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Genesis - That's All
Genesis - That's All


Genesis - That's All Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Genesis
Released: 1983

That's All Lyrics


Just as I thought it was going alright
I find out I'm wrong, when I thought I was right
S'always the same, it's just a shame, That's All
I could say day, you'd say night
Tell it's black when I know that it's white
S'always the same, it's just a shame, that's all

I could leave but I won't go
Though my heart might tell me so
I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes
So why does it always seem to be
Me looking at you, you looking at me
S'always the same, it's just a shame, that's all

Turning me on, turning me off
Making me feel like I want too much
Living with you's just putting me through it all of the time
Running around, staying out all night
Taking it all instead of taking one bite
Living with you's just putting me through it all of the time

I could leave but I won't go
It'd be easier I know
I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes
But why does it always seem to be
Me looking at you, you looking at me
S'always the same, just a shame, that's all

Truth is I love you
More than I wanted to
There's no point in trying to pretend
There's been no-one who
Makes me feel like you do
Say we'll be together til the end

I could leave but I won't go
It'd be easier I know
I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes
But why does it always seem to be
Me looking at you, you looking at me
S'always the same, just a shame, that's all

Just as I thought it was going alright
I find out I'm wrong when I thought I was right
S'always the same, just a shame, that's all
I could say day, you'd say night
Tell me it's black when I know that it's white
S'always the same, it's just a shame, that's all

That's all

Writer/s: ANTHONY BANKS, MICHAEL RUTHERFORD, PHIL COLLINS
Publisher: IMAGEM U.S. LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

That's All
  • This song is about a failing relationship. The singer feels that no matter how hard he tries, the relationship keeps ending up in the rut: "It's always the same, it's just a shame, and that's all."
  • In the video, the 3 members of Genesis are apparently homeless, dressed in dirty clothes and warming themselves using fires in metal barrels. The connection between the video and the song (if there is one) is open to interpretation.

  • Genesis - Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
    Genesis - Tonight, Tonight, Tonight


    Genesis - Tonight, Tonight, Tonight Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: Invisible Touch
    Released: 1986

    Tonight, Tonight, Tonight Lyrics


    I'm coming down, coming down like a monkey, but it's alright
    Like a load on your back that you can't see but it's alright
    Try to shake it loose, cut it free, let it go, get it away from me.

    Cause Tonight, Tonight, Tonight I'm gonna make it right
    Tonight, tonight, tonight.

    I'm going down, going down, like a monkey, but it's alright
    Try to pick yourself up, carry that weight that you can't see, don't you know
    it's alright
    It's like a helter skelter, going down and down, round and round but just get
    it away from me.

    Because tonight, tonight, tonight
    We're gonna make it right
    Tonight, tonight, tonight.

    I got some money in my pocket, about ready to burn
    I don't remember where I got it, I gotta get it to you
    So please answer the phone, cause I keep calling, but you're never home
    What am I gonna do
    Tonight, tonight, tonight
    I'm gonna make it right
    Tonight, tonight, tonight.

    You keep telling me I've got everything, you say I've got everything I want
    You keep telling me you're gonna help me, you're gonna help me, but you don't
    But now I'm in too deep
    It's got me so that I just can't sleep
    Get me out of here, please get me out of here
    Just help me I'll do anything, anything if you'll just help me get out of here.

    I'm coming down, coming down like a monkey, but it's alright
    Like a load on your back that you can't see but it's alright
    Try to shake it loose, cut it free, let it go
    But just get it away from me
    Cause tonight, tonight, tonight
    Maybe we'll make it right
    Tonight, tonight, tonight.

    Please get me out of here
    Someone get me out of here
    Just help me I'll do anything, anything
    If you'll just help get me out of here
    Tonight I'm gonna make it right
    Tonight, tonight, tonight.
    Writer/s: RUTHERFORD, MICHAEL/COLLINS, PHIL/BANKS, TONY
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, IMAGEM U.S. LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
  • This song is about meeting with a cocaine dealer. The lyrics detail withdrawal symptoms from a cocaine high and the relief of knowing tonight is the night cocaine will be purchased. It deals with the struggle against the highly addictive drug. Phil Collins wrote the lyrics to this one.
  • In 1986, this was featured in commercials for Michelob beer as part of their "The night belongs to Michelob" campaign. It was a case of an advertising agency and/or client looking at the title and chorus of the song without regard for the lyrics, which reek of pain and desperation.

    Genesis keyboard player Tony Banks explained that using the song in the commercial was a big break for the band, since it helped it become a hit. Banks said that if it wasn't in the commercial, it probably would have remained an album track like their song "Domino."
  • With the release of Invisible Touch, Genesis left their Prog-Rock roots behind and were taking over the pop charts with predictable criticisms. Phil Collins took a lot of the heat from the old-school Genesis fans, who figured his solo Pop success had wormed its way into the band. Collins responded in a 1987 Creem interview by saying: "People tend to say now we're just a commercial group who write pop songs, but 'Domino' and 'Tonight, Tonight, Tonight' are more like the old Genesis. We have always written collectively, and any individual songs have been credited to the group anyway. We thought if one person got the credits he would get all the royalties and it would create an unfair imbalance."
  • On the album, this song runs 8:49. The radio version was edited down to 4:32.

  • Genesis - I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
    Genesis - I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)


    Genesis - I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: Selling England By The Pound
    Released: 1973

    I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) Lyrics


    It's one o'clock and time for lunch,
    When the sun beats down and I lie on the bench,
    I can always hear them talk.

    There's always been Ethel:
    "Jacob, wake up! You've got to tidy your room now."
    And then Mister Lewis:
    "Isn't it time that he was out on his own?"
    Over the garden wall, two little lovebirds - cuckoo to you!
    Keep them moving blades sharp...

    I know what I like, and I like what I know;
    Getting better in your wardrobe, stepping one beyond your show.

    Sunday night, Mr Farmer called, said:
    "Listen son, you're wasting your time; there's a future for you
    In the fire escape trade. Come up to town!"
    But I remembered a voice from the past;
    "Gambling only plays when you're winning"
    I had to thank old Miss Mort for schooling a failure.
    Keep them moving blades sharp.

    I know what I like, and I like what I know;
    Getting better in your wardrobe, stepping one beyond your show.

    When the sun beats down and I lie on the bench,
    I can always hear them talk.
    Me, I'm just a lawnmower you can tell me by the way I walk.

    Writer/s: RUTHERFORD, MICHAEL/GABRIEL, PETER/COLLINS, PHIL
    Publisher: EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, IMAGEM U.S. LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
  • This was written for Genesis' roadie from 1971-1973. His name was Jacob Finster, and he could never hold jobs - he was a lawn mower, a pawn store clerk and a cashier. By the time he died, he worked in a doughnut shop where he overdosed on heroin. This song struck a chord with adolescents struggling with their future and living in the middle of doubt.

  • Genesis - The Fountain Of Salmaci
    Genesis - The Fountain Of Salmacis


    Genesis - The Fountain Of Salmacis Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: Nursery Cryme
    Released: 1971

    The Fountain Of Salmacis Lyrics


    From a dense forest of tall dark pinewood, Mount Ida rises like an island.
    Within a hidden cave, nymphs had kept a child;
    Hermaphroditus, son of gods, so afraid of their love.

    As the dawn creeps up the sky
    The hunter caught sight of a doe.
    In desire for conquest,
    He found himself within a glade he'd not beheld before.

    Hermaphroditus:
    "Where are you, my father?
    Give wisdom to your son"
    Narrator:
    Now lost, the boy was guided by the sun"
    "Then he could go no farther

    And as his strength began to fail
    He saw a shimmering lake.
    A shadow in the dark green depths
    Disturbed the strange tranquility.

    Salmacis:
    "The waters are disturbed
    Some creature has been stirred"
    Narrator:
    "The waters are disturbed
    Naiad queen Salmacis has been stirred"

    As he rushed to quench his thirst,
    A fountain spring appeared before him
    And as his heated breath brushed through the cool mist,
    A liquid voice called, "Son of gods, drink from my spring".

    The water tasted strangely sweet.
    Behind him the voice called again.
    He turned and saw her, in a cloak of mist alone
    And as he gazed, her eyes were filled with the darkness of the lake.

    Salmacis:
    "We shall be one
    We shall be joined as one"
    Narrator:
    "She wanted them as one
    Yet he had no desire to be one"

    Hermaphroditus:
    "Away from me cold-blooded woman
    Your thirst is not mine"

    Salmacis:
    "Nothing will cause us to part
    Hear me, O Gods"

    Unearthly calm descended from the sky
    And then their flesh and bones were strangely merged
    Forever to be joined as one.

    The creature crawled into the lake.
    A fading voice was heard:
    "And I beg, yes I beg that all who touch this spring
    May share my fate"

    Salmacis:
    "We are the one
    We are the one"
    Narrator:
    "The two are now made one
    Demi-god and nymph are now made one"

    Both had given everything they had.
    A lover's dream had been fulfilled at last,
    Forever still beneath the lake.

    Writer/s: GABRIEL, PETER / BANKS, ANTHONY / HACKETT, STEVEN / RUTHERFORD, MICHAEL
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, CARLIN AMERICA INC, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    The Fountain Of Salmacis
  • Steve Hackett explained how this song came about: "We were rehearsing one night about six months after I joined. Tony (Banks) started playing something on his own, which he said was part of a previous number that they'd done. He incorporated the mellotron into the song and I started putting a harp-like effect on to it, which was a very subtle way of playing guitar, but it gave it spark. The whole thing developed into The Fountain Of Salmacis."'

    "The guitar solo at the end was, I think, a breakthrough at the time," he continued. "Previously we'd had both chords that sounded very orchestral, which I loved; but suddenly there was a solo over the top of that."
  • The Mellotron Mark II played by Banks on this song had been purchased by the band from King Crimson.
  • Salmacis fountain is located near the ancient Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, and it is now a tourist attraction located in present-day Bodrum, Turkey. Although excellent to drink, in classical times, it was thought to have the effect of making men effeminate and soft.

    According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, a naiad nymph called Salmacis fell in love with Hermaphroditus, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite. When he bathed in her fountain, she embraced him and prayed to the gods to be united with him forever. The gods heard her prayer and merged their bodies together, transforming Hermaphroditus into an androgynous being. Hermaphroditus then cursed the Salmacis fountain, so that any man who drank or bathed in its water would also become androgynous.

  • Genesis - No Reply At Al
    Genesis - No Reply At All


    Genesis - No Reply At All Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: Abacab
    Released: 1981

    No Reply At All Lyrics


    Talk to me, you never talk to me.
    Ooh, it seems that I can speak.
    I can hear my voice shoutin' out.

    But there's No Reply At All.

    Look at me, you never look at me.
    Ooh, I've been sittin, starin', seems so long.
    But you're lookin' through me
    Like I wasn't here at all.

    No reply. There's no reply at all.

    Dance with me, you never dance with me.
    Ooh, it seems that I can move.
    I'm close to you, close as I can get.

    Yet there's no reply at all.
    There's no reply at all.

    Be with me. Seems you're never here with me.
    Ooh, I've been tryin' to get over there.
    Oh, but it's out of my reach.

    And there's no reply at all.
    There's no reply at all.

    I get the feelin' you're tryin' to tell me;
    Is there somethin' that I should know?
    What excuse are you tryin' to sell me?
    Should I be readin' stop or go?
    I don't know.

    Be with me. Seems you're never here with me.
    Ooh, I've been tryin' to get over there.
    Oh, but it's out of my reach.

    And there's no reply at all.
    There's no reply at all.

    I get the feelin' you're tryin' to tell me;
    Is there somethin' that I should know?
    What excuse are you tryin' to sell me?
    Should I be readin' stop or go?
    I don't know.

    Maybe deep down inside,
    I'm tryin' for no one else but me,
    Too stubborn to say, "The buck stops here.
    I'm not the one you're lookin' for."

    But maybe deep down inside, I'm lyin'
    To no one else but me.
    Oh, but my back is up. I'm on my guard
    With all the exits sealed.

    Listen to me, you never listen to me.
    Oooh, and it seems there's no way out.
    I've been tryin' but we cannot connect.

    And there's no reply at all.
    There's no reply at all.
    There's no reply at all.
    No reply at all.
    Is anybody listenin'? Oh, there's no reply at all...

    Writer/s: PHIL COLLINS, MICHAEL RUTHERFORD, ANTHONY BANKS
    Publisher: IMAGEM U.S. LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    No Reply At All
  • Phil Collins poached the Earth, Wind & Fire horn section (known as The Phenix Horns) for his 1981 solo hit "I Missed Again," so a few months later when he was working with Genesis on the Abacab album, he decided to use them again. "I thought, if we're going to reinvent ourselves, why not have horns on it? This is a song here that sounds like a funky, R&B thing, so let's put horns on it. So we did it, and people hated it."

    The song did turn off some of Genesis' fans who were accustomed to their prog-rock sound. It's one of the Genesis songs that sounds like it could be a Phil Collins solo cut.
  • In the song, Phil Collins sings about being frustrated and feeling ignored by his partner, who he thinks is hiding something from him. Collins poured his heart out on his solo Face Value album and could certainly related to these emotions, but he has never described this as a personal song for him - he was writing in character with a touch of paranoia, but with nowhere near the delusional tone of "Mama."

  • Genesis - Mam
    Genesis - Mama


    Genesis - Mama Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

    Album: Genesis
    Released: 1983

    Mama Lyrics


    I can't see you Mama
    But I know you're always there
    Ooh to touch and to feel you mama
    Oh I just can't keep away
    It's the heat and the steam of the city
    Oh its got me running and I just can't brake
    So say you'll help me mama
    Cause its getting so hard

    Now I can't keep you mama
    But I know you're always there
    You listen, you teach me mama
    And I know inside you care
    So get down, down here beside me
    Oh you ain't going nowhere
    No I won't hurt you mama
    But its getting so hard

    Can't you see me mama
    Mama mama mama please
    Can't you feel my heart
    Can't you feel my heart
    Can't you feel my heart ooh
    Listen to me mama
    Mama mama
    You're taking away any last chances
    Don't take it away
    Can't you feel my heart?..

    It's hot, too hot for me mama
    But I can't hardly wait
    My eyes they're burning mama
    Make the pain, make it go away
    No I won't hurt you mama
    But its getting so hard

    Now I can't see you mama
    But I know you're always there
    You taunt, you tease me mama
    But I never, never can keep away
    It's the heat and the steam of the city
    Writer/s: RUTHERFORD, MICHAEL/COLLINS, PHIL/BANKS, TONY
    Publisher: EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, IMAGEM U.S. LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Mama Song Chart
  • This is about a young man obsessed with a prostitute who is not interested in him. He has an Oedipal fixation on her, and insists on calling her "Mama." It is based on a book Phil Collins read called The Moon's A Balloon, by David Niven. In the book, a young man falls in love with an older prostitute who does not return his affections.
  • After their 1980 album Duke, Genesis changed the way they wrote songs. Instead of the individual members bringing in musical bits and song ideas to work on, the band would show up in the studio and come up with ideas collectively. According to Phil Collins, it was Mike Rutherford who came up with this song after getting the idea from his drum machine. Their keyboard player Tony Banks added some chords, and Collins began improvising lyrics while they listened to playbacks, at one point uttering the word "Mama," which became the title for the song. In a press conference following the release of the album, Collins said that when they wrote the song, it "had a lot of steam, a lot of heat," and they pictured Cuban brothels. The band didn't think much of the song when they wrote it, and were surprised when it caught on.
  • The chorus consists of maniacal laughter performed by Phil Collins. When questioned about getting into the sinister mood to perform the song, Collins said that it wasn't a problem. After all, he was an accomplished actor long before he joined Genesis.
  • If you thought this song dealt with abortion, you're not the only one. Phil Collins has recounted a story about played the song for the band's manager for the first time, who thought the narrator was the voice of the fetus pleading with the pregnant woman.
  • The unusual percussion was created with a drum machine set to distort the beats. Collins based the drum rhythm on a track he worked on for Peter Gabriel called "Intruder." Gabriel encouraged Collins to experiment and use different processing devices.

    Collins, who became the lead singer of Genesis when Gabriel left in 1975, did a lot of the drumming on Gabriel's third solo album - he was taking a break from the band and sorting out his marital problems at the time.
  • Phil Collins got the idea for the crazy laugh from the 1982 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five song "The Message," where lead vocalist Melle Mel does a similar breathy laugh.
  • This was the first single from the album. They had now completely departed from their Peter Gabriel era sound and were getting a lot of radio play as a result.
  • Many groups title their first album the name of the band, but not counting live albums, this was Genesis' 12th release and 6th without Gabriel.
  • This was their biggest UK hit to that point. It didn't chart in America, where "That's All" was the big hit from the album.
  • An extended version was released as a CD single in 1988.
  • The video featured uncomfortably close shots of Phil Collins' face, where he looked particularly demonic. The image left a lasting impression on viewers and gained a lot of buzz for the video, which did well on the burgeoning MTV network.

    The clip was helmed by the British director "Stuart Orme," who did several other Genesis videos ("No Reply At All," "Misunderstanding") and worked on many popular TV series in England, including Al Fresco and Inspector Morse.

  • Genesis - Supper's Read
    Genesis - Supper's Ready


    Genesis - Supper's Ready Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

    Album: Foxtrot
    Released: 1972

    Supper's Ready Lyrics


    Walking across the sitting-room, I turn the television off.
    Sitting beside you, I look into your eyes.
    As the sound of motor cars fades in the night time,
    I swear I saw your face change, it didn't seem quite right.
    ...And it's hello babe with your guardian eyes so blue
    Hey my baby don't you know our love is true.

    Coming closer with our eyes, a distance falls around our bodies.
    Out in the garden, the moon seems very bright,
    Six saintly shrouded men move across the lawn slowly.
    The seventh walks in front with a cross held high in hand.
    ...And it's hey babe your supper's waiting for you.
    Hey my baby, don't you know our love is true.

    I've been so far from here,
    Far from your warm arms.
    It's good to feel you again,
    It's been a long long time. Hasn't it?

    I know a farmer who looks after the farm.
    With water clear, he cares for all his harvest.
    I know a fireman who looks after the fire.

    You, can't you see he's fooled you all.
    Yes, he's here again, can't you see he's fooled you all.
    Share his peace,
    Sign the lease.
    He's a supersonic scientist,
    He's the guaranteed eternal sanctuary man.
    Look, look into my mouth he cries,
    And all the children lost down many paths,
    I bet my life you'll walk inside
    Hand in hand,
    gland in gland
    With a spoonful of miracle,
    He's the guaranteed eternal sanctuary man.
    We will rock you, rock you little snake,
    We will keep you snug and warm.

    Wearing feelings on our faces while our faces took a rest,
    We walked across the fields to see the children of the West,
    But we saw a host of dark skinned warriors
    standing still below the ground,
    Waiting for battle.

    The fight's begun, they've been released.
    Killing foe for peace...bang, bang, bang. Bang, bang, bang...
    And they're giving me a wonderful potion,
    'cause I cannot contain my emotion.
    And even though I'm feeling good,
    Something tells me I'd better activate my prayer capsule.

    Today's a day to celebrate, the foe have met their fate.
    The order for rejoicing and dancing has come from our warlord.

    Wandering through the chaos the battle has left,
    We climb up a mountain of human flesh,
    To a plateau of green grass, and green trees full of life.
    A young figure sits still by a pool,
    He's been stamped "Human Bacon" by some butchery tool.
    (He is you)
    Social Security took care of this lad.
    We watch in reverence, as Narcissus is turned to a flower.

    A flower?

    If you go down to Willow Farm,
    to look for butterflies, flutterbyes, gutterflies
    Open your eyes, it's full of surprise, everyone lies,
    like the focks on the rocks,
    and the musical box.
    Oh, there's Mum & Dad, and good and bad,
    and everyone's happy to be here.

    There's Winston Churchill dressed in drag,
    he used to be a British flag, plastic bag, what a drag.
    The frog was a prince, the prince was a brick, the brick was an egg,
    the egg was a bird.
    (Fly away you sweet little thing, they're hard on your tail)
    Hadn't you heard?
    (They're going to change you into a human being!)
    Yes, we're happy as fish and gorgeous as geese,
    and wonderfully clean in the morning.

    We've got everything, we're growing everything,
    We've got some in
    We've got some out
    We've got some wild things floating about
    Everyone, we're changing everyone,
    you name them all,
    We've had them here,
    And the real stars are still to appear.

    ALL CHANGE!

    Feel your body melt;
    Mum to mud to mad to dad
    Dad diddley office, Dad diddley office,
    You're all full of ball.

    Dad to dam to dumb to mum
    Mum diddley washing, Mum diddley washing,
    You're all full of ball.

    Let me hear you lies, we're living this up to the eyes.
    Ooee-ooee-ooee-oowaa
    Momma I want you now.

    And as you listen to my voice
    To look for hidden doors, tidy floors, more applause.
    You've been here all the time,
    Like it or not, like what you got,
    You're under the soil (the soil, the soil),
    Yes, deep in the soil (the soil, the soil, the soil!).
    So we'll end with a whistle and end with a bang
    and all of us fit in our places.

    With the guards of Magog, swarming around,
    The Pied Piper takes his children underground.
    Dragons coming out of the sea,
    Shimmering silver head of wisdom looking at me.
    He brings down the fire from the skies,
    You can tell he's doing well by the look in human eyes.
    Better not compromise.
    It won't be easy.

    666 is no longer alone,
    He's getting out the marrow in your back bone,
    And the seven trumpets blowing sweet rock and roll,
    Gonna blow right down inside your soul.
    Pythagoras with the looking glass reflects the full moon,
    In blood, he's writing the lyrics of a brand new tune.

    And it's hey babe, with your guardian eyes so blue,
    Hey my baby, don't you know our love is true,
    I've been so far from here,
    Far from your loving arms,
    Now I'm back again, and babe it's gonna work out fine.

    Can't you feel our souls ignite
    Shedding ever changing colours,
    in the darkness of the fading night,
    Like the river joins the ocean,
    as the germ in a seed grows
    We have finally been freed to get back home.

    There's an angel standing in the sun,
    and he's crying with a loud voice,
    "This is the supper of the mighty one",
    Lord of Lords,
    King of Kings,
    Has returned to lead his children home,
    To take them to the new Jerusalem.

    Writer/s: PETER GABRIEL, TONY BANKS, MIKE RUTHERFORD, PHIL COLLINS, STEVE HACKETT
    Publisher: CARLIN AMERICA INC, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Supper's Ready Song Chart
  • This concept piece is 23 minutes long and divided into seven sections. It tells the story of two lovers who travel to strange worlds, eventually returning to their world only to witness The Apocalypse.
  • At Genesis concerts, pamphlets were distributed with notes detailing what was going on in each section. This helped the crowd follow along.
  • Peter Gabriel was the band's lead singer at the time, and the lyrics he wrote for this song were inspired by a night he spent with his first wife, Jill, at her parents' house. Gabriel believes Jill became possessed by a spirit, which gave him the starting point for a song about the battle between good and evil.
  • Gabriel: "One of the first times that I felt as if I was really singing from my soul, almost like singing for my life."
  • Section 6 is titled "Apocalypse." Gabriel got the idea for it while reading the book of Revelations in The Bible. This section features a solo over an unusual 9/8 rhythm.
  • This was the first big production number Genesis came up with. Led by Gabriel, they started putting on extravagant stage performances to please the fans and generate publicity. In 1974, they took it to a new level by performing their entire double album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway on tour. In that show, Gabriel changed costumes a number of times.
  • A few years after Gabriel left, Genesis moved from anthems like this to short pop songs. Led by Phil Collins, they lost some fans but had a string of hits.
  • When Gabriel left the band in 1975, they continued to perform this in concert, with Phil Collins on vocals. It is included on their 1977 live album Seconds Out. Gabriel told Mojo magazine that it was a "weird thing" seeing Collins sing a song with personal elements in it. He added: "It was like watching someone in your old clothes and you're not sure how well they fit."

  • Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadwa
    Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway


    Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
    Released: 1974

    The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway Lyrics


    And The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.

    Early morning Manhattan,
    Ocean winds blow on the land.
    The Movie-Palace is now undone,
    The all-night watchmen have had their fun.
    Sleeping cheaply on the midnight show,
    It's the same old ending-time to go.
    Get out!
    It seems they cannot leave their dream.
    There's something moving in the sidewalk steam,
    And the lamb lies down on Broadway.

    Nightime's flyers feel their pains.
    Drugstore takes down the chains.
    Metal motion comes in bursts,
    But the gas station can quench that thirst.
    Suspension cracked on unmade road
    The trucker's eyes read 'Overload'
    And out on the subway,
    Rael Imperial Aerosol Kid
    Exits into daylight, spraygun hid,
    And the lamb lies down on Broadway.

    The lamb seems right out of place,
    Yet the Broadway street scene finds a focus in its face.
    Somehow it's lying there,
    Brings a stillness to the air.
    Though man-made light, at night is very bright,
    There's no whitewash victim,
    As the neons dim, to the coat of white.
    Rael Imperial Aerosol Kid,
    Wipes his gun-he's forgotten what he did,
    And the lamb lies down on Broadway.

    Suzanne tired her work all done,
    Thinks money-honey-be on-neon.
    Cabman's velvet glove sounds the horn
    And the sawdust king spits out his scorn.
    Wonder women draw your blind!
    Don't look at me! I'm not your kind.
    I'm Rael!
    Something inside me has just begun,
    Lord knows what I have done,
    And the lamb lies down on Broadway.
    On Broadway-
    They say the lights are always bright on Broadway.
    They say there's always magic in the air.

    Writer/s: RUTHERFORD, MICHAEL/GABRIEL, PETER/COLLINS, PHIL
    Publisher: EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, IMAGEM U.S. LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway Song Chart
  • This tells the story of Rael, a poor Puerto Rican boy from The Bronx. As "The Lamb," Rael goes on an adventure in New York City. Peter Gabriel explained to The Daily Telegraph September 30, 2014 that the album, "was intended to be an intense story of a young rebellious Puerto Rican in New York who would face challenges with family, authority, sex, love and self-sacrifice to learn a little more about himself. I wanted to mix his dreams with his reality, in a kind of urban rebel Pilgrim's Progress."

    The full story is in the liner notes of the album.
  • This was the basis for an elaborate stage production Genesis performed at concerts. It was on this tour that Peter Gabriel decided to leave the band.
  • There are references to classic songs throughout the album, and this track recalls "On Broadway," which was a hit for The Drifters in 1963.
  • On their 1974 tour, Genesis played the album from start to finish. Gabriel wore several costumes throughout the show, including a grotesque mask during "The Colony Of Slippermen."
  • This was the first song and title track to the double album which was the last Peter Gabriel contribution to Genesis.
  • The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway was a song-cycle whose hero Rael shared a name with "Rael (1 and 2)," a track on The Who's 1967 album, The Who Sell Out. Mojo April 2010 asked Peter Gabriel if it was a conscious tribute to The Who's Pete Townshend. He replied: "It was a subconscious tribute because I certainly wasn't aware of it at the time. I spent a long time thinking of that name, like Ra the Sun God. But I was a big Who fan, so it may have got in there. Obviously Townshend created much of the musical environment and delivered the angst with an intelligence and passion and extraordinary musicality. But to this day, as a drummer, I think Keith Moon was the unacknowledged genius. He was like Jimi Hendrix: when he was on - and he wasn't always - it flowed out of him in a free way that was inspiring, driving, magnificent."
  • Peter Gabriel's insistence on writing the story and all the lyrics himself for The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway created friction amongst his bandmates. Tony Banks recalled in Uncut magazine October 2008: "Having done 'Supper's Ready' (the 23-minute song on Foxtrot)) we decided we wanted to go for a concept album, and make a double album. We agreed the concept, which Peter came up with. Then he said that he really wanted to write all the lyrics, which was difficult for us because we'd always split all the lyrics among us all." (thanks, DeeTheWriter - Saint Petersburg, Russia Federation)

  • Genesis - I Can't Danc
    Genesis - I Can't Dance


    Genesis - I Can't Dance Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: We Can't Dance
    Released: 1991

    I Can't Dance Lyrics


    Hot sun beating down
    Burning my feet just walking around.

    Hot sun making me sweat
    'Gators getting close, hasn't got me yet

    I can't dance, I can't talk.
    The only thing about me is the way I walk.
    I can't dance, I can't sing
    I'm just standing here selling everything.

    Blue jeans sitting on the beach,
    Her dog's talking to me, but she's out of reach.

    She's got a body under that shirt,
    But all she wants to do is rub my face in the dirt.

    Cause, I can't dance, I can't talk.
    The only thing about me is the way I walk.
    No, I can't dance, I can't sing
    I'm just standing here selling.

    And checking everything is in place,
    You never know who's looking on.

    Young punk spilling beer on my shoes,
    Fat guy's talking to me trying to steal my blues.

    Thick smoke, see her smiling through.
    I never thought so much could happen just shooting pool.

    But I can't dance, I can't talk.
    The only thing about me is the way I walk.
    I can't dance, I can't sing
    I'm just standing here selling

    And checking everything is in place
    You never know who's looking on
    A perfect body with a perfect face
    Writer/s: RUTHERFORD, MICHAEL/COLLINS, PHIL/BANKS, TONY
    Publisher: EMI Music Publishing, IMAGEM U.S. LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    I Can't Dance Song Chart
  • Genesis wrote this song in the studio in one session. "Once we started we kept going 'til we finished it," Phil Collins said in the documentary Genesis: Sum of the Parts. "It didn't take a ridiculous time to write."
  • The lyrics are made up of bits that Phil Collins improvised in the studio. When they started working on it, they decided to just write spontaneously to keep from over-thinking it. This explains the rather disjointed story about a guy who can't dance and is "just standing here selling."
  • Helmed by their go-to director Jim Yukich, the video created a lasting image thanks to the "silly walk" the three band members did. This walk was something Phil Collins did from time to time - he got the idea for it when he attended drama school and noticed that the worst dancers would always lead with the hand and foot on the same side. There is a twist ending in the video when at the end, Phil Collins does some Michael Jackson dance moves and an impressive little tap routine.
  • In our interview with Tony Banks , he explained that having a lead singer who was comfortable in front of the camera made the music videos much easier to create. "It gave us a chance to explore some quite fun ideas," he said. "When the lyric had an obvious way to go - with something like "I Can't Dance" or "No Son of Mine" - you could do it and express it quite well."

  • Genesis Songs - Land of Confusion
    Genesis - Land of Confusion


    Genesis - Land of Confusion Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: Invisible Touch
    Released: 1986

    Land of Confusion Lyrics


    I must've dreamed a thousand dreams
    Been haunted by a million screams
    I can hear the marching feet
    They're moving into the street.

    Now did you read the news today
    They say the danger's gone away
    But I can see the fire's still alight
    Burning into the night.

    Too many men
    Too many people
    Making too many problems
    And not much love to go round
    Can't you see
    This is a Land of Confusion.

    This is the world we live in
    And these are the hands we're given
    Use them and let's start trying
    To make it a place worth living in.

    Superman where are you now
    Everything's gone wrong somehow
    The men of steel, men of power
    Are losing control by the hour.

    This is the time
    This is the place
    So we look for the future
    But there's not much love to go round
    Tell me why, this is a land of confusion.

    This is the world we live in
    And these are the hands we're given
    Use them and let's start trying
    To make it a place worth living in.

    I remember long ago
    When the sun was shining
    The stars were bright
    All through the night
    And the sound of your laughter
    As I held you tight
    So long ago

    I won't be coming home tonight
    My generation will put it right
    We're not just making promises
    That we know, we'll never keep.

    Too many men
    Too many people
    Making too many problems
    And not much love to go round
    Can't you see
    This is a land of confusion.

    This is the world we live in
    And these are the hands we're given
    Use them and let's start trying
    To make it a place worth fighting for.

    This is the world we live in
    And these are the names we're given
    Stand up and let's start showing
    Just where our lives are going to.

    Writer/s: RUTHERFORD, MICHAEL/COLLINS, PHIL/BANKS, TONY
    Publisher: EMI Music Publishing
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Land of Confusion Song Chart
  • A rare political song for Genesis, this questions the wisdom of world leaders at a time when the US and Russia were enemies and there was a threat of nuclear war. Phil Collins called it, "A political song about the mess we have landed in."
  • The very popular video was made using puppets created by Peter Fluck and Roger Law, who had a British TV series called The Spitting Image. The show would often make fun of Genesis, and by hiring their tormentors, the band proved that they could take a joke.

    Genesis puppets had been used on the show before, but they made new ones for the video - not very flattering ones either. It was a way for the band to lighten their image from their days as earnest prog rockers. The video could go in the Cold War cultural time capsule: at the end, the Ronald Reagan puppet accidentally launches a nuclear missile.
  • Mike Rutherford called this "a kind of '80s protest song," adding: "It's about how we live in a very nice world, and what a mess we're making of it. How it should all be so easy and it's all so difficult."
  • The video won the 1987 Grammy for Best Concept Music Video - it was the only Grammy Genesis ever won, and they weren't even in the clip. At the MTV Video Music Awards, the video was nominated in six categories, but lost them all to Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer."
  • The video was produced by Paul Flattery and directed by Jim Yukich, who teamed up on most of the Genesis and Phil Collins videos of the time.

    Yukich, an American, would watch The Spitting Image on his trips to England and loved the show. He got the idea to use the puppets in this video when he saw a Phil Collins parody on the show that made fun of his angst-ridden solo work.
  • Typical of Genesis during this era, the entire band - Tony Banks , Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford - are the credited songwriters. Rutherford wrote the lyrics.
  • An inside joke in the video is Tony Banks playing a cash register - that was because he was always complaining about how expensive the videos were to make. And "Land Of Confusion" was very expensive - each puppet cost about $10,000.
  • This song is mentioned in the movie American Psycho. The lead character, Patrick Bateman, played by Christian Bale, calls this album their "Undisputed masterpiece," and praises this for "Questioning authoritative control." He then kills his coworker.
  • The hard rock group Disturbed covered this in 2006. (thanks, Brandon - Peoria, IL)

  • Genesis Songs - Invisible Touch
    Genesis - Invisible Touch


    Genesis - Invisible Touch Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: Invisible Touch
    Released: 1986

    Invisible Touch Lyrics


    Well I've been waiting, waiting here so long
    But thinking nothing, nothing could go wrong, but now I know
    She has a built in ability
    To take everything she sees
    And now it seems I'm falling, falling for her.

    She seems to have an Invisible Touch yeah
    She reaches in, grabs right hold of your heart
    She seems to have an invisible touch yeah
    It takes control and slowly tears you apart.

    I don't really know her, I only know her name
    But she crawls under your skin, you're never quite the same, and now I know
    She's got something you just can't trust
    It's something mysterious
    And now it seems I'm falling, falling for her.

    She seems to have an invisible touch yeah
    She reaches in, grabs right hold of your heart
    She seems to have an invisible touch yeah
    It takes control and slowly tears you apart.

    She don't like losing, to her it's still a game
    Though she'll mess up your life, you'll want her just the same, now I know
    She has a built in ability
    To take everything she sees
    And now it seems I've fallen, fallen for her.

    She seems to have an invisible touch yeah
    She reaches in, grabs right hold of your heart
    She seems to have an invisible touch yeah
    It takes control and slowly tears you apart.
    Writer/s: RUTHERFORD, MICHAEL/COLLINS, PHIL/BANKS, TONY
    Publisher: EMI Music Publishing, IMAGEM U.S. LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Invisible Touch Song Chart
  • Phil Collins wrote the lyrics, which are about a woman who holds power over the singer. He desires her even though he feels there is something bad about her.
  • Genesis had 17 Top 40 hits in the US, but this was their only #1. They never had a #1 in their native UK.
  • The Invisible Touch album marked Genesis' complete transformation from complex, theatrical music (starting when Peter Gabriel was lead singer) to condensed pop songs. They lost some fans along the way, but gained many more.
  • This was referenced in the movie American Psycho. A homicidal maniac named Patrick Bateman (played by Christian Bale) gives a lecture to the man he is about to kill on how this album is their undisputed masterpiece. He kills him while "Hip to Be Square" by Huey Lewis & the News drowns out the sound of the murder.
  • In 1986, Genesis released a collection of their music videos called "Visible Touch."
  • Genesis' former lead singer, Peter Gabriel, had his first #1 hit, "Sledgehammer," a few weeks before this went to #1.
  • When this song topped the Billboard Hot 100, it was the first instance in the history of the chart of a group following an individual band member to the summit. Prior to this song, Phil Collins had already notched the first four of his seven #1 solo singles.
  • This song was borne out of an inspirational guitar riff Mike Rutherford played while working on "The Last Domino," the latter half of "Domino," a two-part track on the Invisible Touch album. It very nearly became a part of that song, but it had a different character that stood out to lead singer Phil Collins. He explained: "As soon as he started playing that I started singing, 'she seems to have an invisible touch.' At that moment we just knew that was a great hook, and then we just sort of wrote a song around it."
  • This was featured on the animated TV series American Dad! in the 2012 episode "Old Stan in the Mountain" and the TV series The Angry Video Game Nerd in the 2006 episode "Bible Games."
  • MTV had a lot to do with this song's success. Genesis was one of the network's biggest stars at the time, and they put this video in hot rotation. In the clip, the band members film each other with hand-held cameras and act rather silly. Phil Collins sings into his drumstick and mock directs, sending up the whole concept of a music video. It was cheap but effective, as it helped personalize the band and played to Collins' acting talents - he performed in stage productions when he was younger.

    The video was directed by Jim Yukich, who worked on many of the Genesis clips, including "Land Of Confusion," which won a Grammy for Best Concept Music Video.

  • Genesis Songs - Misunderstanding
    Genesis - Misunderstanding


    Genesis - Misunderstanding Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: Duke
    Released: 1980

    Misunderstanding Lyrics


    There must be some Misunderstanding
    There must be some kind of mistake
    I waited in the rain for hours
    You were late

    Now it's not like me to say the right thing
    But you could've called to let me know
    I checked your number twice, don't understand it
    So I went home

    Well I'd been waiting for this weekend
    I thought that maybe we could see a show
    Never dreamed I'd have this feeling
    But seeing you is believing
    That's why I don't know why
    You didn't show up that night

    There must be some misunderstanding
    There must be some kind of mistake
    I was waiting in the rain for hours
    You were late

    Since then I've been running around trying to find you
    I went to the places you always go
    I rang your home but got no answer
    Jumped in my car, I went round there
    I still don't believe it
    He was just leaving

    There must be some misunderstanding
    There must be some kind of mistake.
    Writer/s: COLLINS, PHIL
    Publisher: EMI Music Publishing, IMAGEM U.S. LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Misunderstanding Song Chart
  • This was one of the first songs Phil Collins wrote on his own. He was going through a very difficult time - his first wife Andrea had left him and taken their two children with her. Phil found himself alone in the house he once shared with them, and began writing songs - sad ones.

    "Misunderstanding" finds Collins getting stood up and failing to understand that the girl wants nothing to do with him. Despite all evidence to the contrary, he keeps blaming her evasiveness on "some misunderstanding."

    In a way, Collins is looking at himself as a witness observer - his story about a man who is delusional in love reflects his hopeless attempts to put his marriage back together (they divorced in 1980). At the time, Collins had much deeper concerns than being left out in the rain, and those concerns are laid bare on the song "Please Don't Ask," which is one of his most personal tales. "Misunderstanding" has a lot more distance, and also a lot more hit potential. Both songs were used on the Genesis album Duke; Collins poured out more of his heart on his first solo album, Face Value, which was released the following year.
  • This was the second Top 40 US hit for Genesis, following "Follow You, Follow Me." The band began divesting themselves of their progressive rock roots in 1978 with the release of their album And Then There Were Three. They continued moving toward more compact pop songs with "Misunderstanding," which runs just 3:08.
  • To write songs for the Duke album, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks moved into Collins' house in Surrey, England for six weeks. Collins hadn't done much writing at that point, but Rutherford and Banks were very impressed when he played them this song. Five of the other songs for the album were group efforts written during these sessions when the band would jam together.
  • Genesis recorded this at Abba's studio in Sweden.

  • Lyrics

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