Gabriel composed lyrics about a man whose unemployment causes stress in his domestic relationship. He had seen a TV program about the consequences of unemployment on family life, and said that it "played into my own problems at that time.

The song is a musical eulogy, inspired by the death of the black South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko in police custody on 12 September 1977. Gabriel wrote the song after hearing of Biko's death on the news.

The inventive music video definitely helped, but the song itself was the perfect blend of pop, soul, funk, and Gabriel's experimental studio techniques that defined his career. Undoubtedly the peak of his mainstream fame, the video for 'Sledgehammer' is consistently voted as one of the best of all time.

Melanie is a musician who has been a backing vocalist in her father's band since 2002. Gabriel has been married to Meabh Flynn since 9 June 2002. They have two sons: Isaac Ralph (born 27 September 2001) and Luc (born 5 July 2008).