The song “Down to Earth” by Peter Gabriel is a catchy little song played over the closing credits at the end of the movie, WALL•E. The song fits perfectly with the ending of the movie and with its hopeful allusion to the future.
After further listening, I noticed that the song is dripping with great spirituality. Every line points nearly perfectly toward the virtue of humility, except for parts of the third stanza (after the second refrain), and even here, there are still subtle pointers. Remember the old saying about pride running away before the fall? Well, humility is the only thing that remains. The choice is to accept or reject it, be transformed by it and live fruitfully, or become angry, bitter and resentful. This song celebrates the choice to live humbly.
Did you think that your feet had been bound
By what gravity brings to the ground?
Did you feel you were tricked
By the future you picked?
Well, come on downAll those rules don’t apply
When you’re high in the sky
So, come on down
Come on down[refrain]
We’re coming down to the ground
There’s no better place to go
We’ve got snow up on the mountains
We’ve got rivers down below
We’re coming down to the ground
We hear the birds sing in the trees
And the land will be looked after
We send the seeds out in the breezeDid you think you’d escaped from routine
By changing the script and the scene?
Despite all you made of it
You’re always afraid
Of the changeYou’ve got a lot on your chest
Well, you can come as my guest
So come on down
Come on down[refrain]
Like the fish in the ocean
We felt at home in the sea
We learned to live off the good land
Learned to climb up a tree
Then we got up on two legs
But we wanted to fly
When we messed up our homeland
We set sail for the sky[refrain]
We’re coming down (down)
Coming down to earth (down)
Like babies at birth (down)
Coming down to earth (down to earth)
Redefine your priorities (down)
These are extraordinary qualities (down)
(Down, down to earth)[refrain x2]
Redefine your priorities
These are extraordinary qualities
To find on earth(coming down, coming down, coming down, to find on earth)