Written by Uwe Hoppe

0. Introduction

Many books and articles have already been written on the history and development of Genesis but other material than that is very hard to find. The interpretations of the Lamb story by Kochel, Scheid and Topper as well as Scott McMahan's brilliant annotated discography are therefore welcome exceptions to this rule (1).

In particular, it seems that both the lyrics (as well as their musical embedding) and the artwork of the early albums need much more detailed study and appreciation.

Apart from dealing with a variety of social (see "Get 'em out by Friday", "The Battle of Epping Forest", "Harold the Barrel" etc.), religious ("Supper's Ready", "One for the Vine", "Dusk" etc.) and psychological issues ("The Musical Box", "Supper's Ready", "The Lamb" etc.) it seems that one underlying recurring theme of the songs is the relationship between man and nature. The language used in these early songs is often very reminiscent of so-called pastoral poetry although very seldom in a strict sense of the term since "pastoral" basically refers to idealizing country life where shepherds lead a peaceful, innocent life in eternal summer.

Most pastoral poems in classical European literature are set in a place called Arcadia which according to Greek mythology is the home of Pan, a pagan god and guardian of the shepherds. The real Arcadia, however, which is situated in Greece, very close to the Peleponnes, is hardly as fertile and beautiful as described in the poems. The concept of Arcadia as an ideal place, as "paradise on earth" so to speak, goes back to the Roman poet Vergil (70 - 19 B.C.) ["Eclogues"] and was later revived in the Renaissance, namely by Iacopo Sannazzarro ("Arcadia" - 1504) and Sir Philip Sidney ("The Arcadia" - 1581,1583-84).

Although examples of pure pastoral poetry and philosophy do appear in the songs, as will be shown, it seems that in general there is a profound longing to get back to the original harmony man had with nature before his fall from grace. The bitter parodies on pastoral imagery (see "Willow Farm", the intrusion of death in "Firth of Fifth" and, of course, "The Lamb") that the band produced as they were growing up make quite clear that this longing could never be fulfilled. Nevertheless, the band returned to this theme time and time again: "Keep It Dark" (Abacab, 1981) - cunningly disguised as a science-fiction story - offers a modern description of the long-lost Arcadia but now it is a place in outer space, and the only living person who has seen it is not allowed to talk about his experiences:

A world full of people, their hearts full of joy,
Cities of light with no fear or war,
And thousands of creatures with happier lives ...

At the Milton Keynes Reunion Concert in 1982 Peter told a very touching tale in which death (that only entered the world after the fall grom grace) is overcome and the long-sought innocence is restored. The tale which obviously must have served as an introduction to "The Lamb" is all about an old man

"who used to collect everything that he had in his life: bus tickets, paper bags, all sorts... So his room was full of junk, and everytime he got more and more stuff, he had to build his house a little bit bigger and bigger and bigger.
Eventually, desaster struck when his dog Renaldo died. So he took Renaldo to the place where all dead dogs should go: to the taxidermist. Renaldo was back in his room within a week. He first of all sat him in his chair but he didn't look quite right, didn't look quite comfortable, and he tried him by the fireplace where he usually sat, and then he lifted him up in his full glory and put him on the table, and just then, the glass eyes began to wink a little. He saw a sign of life return to the dog, and his tail wagged. As that happened, the table began sprouting branches and leaves, and everything started moving backwards into life, ....and there was a strange rug in front of the fire made out of lamb's wool, and the rug slowly returned to life, and there was a little lamb... " (2)

1. Influences

Pastoral poetry has had a long tradition in English literature which dates back to the 16th century (Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, Shakespeare, Andrew Marvell etc.), and it is easily imaginable that Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips must have come across this kind of poetry when they took their literature classes at Charterhouse (3). Therefore it seems that it is no coincidence that Peter quoted Alexander Pope's "Ode on Solitude" (which depicts the simple pleasures of country life) (1700) in "Happy the Man" (4) and William Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" (1804) (5) in "The Colony of Slippermen".

The fact that nature has played an important role as a source of inspiration early on in Peter's life is testified by the following quotation from an interview with Armando Gallo:

"I used to spend a lot of time on my own when I was a kid, wandering around the farm dreaming, making love to the cows ... " (Peter's sodomistic inclinations should, of course, not be taken too seriously here.) (6)

Furthermore, it is noteworthy that the band spent a long formative period rehearsing in a remote cottage in the countryside where they managed to get most of the material together that was to appear on "Trespass" (7).

2. Beginnings

The band's very first album "From Genesis to Revelation" (1969) dealt with the creation of the world, the subsequent evolution of mankind and man's inevitable fall from grace. The idea to choose such an ambitious topic for an album was, however, not the band's but the producer's (Jonathan King), and yet "Trespass" (1970) - the very first in a steady line of high-quality offerings - makes liberal use of the ideas already established on "Revelation" which according to Chris Welch "was a bit like a local film club attempting a re-make of Ben Hur for their first movie project." (8). Another link between these two albums may be seen in the fact that "Visions of Angels", one of the key tracks on "Trespass", had already been recorded for inclusion on "From Genesis to Revelation" (9). Some of the early songs even foreshadow what the band was able to offer only a year later: "The Conqueror" with its use of brutal imagery ("and the heads they are a-rolling") finds its echo in "The Knife", and "One-Eyed Hound" ("night is the time for chasing the one-eyed hound") is certainly a precursor of "One-Eye" found in "White Mountain".

The picture of the world that the band and especially Peter Gabriel provide is one of harmony and beauty that is finally destroyed by man's loss of innocence. This is indeed very close to the spirit of pastoral poetry:

As daybreak breaks the mist upon the earth
It came to pass that beauty settled here forever more
("Fireside Song")

I walk among the tall trees
This is beauty I know
I'm in love with it all
("In Hiding")

Even in the band's very first song "The Silent Sun", deliberately written as a Bee Gees pastiche to impress Jonathan King, the use of natural imagery as a reflection of the love the narrator has found is quite striking ("silent sun that never shines", "tiny stone", "star-filled sky", "snowflakes") and is at the same time quite unusual for a song aimed at the pop charts. It is also at this early stage that the water imagery (as an element of life and change) that plays a prominent role in many, many Genesis songs is introduced ("a mountain stream that chills the sea") (10).

The two companion pieces "One Day" and "Window", both love songs as well, show our narrator as being in harmony with nature through a deeply felt love that gives him wings to fly:

Birds of the sky, may I borrow your wings?
Very soon I'll ask my love
To travel with me to the world outside
Cherry trees, may I borrow your bloom?
Very soon I'll ask my love
To come inside the nest I'll build alone
("One Day")

Flying invisibly high, watch me
All on a beautiful sky, I'll be
Clear and serene in the love I've discovered
("Window")

And with the "little nymphs that dance in her hair" in the same song we find yet another classic example of pastoral imagery (nymphs are usually depicted as the shepherd's companion - compare e.g. Christopher Marlowe's parody "The Passionate Shepherd to his Love" (1589) and Sir Walter Raleigh's direct reply "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" (1599)).

The "guiding hand" ("The Serpent"), however, that will lead the narrator on from the temptation of the serpent is actually the devil's, and after having tasted the notorious apple from the Tree of Knowledge evil enters the world which becomes a wilderness where conquerors are taking over.

The final "A Place to Call My Own" expresses the narrator's wish to wake up from the present state of the world, like from a bad dream. He is dreaming of the world in harmony (the pastoral Arcadia) he has lost forever:

Waking gently feel her presence near
Devil shattered, warmth is everywhere
I am only a child of hers, my guardian goddess
Now, I'm reaching my journey's end inside her womb
And I think I've found a place to call my own

This return to innocence is further expressed by the womb image (expressing the wish to start all over again) that Peter used again in "Cuckoo Cocoon" (1974) where, interestingly enough, Rael exclaims: "And I feel so secure that I know this can't be real." The image obviously also serves to complete the circle of life. This stylistic device - to tell a story that sort of ends where it began - has been used quite often in concept albums (11).

3. Of Shepherds, Knights and Romantic Love

On February 22nd, 1970 the band recorded five songs for the BBC - two of which are slightly different versions of tracks later found on "Trespass" ("Looking For Someone", "Stagnation"). The three other pieces have as yet not been released officially so that in order to hear them one has to

"The Shepherd" - the bootleg

refer to one of the many bootlegs available (12). "The Shepherd" (which - as a figure - is one of the key elements of pastoral poetry), "Pacidy" and "Let Us Now Make Love" are, of course, all love songs obviously set in a romtanticized past full of kings and queens and fairy-tale elements (knight on a white horse, castle in the heavens, mermaids singing in the sunset etc.).

Although all three songs deal with different aspects of love ("The Shepherd": the narrator attempts to win the heart of a maiden who is indulged in passionate dreams, "Pacidy": the end of a relationship, "Let Us Now Make Love": eternal love), in all three of them the narrator constantly tries to find correspondencies for his feelings in the natural world around him: In "The Shepherd" the narrator invokes the shepherd - whom he obviously considers a much wiser man than he is himself (since he is in harmony with the world and therefore a "fair prince of peace") - to tell his tale of unrequited love (13). The chill of rejection therefore places him firmly in mid-winter time:

Frosty breath on the window
See a friend in the snow that gently falls

In "Pacidy" - certainly the most profound of these three pieces - (the title of which I take to be some obsolete forename) the narrator directly addresses his loved one in the first three stanzas, once again using natural imagery and analogies to describe the situtation:

Pacidy, my love
Glowing ember of evening
Your eyes are frozen with guilt

The contrast of fire ("ember") and ice ("frozen") is a very common one in love songs but there is more information in this little sentence: The "ember" and the "evening" stand for the fact that their love is coming to an end, and that she has already betrayed him ("frozen with guilt"). To him, their love used to be a pastoral "meadow of hope" which is now gone forever, and he finally asks himself whether the love that offered protection against a cruel world ("The union of strength in a love against life/Love against life") really existed at all. Consequently, the fourth stanza finds his thoughts turning away from his lady and invoking the spirits of nature instead:

"Mother fawn of a pine wood/Shepherdess of my grie/Veils a freedom not for me".

These lines indicate that the first three stanzas are merely part of an interior monologue that takes places in a forest.

The final lines almost take on philosophical dimensions: The loss of his love confronts the narrator with his own imperfection and meaninglessness in a world where nature is much more powerful and stronger than mankind: "Far beyond the steep ridge, where blizzards/Blast the spirit of man" (also check out the passage on "White Mountain" where the "steep ridge" reappears). Consequently, man does not control nature; it will always control him for he is just a "beast", no better than the rest of Creation, and even worse, his ability to develop feelings make him the "frailest of beasts".

"Let Us Now Make Love" - no surprise here - celebrates newly found love that the narrator wishes to last forever. Therefore it is perhaps the most purely pastoral of the three songs, especially in its use of natural imagery:

Alone, upon the windswept way
Descends the nightingale
She swoops to soothe my aching brow
Let us now make love
...
dear oyster shell reveal your hidden pearl

The line "Come, let's walk the windy roads to find the truth" (which in itself is very reminiscent of "Come, we'll walk the path to take us to my home" in "Stagnation") again states the idea of love as a "union against life" already found in "Pacidy". The wind imagery which stands for the roughness of the outside world and man's cruelty is introduced here for the first time. As will be explained later, this metaphor plays an important part in other songs such as "Looking For Someone" and "The Lamb". Once again, philosophy comes into play when love is finally offered as a solution to the problems of mankind:

Alone, the deaf, the sick, the blind
Turn grimly for the knife
The prophet stoops to soothe their brow
Let us now make love

The "knife" - one of the key elements of "Trespass" - make its first appearance here as a symbol for all the evil things that man is capable of doing: violence, murder, war and destruction.

4. Trespass

4.1. The Cover

The title of the album which goes back to the Lord's Prayer makes quite clear that we are still on biblical ground. At this point it may be also worth noting that the two members that were to complete the classic Genesis line-up had already participated in albums that dealt with religious issues as well (Phil Collins had played on Flaming Youth's "Ark II", and Steve Hackett had made an album with "Quiet World" entitled "The Road"). Despite the fact that nothing much is known about the extent of Peter Gabriel's exposure to religious ideas, it is quite striking that even a long time after his departure from the group religious issues still played an important part in his works (e.g., "The Last Temptation of Christ", "Eve", "Blood of Eden" etc.).
Before we talk about the individual songs it seems appropriate to try to explain what the art work (by Paul Whitehead) is all about (14):

What we see is a couple contemplating a world in harmony from a window in a castle high above the world. Their perspective must be very much the same as the one of the eagle (at least, I guess it is one) which is seen hovering above the landscape. If you keep in mind that by the time the first cities were built man had already fallen from grace, this seems to show that peace and harmony with the world are still possible. This perspective - contemplating the world from above - must have been rather popular with the band since the lyrics to both "Window" and "Watcher of the Skies" came to life in rather elevated places (15).

Through the castle window one can see a river and a city (with a tiny church steeple) with a snow-covered mountain towering above it, certainly the "White Mountain" to be found on the record and of which we we know nothing about yet. In the distance there is another chain of mountains below an almost cloudless sky where the eagle is seen floating peacefully. The bird image which seems to signify freedom and strength is reflected by the bird emblem which is part of the Genesis logo. Let us also recall that in both "One Day" and "Window" the metaphor of flying is used to express the joy of newly-found love.

The couple's love for each other is also reflected in the heart symbol found in the band logo and in the rose that is integrated in the Trespass ornament. The almost otherworldly peace of the scene is enhanced by an angel that appears on the utmost left side of the front cover. Balanced against this image (the angel is seen standing on the ground) is the enormous head of a faun (another classic pastoral item) that is integrated into the black flower curtain on the right side of the cover.

If you turn the cover around you see that there is something very wrong in paradise: The crack that starts right in the middle of the sky (already visibile on the front cover) is actually caused by a real knife that cuts the scene apart and casts a long shadow on the picture as if to signify that evil and violence have entered the world. On account of this, I think it is fair to say that the cover art deals with deception for the front cover tricks the viewer into believing that everything is in harmony but, of course, he could have been warned for the visible crack on the front cover is after all quite disturbing. Another explanation of the angel/faun imagery is maybe also possible:

Keeping in mind that the classic descpritions of fauns are very similar to those of the devil, the front cover may very well describe man's position (the couple) between good (the angel) and evil (the faun/devil). If you look at things this way, it becomes very ironic that the angel (as a symbol of God) is standing on the ground whereas the faun/devil is seen close to sky as if to signify that the devil has taken over for good (notice also that the faun's head is much bigger than the angel's). This aspect - which is, of course, open to criticism - is further supported by the church steeple (another religious symbol) which is rather tiny when compared to the white mountain where killing is to take place, as we shall see later on.

In general, it is therefore safe to say that nothing quite is what it seems to be here, and one of the central songs on the album ("Stagnation") also deals with the deception just mentioned.

The gatefold sleeve reveals another "window", only this time the perspective has changed: now it is the viewer who looks through a kind of "natural window" (the opening in a forest), and we are no longer high above the world but on the ground. What we see now is a green pasture with a fence (signifying property - "no trespassing allowed") and a chain of mountains, but the sky is no longer cloudless, and the knife from the back cover (now painted) sticks in one of the trees to remind us that violence and evil are omnipresent. In a way both pictures seem to describe the contrast between the ideal world (love, harmony etc.) and the real world which does contain beautiful elements (like the pasture and the mountains) but - as already stated in "From Genesis to Revelation" - the peaceful unity between man and nature is forever gone. This is immediately made very clear by "The Knife" which describes the nasty side effects of a revolution in very brutal imagery:

carry their heads to the palace of old
hang them, hang them, let the blood flow

4.2. The Songs

However, one has to remember that "The Knife" closes the album and that most of the songs on the album deal with very different issues. The overall impression that a casual listener gets is that there is a profound longing for peace in a much troubled world. Moreover, there seems to be a desire to regain man's harmony with nature.

This desire is very clearly expressed in the opening track "Looking for Someone" which deals with the need for guidance and companionship. Nature offers hope and relief but only temporarily since death and war - hinted at by mentioning the permanently war-stricken Syrian capital - have become a bitter reality:

You see the sunlight through the trees , to keep you warm
in peaceful shades of green
Yet in the darkness of my mind
Damascus wasn't far behind.

It is quite striking that this song is the only one on the album obviously set in the modern world ("lost in a subway", "there's a man looking at a magazine"), all others seem to be set either in the past ("The Knife") or in a timeless natural environment. Like in "The Lamb" the wind imagery is used to signify that the modern world is not a homely place: the "chilly wind pierces like a dagger" (note that the knife imagery already discussed appears here for the first time in the song lyrics).

In a way, "White Mountain" (in my mind, one of the most perfect things the band has ever recorded) foreshadows the killing in "The Knife", only here the whole scene is set in the animal world in the midst of winter, and it is the usurper who dies in the end. It is not easy to find out the actual meaning of the song which Welch describes as "a picturesque story that unfolds rather like a children's radio play with musical accompaniment, as he (P.G.) sings of foxes and wolves and kings" (16) but the whole description of the proceedings and their musical realization are so good that with eyes closed one can actually see Fang the Wolf running through the woods as the pack chases him and the snow comes falling down from the bleak winter night sky.

This is one of the first Genesis songs on record where an unusual and complete story is being told, and this concept must have been so popular that the band returned to it again and again (17).

The mystery of the whole song is further enhanced by the impression that the narrator seems to have knowledge about the secrets of the animal world that ordinary people don't have (18). And yet, the world depicted here is a world fallen from grace. The mere title of the song might suggest an idyll and is therefore again deceptive (remember that white is the colour of innocence) since the order of the world has been replaced by usurpation and violence, summer has given way to eternal winter and nature imposes almost insurmountable barriers on the creatures living in it (19):

steep rose the ridge, ghostly peaks climbed the sky,
fang sped through jungles of ice

Once again, the knife imagery is used when One-eye raises the sceptre "to deal the deadly blow". If you look closely at the knife on the back cover you will find out that it is quite similar to a sceptre in that it has a huge diamond placed on top of its shaft.

"Visions of Angels" - once again set in a forest - with its references to William Blake (20) mourns the impossibility of real love, the final transitoriness of all things and man's utter solitude in a world given up by its creator. Therefore, all that the narrator sees are merely "visions of angels" and never the real thing. Consequently, the happiness that the dancing angels seem to share will never be his. Nothing of all the beauty that nature has to offer as a comfort is bound to last very long:

Standing in a forest gazing at the sun
looking at the trees but there's not even one
see a ripling stream that smiles and then goes by
run to feel its comforts but the water's dry

And just like after man's fall from grace the world has become a colder place:

Ice is moving and the world's begun to freeze
see the sunlight stopped and deadened by the breeze

Hence it is not surprising that the trumpets of the Apocalypse that were to play "sweet rock'n'roll" in "Supper's Ready" two years later are also present here.

At first glance, "Stagnation" offers a much kinder vision of the natural world where a "red sky tells his tale" and "there is peace amongst the hills" and the "moon ... is smiling from above". The narrator may still be in tears (see "Visions of Angels") but it seems that at least for the time being he has found peace for himself although violence and death (once again symbolized by an "ice-cold knife") are still present. The fatalistic point of view of the previous song is at least temporarily overcome: Although he has stated that all things including himself are born to decay, he now discovers that there "still is time", that the world in which he is doomed to solitude where one often feels lost (see Looking For Someone: "lost in a subway") after all offers a "home" against the cold and a companion worth waiting for. What fate has in store may sometimes be bitter (like the minnows) and life may be full of obstacles (weeds) and the future impossible to tell (the water is not clear but slimy), and yet it is justified to enjoy a beautiful moment regardless of past and future. And so the final "Then let us drink, then let us smile, then let us go"- note that the plural (us) is used to signify that he is no longer alone - is a call to live here and now, and when it's time to die (then let us go) one should be ready and willing to accept it.

The use of natural imagery is heavily emphasized by the music that according to Steve Hackett (who joined the band only a year later) "is a very impressionist sort of thing, very evocative of branches and leaves. It conjures up feelings of scenery to me .. very much like water, very much in terms of elements .. wood maybe, natural things, acoustics." (21). There isn't much I could ever add to that.

With so many positive things being included here one might very well ask the question why the song is called "Stagnation", a rather negative term for a condition where things do not change and/or have become dull. This is indeed puzzling since the narrator comes to a conclusion and finally makes a decision. For the time being, let us just say that the title is simply irony since in the next song the newly-won light fades and the world shatters again. The irony is further supported by the use of the moon symbol (the "long-lost friend") which stands for illusion and deception. This symbol also appears in "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" (1973) where it is used to show that the old values (knighthood, the British Empire etc.) have no longer any significance in modern commercialized society where people are confined to "chewing through their wimpy dreams".

In "Supper's Ready" (1972) the moon is used to introduce the steady stream of unreal elements after the influence of the outside world has faded away (that is; the television has been turned off and the motor cars can no longer be heard).

Likewise, Peter's dedication of the song to a certain millionaire called Thomas S. Eiselberg who builds a shelter in order to protect himself from a possible nuclear war again deals with the topic of illusion since all his provisions against the oncoming catastrophe are bound to be futile, and he is going to be left utterly alone to himself. Keeping this in mind, the second line "the only listening eyes are mine" suddenly makes new sense. The same applies to the "filth deep in his guts" that the narrator wishes to wash out (indicating that he is probably seriously ill). Here we have a person - Mr. Eiselberg - who has survived a nuclear catastrophe and is now gradually losing strength and dying alone. Everything else - the "peace amongst the hills", the companion he turns to ("you are there") etc. - is just an illusion. The interesting thing about this song is that one is only able to make the connection if one reads the Eiselberg story on the lyric sheet. Finally, even the song title makes full sense since it refers to the end of all human civilization that was caused by a nuclear war (thus making the fall from grace complete). The same thing also applies to the "Musical Box" the lyrics of which would not make that much sense without its accompanying story.

The juxtapostion of pastoral elements used here with the actual theme of the song make "Stagnation" appear even more shocking than any mere description of the horrors of a nuclear war.

"Dusk" which finally sees our narrator die is very close in spririt to "Visions of Angels" which is not surprising as both lyrics were written by Anthony Phillips (22). The song starts with mourning a lost love - in this case it is the narrator's waking up to reality since his "love" was merely a fantasy -, then picks up the motif of transitoriness (already discussed in "Visions of Angels") by using natural imagery again ("the scent of a flower", "colours of the morning") and explores the violent aspects of human love the mere description of which has lost all aspects of innocence ("like two angry tigers/they tear at each other" - the couple could either be making love or quarrelling with each other).

The fifth stanza re-introduces the religious aspect: God is considered as being powerless, and his decisions are not without faults ("a false move by God"). He is also seen as a chessplayer who sacrifices his pawns at will. This metaphor outweighs the narrator's belief that he is the master ("the captain") of his own fate. This aspect of "external control" appears several times in the band's lyrics, most notably in "The Chamber of 32 Doors" from "The Lamb" where it says that the people "believe they can control the game/ but the juggler holds another pack." With Fate cheating on them, they never stand a chance to be really in control.

And with the "Dusk" (which is symbolic for the final stage of his life) the narrator finally dies knowing that his own life was meaningless ("a passerby") and that he will never be remembered since he is the last human being left on the planet. The only hope that he still has is that life will go on without him and that maybe in the future peace and harmony will return ("a new dawn seems to be rising"). In a way, "Dusk" is a companion piece to "A Place to Call My Own" which closed the previous album, but the hope for a new beginning is rather vague ("s e e m s to be rising") and the reincarnation sequence is missing.

But the "new dawn" only brings terror and violence in the form of a bloody revolution. The narrator is reborn in the shape of a hero whose "life is about to begin" - this is the incarnation just mentioned. The question when this revolution actually takes place (in the future? in the past?) poses a slight problem. I personally believe that the song is set in the past preceding "Dusk" in terms of chronology as it seems to describe the chain of events that precede the nuclear destruction but this could be anytime in history. Nevertheless, the placing of "The Knife" directly after "Dusk" is extremely ironic.

The narrator realizes that he lives in an "ugly world" (as opposed to Arcadia) and that quite rightfully "it is time to destroy all this evil". The tone is now one of anger and decisiveness.

But the revolution turns into a vicious circle that will only produce new oppressors:

Some of you are going to die
martyrs of course to the freedom I shall provide

In an interview with Hugh Fielder Peter has commented on the song as follows:

"The lyrics for 'The Knife' were partly me being a public schoolboy rebelling against my background. I'd been heavily influenced by a book on Gandhi at school, and I think that was part of the reason I became a vegatarian as well as coming to believe in non-violence, as a form of protest. And I wanted to try and show how all violent revolutions inevitable end up with a dictator figure in power." (23)

It is also striking that the "knife" as a weapon is not mentioned in the song itself although it is used twice in the art work and appears as an image in three other songs ("Looking for Someone", the sceptre in "White Mountain" and "Stagnation") thus making it even more symbolic of evil and violence.

The police sirens, machine guns and Peter's distorted voice (reminiscent of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man") which are used as sound effects on the recording finally take the album back to where it started: the present. (24)

5. Nursery Cryme

The tone of violence and aggression which ends "Trespass" is well taken over onto the band's next album the title of which is obviously a pun on nursery rhymes that were very popular in England during the last two centuries. One such item ("Old King Cole") is quoted directly in the opening track "The Musical Box" (25). Therefore it is not surprising that the pastoral elements that were so common on the last two albums are not that dominant on "Nursery" - they are, of course, far from missing completely.

5.1. The Cover

As opposed to the "Trespass" cover which was more of a concept thing in that it refered to the album as a whole, the "Nursery" artwork (once again by Whitehead) deals basically with the central theme of the "Musical box" although elements of two other songs are also included on the back cover of the gatefold sleeve as an extra bonus ("Harold the Barrel" is seen standing on the roof of a Victorian house, and the "Giant Hogweed" (the plant) is also present. The statue on the back-cover - a kind of Venus de Milo - may be hinting at "The Fountain of Salmacis"). In contrast to "Trespass" everything is painted in very bright yellow and green colours thus making the picture look as if it was taken straight out of a picture book for children. However, the scene depicted here is, to put it mildy, "strangely disturbing" (Welch) (26) if not downright shocking: The decapitation already included in songs like "The Conqueror" and "The Knife" is visualized here at last. What we see, is "a Victorian maiden, resembling Alice in Wonderland armed with a croquet mallet" who "stands bestride a massive lawn that stretches to infinity and is littered with several heads." (27) A nurse is seen rushing on roller-skates towards her, stick in hand, ready to punish her for her "naughty" behaviour (playing with children's heads). The connections with Carroll's famous Victorian children's book do not end here since the whole scene itself is a rather grim parody on the croquet game described in the book where the queen constantly threatens Alice to have her beheaded (which, of course, never happens).

The long shadows that each figure casts (both Cynthia's and the nurse's are incredibly big) suggest that the whole scene is set on a late summer afternoon. The building, the other figures (they are very small, though; the only exception being 'Uncle Henry') (28) and the immense croquet lawn put the whole scene into a totally upper-class Victorian background.

All the other persons in the picture are either totally unaware of what is going on or they simply do not care. Hence it is very easy to regard the picture as a kind of criticism on the moral values of the upper class, a society bound to decay (which is expressed by the flies, the earwig and the artificial cracks that Whitehead added to the picture. To top this, Whitehead even added an inscription with the year "1871" ["Nursery" was released in 1971], a detail that is unfortunately missing on the CD cover).

Nature itself has been almost completely transformed into a man-made lawn the artficial look of which is stressed by the visible green and yellow stripes that stretch to the end of the horizon. No mountains are visible, and it seems as if nature itself has lost its innocence for good. But there are two items on the back of the gatefold sleeve that indicate that nature is going to reclaim what has been taken away from it: The first one is a big tree - painted in very dark menacing colours - with twigs and branches growing in all directions that threatens to overshadow the house in the background. The second one is, of course, the hogweed plant.

5.2. The Songs

Although the classic Genesis line-up consisting of Gabriel, Banks, Rutherford, Hackett and Collins was completed with this album the band had a very hard time writing appropriate songs for it as is documented by Gallo (29). Therefore, it is not surprising that "Nursery" is one of the shortest Genesis albums ever, and lacks - in contrast to "Trespass" - a general concept but nevertheless, it is a brilliant album. The gruesome tale of "The Musical Box" is followed by "For Absent Friends" which together with "Harlequin" is the closest thing the band ever came to writing an idyll. The song which describes a widowed pair on their way to church and back (another instance of the already mentioned "union of strength against life") offers two minutes of peace before the final onslaught of the "Giant Hogweed", a tale of terror where an agitated narrator calls for measures against a vicious invincible plant that threatens to devour everything in its way. Every man-made weapon proves to be useless. Although the lyrics are disguised as a fantasy or sci-fi tale (comparable to John Wyndham's "The Triffids"), the irony lies in the fact that the giant hogweed does actually exist (the botanical name is, of course, "Heracleum Mantegazziani") and is almost as vicious as described in the song. I guess that a lot of non-English fans (including me) must have put off the song merely as fantasy tale which might have been what the band had intended. Even Peter's explanation of the plant's origin is actually true.

That the plant still poses a problem is made clear by the following article from the Environment Agency's homepage (issue 9 - August/September 1997) (30):

Poisonous invader holds up stream spill team

Giant hog weed blocked the way of Agency staff trying to reach a polluted stream in West Sussex.

A dense thicket of the poisonous plants had to be cleared from Boldings Brook near Horsham before the pollution could be tackled. At stake was a nature reserve downstream, threatened when more than 1,200 gallons of red heating oil from an industrial premises leaked into the brook. Speed was vital, because heavy storms were forecast which could have washed the oil rapidly into the nature reserve.

As Agency staff moved in, hundreds of the giant hog weed growing in the riverbank barred their way. The plants can grow up to 15 feet tall. When the stems are broken they produce large amounts of sap which causes severe irritation, swelling and painful blistering of the skin and usually requires urgent medical treatment. Staff wore protective clothing to cut down the giant weed and reach the stream. The oil was contained by a boom and eventually taken away by tanker. The whole operation took 24 hours but was finished before the rain poured. Giant hog weed comes from the Caucasus mountains in Russia. Examples were cultivated at Kew Gardens in London, but it is now widespread along riverbanks in southern England."

In the song, once again man proves powerless against nature which takes revenge on mankind for not even herbicidal battering can harm the plant that finally takes over ("Giant Hogweed lives").

As Chris Welch has quite rightfully stated "Seven Stones" deals with the philosophical assumption that "the secret of success and good fortune is based purely on random events and chance" (31). This idea is basically expressed through three stories (1. the tinker, 2. the sailors and 3. the farmer) the first of which has the following very beautiful lines:

Tinker, alone within a storm,
and losing hope he clears the leaves beneath a tree,
Seven stones
Lay on the ground.

Once again, natural imagery serves as a means to transport an idea. The tinker finds himself in an almost hopeless situation but nature gives him a sign that he will be saved. Both the instance of nature offering signs to man as well as the number seven itself go back to the bible, most notably to the Apocalypse where, however, it is very ambigious in character. The point, however, that the song tries to make is that there is no such thing as "divine providence". It is merely coincidence that the tinker finds the exact number of stones on the ground that complete the lucky number. Therefore, his being saved is simply a self-fulfilling prophecy as he gains new strength by seeing the stones (that nature has placed at random before him and that he takes as a sign from above). Consequently, it is no surprise that "the old man's guide is chance."

"Harold the Barrel" tells the tale of a man who tries to commit suicide by jumping from a roof but is prevented from doing so by a cast of bizarre characters obviously representative of modern society. It is only in the end that he ignores all their talk and finally jumps. A new stylistic element is introduced: the whole story is presented in the form of a dialogue as if it was a play. The band would employ this stylistic device - obviously introduced by Peter - so often in later songs that it is quite justified to call it a trademark of the band's lyrics (32).

Peter does not tell us why Harold wishes to put an end to his life; we can only guess that he must have committed some kind of crime ("Father of three it's disgusting/ Such a horrbile thing to do ... he can't go far"). Ultimately, there is no-one to support him: Although a certain Mr. Plod assures him that he can be helped and that they are all his friends, Harold has no cause to believe him since this is balanced against the cries of the lynch-mob below the window. Apart from this, even Mr. Plod's name is suspicious since - when mispronounced - it may contain the word "plot" which, of course, means conspiracy. He might therefore not be the "plodder" (slow but earnest person) he pretends to be. Not even his mother is ready to support him as she is obviously only worried about his dirty shirt and the presence of the BBC.

The song is presented rather tongue-in-cheek so that it is clear from the start that a lot of irony is involved here but there is a short break somewhere in the middle of the song where Harold exclaims:

If I was many miles from here,
I'd be sailing in an open boat on the sea

For just a few seconds, there is peace. For Harold, this expresses both his desire to escape from his present situation as well as his longing to return to a more more natural way of living. A similar idea is expressed in William Butler Yeats' famous pastoral poem "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" (1890):

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

Harold, however, knows that this sort of life is now completely out of reach for him, realizes his own situation and finally jumps to end his own life.

Balanced against this three-minute drama is the delicate pastoral song "Harlequin" which once again is set in a timeless natural environment. The songs finds our narrator watching the flames of a fire at the end of another summer when the first mist "dissolves the trees". In the interplay of the flames he sees pictures and scenes of what is now a part of the past, maybe even his own youth ("three children fill the glade"). The line "there was once a harvest in this land" possibly refers to the fact that the present for him is hardly as "fertile" as his past where there was "laughter in the winding stream, and in between". The water imagery is used here as an element of change and hints at the future but while the children are unconscious of the passing of time our narrator is only too well aware of it. The pictures of summer he is presented with are bound to be shattered to pieces but there is hope ("all, all is not lost") for as the new day breaks the light will return and the fullness of the picture will be restored. The image of the harlequin functions as a symbol for a postive outlook on life as there may still be a "harvest" through being in harmony with nature so that he may "reap from the turquoise skies". The final line "order the pieces, put them back, put them back" consequently tells him not to dwell on the past but look ahead.

"The Fountain of Salmacis" - one of the band's true masterpieces - does full justice to its mythological theme (which goes back to Ovid (43 B.C. - 17) and his famous "Metamorphoses"[IV, 285 -388]) in terms of its musical realization: As Chris Welch has rightfully observed, the band sounds almost like an orchestra on this (33).

It is not neccessary to relate the full story here as it is well explained in the song itself and its accompanying introduction. The sources for "Salmacis" have also been well documented in Scott's discography.

By now, it might not be surprising anymore that the natural setting of the story - once again a forest - is highlighted in the song:

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.

The mountain in question is located in northwest Turkey and is said to have overlooked the town of Troy. The interesting thing about "Salmacis" is that the story itself is not one of the many commonplaces in the history of literature but then again the band never went for the really obvious in their literary influences as a much lesser band might have done. As a matter of fact, the story is maybe as bizarre as the tales the band invented themselves.

Readers interested in fine arts should check out the website of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen which contains a painting by Jan Gossaert entitled "De gedaanteverwisseling van Hermaphroditus en de nimf Salmacis" (1505). This painiting offers a fine illustration of the whole story.

6. From "Foxtrot" to "The Lamb"

In general, "Nursery" is a work of transition in that it not only makes use of the pastoral influences of the preceding two albums but introduces new elements such as satire and criticism on social values. The band were to explore both these things on their albums "Foxtrot" (34) and "Selling England by the Pound" to a much fuller extent, and the pastoral elements are gradually pushed aside or used in a totally different context: This is especially evident in "Supper's Ready" where the farm of Peter's childhood turns into a grotesque scenery where butterflies become gutterflies, where Narcissus - although surrounded by "green grass and green trees full of life" is reduced to a piece of "human bacon" etc. The most obvious parody on pastoral imagery is to be found in "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" which opens with the following lines:

"Can you tell me where my country lies ?"
said the unifaun to his true love's eyes.
"It lies with me!" cried the Queen of Maybe
- for her merchandise, he traded in his prize.

At first glance, it seems that the question refers to the pastoral Arcadia but later in the song, however, it becomes evident that it is actually an allusion to the past glory of the British Empire. The tone of irony is further supported by the use of puns on classic pastoral items such as "faun" and "Queen of May". These simple four lines sung against the background reminiscent of an old folk song combine Peter's desire to depart from the pastoral concept of the past and his ambition to deal with more profound issues in a beautiful way.

Tony's "Firth of Fifth" on the same record, however, revives the pastoral concept but is strangely spiced with allusions to death:

To see reflected there
The trees, the sky, the lily fair,
The scene of death is lying just below.
...
The mountain cuts off the town from view,
Like a cancer growth is removed by skill.

Therefore it is hardly surprising that he carried on the pastoral tradition in the songs after Peter had left. To deal with these is, however, not our issue here.

At this point it may be worth noting that for some time Peter introduced "Firth of Fifth" on stage with a very sinister story entitled "Death by the River" where the pastoral imagery of the past is used to describe decay and putrefaction. The black humour and absurdity of the story are very much in the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe's most bizarre tales like "King Pest" and "Angel of the Odd":

"Have you seen death by the river ?" (applause) "Thank you. We have, too. It was lovely. The field ... was all green, yellow and mushy, and there was moss crawling up from the bottom of these stumps which stood out in the middle of the dead field. The stumps were crumbling," (Peter laughs) "and there was moss crawling all the way up. And in the middle of the field was a blue spot, and the blue spot was part of a larger thing which was also green-coloured, soft colours, mushy. It was a human body, and the human body was rotting away like the rest of the field " (35).

He then proceeds to tell how water is drawn from the dead body (by jumping on it) for the band to drink. The dark aspects of this story already foreshadow what Peter was to tell in "The Lamb", one of the most complex things in the history of rock music that defies description and has puzzled both fans and critics of the band. In an interview with Armando Gallo Peter said that with "The Lamb" he

"wanted to try to shift Genesis out of the sixties and into the seventies. Throw away all that romantic summer picnic stuff. Get an aggressive, ballsy character in Rael, and get someone who meant something to people who were not from a middle-class background" (36).

Even the cover design is radically different from all the preceding albums: colour has given way to black and white, and for the first time (not counting the "Live" album) the artwork consists of a series of photographs but they are still as unusual as anything that might have been expected from the band during that period. And yet, it is quite striking that one of the key symbols of the story again goes back to the pastoral (and biblical) tradition: The mere sentence "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" is almost emblematic in that creates a contrast between pastoral peacefulness and innocence (the lamb) and the din of modern society where it has become very difficult to even survive (Broadway). Of course, the lamb does not belong there at all just like old Tess in "Aisle of Plenty" doesn't belong in modern society or even Harold the Barrel but it reminds us that after all there is much more to life than money and fame (37).

Uwe Hoppe, April 1998
uwe.hoppe@netsurf.hamburg.de

7. About Myself

I first came in touch with Genesis when I was about fifteen years old. At that time I was basically into Led Zeppelin and similar stuff (which, of course, I still listen to) but one day when I was listening to a preview of "Seconds Out" on the radio, and "The Cinema Show" came on, I came away with a feeling that that was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. Needless to say that I bought the album straight away, and that was only the beginning of a love affair that has been lasting for more than twenty years now. In many ways, the band's music and lyrics (that is: all the albums up to "Seconds Out") have changed my whole outlook on life: I began to read a lot and even studied languages and literature. Although I am doing totally different things now in my present job, I absolutely enjoyed writing this article as it gave me the opportunity to give some true thought to the songs that I have known and loved for many, many years. Knowing full well that everyone has their own opinions on the songs, I don't claim that this article does full justice to the songs. It was written just to show you how profound they actually are. In other words: welcome to the wonderful world of Genesis (Armando Gallo)!

NOTES:

(1) The interpretations are to be found on Jason Kochel's "The Lamb Lives" homepage. On Jason's page you can also find a link to Scott McMahan's annotated discography which is highly recommended to all serious fans. [back]

(2) The tale "The Lamb at the Taxidermist" which I have attempted to transcribe here can be found on Volker Tiresias' Genesis homepage and is probably from the bootleg "The Lamb Woke Up Again".
Volker has collected quite a lot of the stories the band used to tell between songs. They're all downloadable as Real Audio files.
Note also that the third picture on the "Lamb" cover shows a variety of stuffed (baby) animals. If I'm not mistaken there is also one very far in the background that might be a dog. [back]

(3) For the Charterhouse years check out: Armando Gallo, The Evolution of a Rock Band, London 1977, p.10ff; Dave Bowler/Bryan Dray: Genesis - Die Biographie, MŸnchen 1993 (sorry, I only own the German version), p.11ff
By the way, Charterhouse does have a website of its own: www.charterhouse.org.uk/ [back]

(4) I quote the opening lines of Pope's poem from Herrig/Meller/SŸhnel, British and American Classical Poems, Braunschweig 1966, p. 126:

Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
In his own ground.

Compare Peter's lyrics:

Happy the man - he lives a simple life
He doesn't have much - it doesn't worry him
[back]

(5) The quotation is again from Herrig/Meller/SŸhnel, p. 97

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Peter's use of the lines quoted above is, of course, a grim parody on the pastoral idyll described by Wordsworth for like the protagonist in Franz Kafka's famous tale "Die Verwandlung" Rael and his fellow-sufferers have turned into (slimy) monsters. The irony, however, lies in the fact that Rael only realizes his own mutation when he is welcomed as a newcomer to the colony ("Me ? Like you? Like that!"):

I wandered lonely as a cloud,
Till I came upon this dirty street.
I've never seen a stranger crowd;
Slubberdegullions on squeaky feet ...

For more of this see Scott MacMahan's discography on the net. [back]

(6) see Gallo, p. 138 [back]

(7) see Gallo, p. 28ff; Bowler/Dray, p. 38ff
a picture of the cottage is included in Armando Gallo, From One Fan To Another, London 1984, p. [10 -11]
The writing sessions for "Nursery Cryme"(1971) and "The Lamb" (1974) also took place in the countryside. Much of "Nursery" was written at Luxford House, Tony Stratton-Smith's place. The house was featured on the covers of the two Charisma releases "House on the Hill" by Audience and "Pawn Hearts" by Van der Graaf Generator. For the Luxford sessions see Bowler/Dray, p. 62ff and Gallo, p.58ff
Most of "The Lamb" was composed at Headley Grange, the notorious Led Zeppelin hide-out. See Bowler/Dray, p. 107ff [back]

(8) Chris Welch, The Complete Guide to the Music of Genesis, London 1995, p. 1 [back]

(9) see Bowler/Dray, p.44 [back]

(10) It would be interesting to examine the use of the water imagery by itself in a seperate article. Here are just a few random examples where the image is actually used (a full list would indeed be extremely long): "Firth of Fifth" (the river of constant change),"Can-Utility and the Coastliners" (the scattered pages of a book by the sea), "Harold the Barrel" (If I was many miles from here, I'd be sailing in an open boat on the sea), "In the Rapids" etc.
I once read a short article by Peter in some magazine on the importance of water, and his solo albums include a lot of songs where again water plays an important part, such as e.g. "Here Comes the Flood", "Washing of the Water", "Steam", "Flotsam and Jetsam" etc. [back]

(11) check out e.g. Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" (1973) and "The Wall" (1979) for this: "Dark Side" begins and ends with a heartbeat, "The Wall" begins with exactly the same note it ends with - you could in fact loop the whole thing. In the case of "Dark Side", the idea of a circle is also expressed in the cover design which shows a prism dividing a ray of light that is extended into the interior of the gatefold sleeve and finally ends in the prism again. For this see Nicolas Schaffner, Pink Floyd: Vom Underground zur Supergroup , MŸnchen 1994, p. 247ff (sorry, again it's the German version, the original title of the book is, of course, "A Saucerful of Secrets") [back]

(12) The tracks are very likely to be included in the boxed set that is scheduled for release in 1998. I have come across them on a bootleg entitled "The Shepherd" (Flashback Records 1990) but collectors could certainly easily list a whole catalogue of titles which include these precious items. [back]

(13) This aspect of "natural" wisdom which is, of course, very pastoral indeed can also be found in other songs such as "Chamber of 32 Doors" ("I'd rather trust a countryman than a townman " etc.) and "Seven Stones" which has the following lines:

Farmer, who knows not when to sow,
Consults the old man clutching money in his hand,
With a shrug,
The old man smiled,
Took the money, left the farmer wild.

The irony of the situation described above is very reminiscent of zen parables that were very popular in the very "cosmic" 70s. In "In Held 'Twas in I" by Procol Harum (1969) [a 20-minute-suite comparable to "Supper's Ready"] Keith Reid tells the tale of a young monk who spends years and years in meditation before finally being allowed to ask the Dalai Lhama the all important question of "What is the meaning of life ?". The Dalai Lhama just smiles and says: "Oh, my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it ?" Therefore I wouldn't be surprised if the tale in "Seven Stones" comes from a similar source. [back]

(14) On Paul Whitehead and his work for Genesis see Gallo, Evolution, p. 84ff
Other works by Whitehead that I have come across include:
Renaissance: Illusion (1970)
Van der Graaf Generator: H to He - Who Am the Only One (1970)
Van der Graaf Generator: Pawn Hearts (1971)
Steamhammer: Speech (1972)
Paul also did the cover to the German edition of Armando Gallo's "Evolution". It is not unlikely that exactly this picture is going to be used as the cover of the long-awaited boxed set. Check out Thomas Holter's "The Path" for this. [back]

(15) Mike Rutherford on "Window", quoted from Gallo, Evolution, p.22:

"I remember writing the lyrics to "Window" on top of the roof. We got inspired just by the sheer beauty of the countryside."

Tony Banks on "Watcher", quoted from Gallo, Evolution, p.61:

"We were sitting out on top of this building [in Naples - U.H.], and it was a hot sunny day, and we were just looking out across a vast area of buildings and fields, and there wasn't a soul to be seen. It looked like the whole population had just deserted the planet, and that's what 'Watcher of the Skies' is all about .. an alien being coming to the planet and seeing it completely deserted."

Furthermore, the narrator in "In Hiding" is also seen as standing on a mountain top.
Compare also the first lines of Peter's "Solsbury Hill":

Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night ...

[back]

(16) Welch, p. 11
According to Scott MacMahan the lyrics to this song were written by Tony Banks. [back]

(17) Other examples which immediately come to mind are "The Return of the Giant Hogweed", "The Fountain of Salmacis", "Get ‘em out by Friday", "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway","Squonk"; "A Trick of the Tail", "One for the Vine", "All in A Mouse's Night", "The Lady Lies", "Keep It Dark" etc.) [back]

(18) The ability to understand the language of animals also goes back to the bible (The Book of Genesis, of course) and is already referred to in "One Day":

Animal friends
Help me decide
When should I ask my love to leave?

Apart from this, Anthony Phillips has dealt with a variety of "animal themes", especially on his first two excellent albums "The Geese and the Ghost" (1977) and "Wise after the Event" (1978). This is already evident in the absolutely superb (!!) cover art by Peter Cross. [back]

(19) The colour white as a symbol of innocence is used in "Where the Sour turns to Sweet" which has the following lines:

paint your face all white
to show the peace inside

[back]

(20) see Welch, p. 11; Gallo, Evolution, p.41 (producer John Anthony's reaction to "Visions of Angels")
It remains to be said that Blake's influence on the band's lyrics would make an interesting topic for further investigation. [back]

(21) see Gallo, Evolution, p.53 [back]

(22) see Scott MacMahan's discography

Another album cover that also deals with illusion is "Wind and Wuthering" the front cover of which shows a tree that seems to be in full bloom but the illustration on the back shows us that the leaves are actually birds stirred by the wind. [back]

(23) The original source is Hugh Fielder's "The Book of Genesis", quoted from MacMahan's discography.
In the same book, Fielder quotes Peter on the early material as follows:

"Ant and I used to enjoy playing with the words. We would write poems which had nothing to do with songs. He was into flowery, romantic visions, whereas I was into the darker and altogether more mysterious side of life ( ... ) When I look back, it really makes me cringe, but I guess it was all part of growing up."

[back]

(24) On the influence of King Crimson - especially "In the Court of the Crimson King" which includes the song - see Gallo, Evolution, p. 44 [back]

(25) Since Scott does not mention "Old King Cole" in his discography, I quote the full text of this poem from Herrig/Meller/SŸhnel, p.328:

Old King Cole
Was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he;
He called for his pipe,
And he called for his bowl,
And he called for his fiddlers three.

Every fiddler, he had a fiddle,
And a very fine fiddle had he;
Twee tweedle dee, tweedle dee, went the fiddlers.
Oh, there's none so rare
As can compare
With Old King Cole and his fiddlers three.

The lines were written around 1708-09. No author is mentioned by Herrig/Meller/SŸhnel.
According to them , King Cole "is one of the legendary kings of ancient Britain enumerated by medieval chroniclers. The city of Colchester is often (incorrectly) supposed to have been named after him." (ibid., p.238) [back]

(26) Welch, p.15 [back]

(27) Welch, p. 15

The wonderful drawings for Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" (1862) and "Through the Looking Glass" (1876) were done by Sir John Tenniel. The girl that Tenniel chose for his model was Mary Hilton Badcock (not Alice Liddell to whom Carroll's book is dedicated), the daughter of the Dean of Ripon. The portrait of the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and the rabbit that made up the beautiful Charisma label of the 70s are,of course, also to be found in this book. See also Eleanor Graham's introductions to both books , Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass, Harmondsworth 1982 (20th ed.), pp. 11 - 20; pp. 167 - 177

To quote from Carroll in a rock song has become a much used cliche' by now. The most popular songs that borrow heavily from Carroll (and which are related to drugs) are Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" (1967) and the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (1967). [back]

(28) For Whitehead's comment on the picture see Gallo, Evolution, p.86 [back]

(29) See Gallo, Evolution, p. 58ff [back]

(30) See also Scott's Discography for this. He also quotes an Australian article on the plant. I would have liked to quote the link to the Environment Agency's home page but it has gone missing along the way. I found it by searching Yahoo for "hogweed". [back]

(31) See Welch, p.18 [back]

(32) Other songs written in dialogue include: "Fountain of Salmacis" (parts of it), "Get 'em out by Friday", "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" (parts of it), "I Know What I Like" (parts of it), "Battle of Epping Forest" (parts of it) "The Colony of Slippermen", "Robbery, Assault & Battery"(parts of it) , "All in A Mouse's Night". [back]

(33) see Welch, p. 19 [back]

(34) There has been much speculation about where the title for the album "Foxtrot" actually came from. Apart from the ambiguous quality of the word which refers both to a dance and a mysteriously cunning animal (that made its only appearance in the band's lyrics in "White Mountain"), it seems that like "We Can't Dance" (1991) it is an instance of self-mockery on the part of the band which particularly during that period played anything else then dance music. Especially in the beginning they were given a hard time by refusing to do so (see Gallo, Evolution, p. 32ff). Therefore it is also extremely ironic that during the writing sessions for "Foxtrot" the band used to rehearse in a dance school in Shepherd's Bush which may have led to the title of the album. [back]

(35) Like the "Taxidermist", "Death by the River" is from the "Here you can always hear them talk" section on Volker Tiresias' homepage. [back]

(36) see Gallo, Evolution, p. 142 [back]

(37) The lamb is, of course, also the Holy Lamb of the Apocalypse (V,6ff) and therefore the only creature entitled to open the seven seals that bring an end to the world. In this respect "The Lamb" sort of carries on where "Supper's Ready" ended. [back]