80s heartland-rock epics. But five of them felt especially perfect, so let’s dig a little deeper below.
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The Police - "Every Breath You Take" (1983)
As someone argues in the comments, "Pointing out the real meaning behind 'Every Breath You Take' has to have become so commonplace that it can't really be misunderstood anymore." Point taken. But still…this eerie Police track continues to be used in pop culture and everyday life as a signifier of romance—appearing as the soundtrack to TV slow dances and being arranged for weddings by string quartets. It’s easy to assume, at first glance anyway, that the song's protagonist is pledging their devotion—sticking around for "every breath" their partner takes. Instead, the atmosphere is more disturbing, given the whole "I’ll be watching you" thing. "I didn't realize at the time [I wrote it] how sinister it is," Sting told The Independent in 1993. "I think I was thinking of Big Brother, surveillance, and control."
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Bruce Springsteen - "Born in the U.S.A." (1984)
"Born in the U.S.A." is one of Bruce Springsteen's signature songs—but also likely his most misinterpreted. As an official explainer video notes, the words "center around America's industrial decline and loss of innocence during the Vietnam War"—a message that became somewhat diluted as politicians began using the stadium-sized track for their campaigns. "Conservative commenters praised the song, and it earned the approval of both candidates in the 1984 presidential election," the clip's narrator adds. "Despite being adopted as a patriotic anthem, 'Born in the U.S.A.' is far from nationalistic." In a deep-dive piece, NPR quotes Springsteen talking about the song on stage: "'After it came out, I read all over the place that nobody knew what it was about,' he said before performing 'Born in the U.S.A' to a crowd in 1995. 'I'm sure that everybody here tonight understood it."
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Los Del Rio - "Macarena" (Bayside Boys remix) (1995)
Most Americans probably know the bubbly Bayside Boys remix of Los Del Rio's Spanish-language hit—it became the marquee moment of many a mid-'90s wedding reception and middle-school dance, thanks to its once-ubiquitous choreography. Maybe it's because people were too distracted by remembering the dance moves, but lots of us didn’t notice the lyrics. Of course, the chorus is in Spanish, which could have been a barrier for some, but the remix features English lines like the following: "Now don't you worry about my boyfriend / The boy whose name is Vitorino / Ha! I don't want him, can't stand him / He was no good so I, ha ha ha / Now come on, what was I supposed to do? / He was out of town, and his two friends were so fine."
"My little teenage mind was blown when I learned 'Macarena' was about cheating on a boyfriend with his friends," one Redditor wrote. "[Thank you] for the correction, it was 2 friends! Was sleep deprived writing this. I just did the moves, never questioned the lyrics." Yeah, gotta admit—this legitimately never crossed my mind either. Same with some of the people who took part in a reaction video for Distracify: "It’s definitely about dancing," one person said, before learning the truth. Another added, "I have no idea what it’s about still to this day. Please tell me it’s not something really dark."
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Baha Men - "Who Let the Dogs Out" (2000)
The party was nice. The party was pumpin'.' Until, that is, some "flea-infested mongrels" got involved. Back in 2000, you couldn't escape Baha Men's booming cover of "Who Let the Dogs Out"—it became a staple of sporting events everywhere, a kind of bookend for the Jock Jams era. "I know I definitely misunderstood 'Who Let the Dogs Out' to be about actual dogs," one Redditor wrote, likely speaking for most of the listening public. There's probably a good chance most of those people chanting the chorus weren't thinking about the song's real meaning, crafted by Trinidadian artist Anslem Douglas for his 1998 original. But if you pay attention to the lyrics, "Who Let the Dogs Out" has a feminist theme, telling the story of women who stand up against crass catcalling. "This is going to be a revenge song where a woman tells men, 'Get away from me—you're a dog,'" Douglas told Vice in a 2021 video history of the track. "[Offensive] slang was everywhere. It was just degrading women and calling them all sorts of derogatory names. I tried to do a social commentary as a party song, but the party song overshadowed the social commentary aspect of it."
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Hozier - "Take Me to Church" (2013)
One section of the Reddit thread is devoted to songs interpreted as pro-religion, when the truth is... well, more complicated. "'Take Me to Church' by Hozier is often used by Churches for things, and I’m like 'Oh, that’s not…,'" wrote one user. The bluesy, slow-burning ballad may use religious imagery. Still, it's about something more human—"[It's] this idea that powerful organizations use people’s sexuality in order to mobilize people against women, against gay people," the Irish songwriter told Genius in 2023. "And the justification behind that is often religious in nature." Hozier even isolated one particular lyric that highlights this misconception: "'She tells me, ‘Worship in the bedroom' [is] something tongue-and-cheek, a bit of humor to it, also revealing that this is not necessarily a traditional worship song," he said. "I think I still see my name put into playlists for Christian music, and I’m not averse to that—I don’t think the two are necessarily mutually exclusive. But that line I would’ve thought would’ve disqualified it from something like that."