ARTIST: Peter Gabriel

CREATOR: Vnderworld

SONG: Playing for Time (Dark-Side Mix) FROM i/o

Video info:

A note from the Visual Artists:

The visual artists take the viewer on an existential journey through the countless lives and moments that have led to our present existence. The probability of your lineage's survival through the centuries for you to be here in this very moment. And so,  in tandem with Peter Gabriel’s incredible lyrics and the visual narrative presented before you, we begin to explore and contemplate our very own existence, for we are all “Playing for Time”.

The video begins with Peter Gabriel opening the cosmic portal through the astral plane of his existence. From Earth's volcanic prehistoric beginnings to the Garden of Eden, through ancient civilizations and historical epochs, we witness humanity's collective journey. The video flows seamlessly past Egyptian pyramids, Noah's Ark, and onward through ages of gladiators, Vikings, and explorers. 

At each scene we consider one of Peter’s ancestors surviving through the ages. This ancestral timeline leads to Gabriel's own life story - from his early days as a Charterhouse School drummer through his Genesis era and MTV success, culminating in his present-day wisdom. As the narrative approaches its climax, skeletal figures and clocks emerge. In its final moments, the video transcends linear time itself, depicting Gabriel in an alternate dimension where past, present, and future collapse into a single instant as the simulation reboots.

About the use of AI in this video:

This music video was created with AI utilizing Stable Diffusion Deforum in early 2024. It serves as a timestamp for the limitations and capabilities of AI video at the start of 2024. The video consists of a single-shot output, from hundreds of prompts and thousands of custom motion parameters. It is one, long, continuous raw AI output that took roughly 6 months to create.

Deforum as a creative medium, 12 months later, seems like a long-lost art to the rapid advancements of AI. Across the globe there are probably only a few thousand individuals who have mastered the art form of creating with Deforum. At the time of the video’s creation, this was the pinnacle of AI video technology. Now as you view AI videos almost indistinguishable from reality in 2025, we can reflect on how rapidly our world is changing in such a short time.

Credits: 

The original concept and visuals were designed by Steve G.(@_Vnderworld) and the motion parameters were hand-crafted by Stefan R. (@Null_Hax). The duo have known each other since 2001 and have been collaborating on videos and pioneering the AI creative revolution since July 2022. Find out more about the artists at westcoastai.xyz  |  youtube.com/@westcoastailabs

Song info:

Playing for Time is a track taken from Peter Gabriel's album i/o, released on 1 December 2023. This is the Dark-Side Mix, by Tchad Blake.

Words and music by Peter Gabriel. Produced by Peter Gabriel.

Published by Real World Music Ltd. / Sony Music Publishing.

Some songs arrive very quickly, Playing for Time was not one of those. I had been working on it, on and off, for several years and have sometimes performed it live, without lyrics.

It's about time, mortality and memories and the idea that each of us has a planet full of memories which get stashed inside the brain. Just like the hit songs of their youth which trigger extraordinary responses in dementia patients, I am fascinated by the mechanisms, smells and sounds which allow memories to reopen.

-pg