Mom!
In tonight’s edition of Saturday Night Shut-In, Mr. Moderator will try to make sense of the two Peter Gabriel—era Genesis albums that he owns, Foxtrot and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, telling the tale of his first experience with “Supper’s Ready” and long nights spent flying on the wings of Pegasus. Won’t you join him on this journey? Sadly, our phone system is still down following last week’s chat with former Apple Electronics head and Magic Alex, so Mr. Moderator will not be able to take your calls. Your comments through this journey of discovery and understanding are welcome.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-10.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 10][Note: The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player. In fact, you can even set your iTunes to search for an automatic download each week’s podcast.]
As the kidz say today: LOL! Hearing that warped, scratchy copy of “Lamb Lies Down…” made my night.
Those live updates are a clever device to digest 3 LPs within a half an hour. However, crosscutting between sides 1 and 2 of an old copy of Foxtrot? Your CGI is showing.
Just wanted to note that “Time Table” is a straightforward a story song as Ladymisskir mentioned in the previous thread. An antique oak table, as possibly found in the public rooms of a proper English boarding school, sparks thoughts on knights and ladies up through the decaying future (“now only the rats hold sway”). Don’t look for this level of clarity in The Lamb , after 25 years that thing still makes no sense.
Busted…in the land of the Pince Nez! I should have known better. I should have said I owned TWO copies of Foxtrot. Damn!
Thanks for the insight on the lyrics to “Timetable.” As soon as he got into the medieval stuff I got distracted. That’s never been my scene, but as you describe them the lyrics sound like they could be worthwhile.
I didn’t address it directly through the show, but the thing that most disappoints me in their music is that I can’t hold onto a thread through almost any song but “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.” Their music seems so linear. I depend on repetition in my enjoyment of music, and the Genesis guys seem to move from one theme to the next, rarely tying back to whatever may have kept me hooked at an earlier point in the song. There was a song on The Lamb… that I’d never paid attention to and meant to include in this show called “Lily Lillywhite,” or something like that. That song had definite touchstones that the band referred back to and maximized as the song progressed. I suspect the members of Genesis were not big sports fans. They don’t show that “killer instinct” I hope for out of a song. I’m not “right” for holding this view, of course, but I think this is a difference between Genesis and Yes, for instance. Yes always knows how and when to “go for broke.”
Mr. Mod, another excellent episode. Hearing parts of “Supper’s Ready” really enabled me to focus on the fact that I. Do. Not. Like. That. Song.
I think the beginning of the song is genuinely haunting — the sound of Gabriel accompanied by 128-string guitar. You do think the rest of the song is going to take you on a journey. But once things get underway, and you get into all the movements and the solos and whatnot, it’s just dull and grating. They seem to maximum amount of minutes, solos, time-signatures to communicate… what, exactly? It reminds me of some of the reviews Pitchfork runs — which expend as many fancy words and labored metaphors as possible to get across something I don’t even think the writer is aware of. (Even worse is a Tumblr blog entitled Pitchfork Reviews Reviews.)
I think a song needs a threadline that can carry it all the way through. It’s usually the vocal line, but doesn’t have to be. “The Lamb Lies Down…” has it. So does “The Musical Box.” But not “Supper’s Ready,” at least not one I can discern.