Hello all this is my first post, as a matter of fact i saw this an i knew i had to respond. Speaking of Phil, i'm a big Genesis fan and theres one album that stands out to me...And Then There Were Three...(1978)
Now i know the back story, this is two albums after Peter Gabriel left the band (and Phil takes over on vocals) and now the guitarist Steve Hackett....And Then There Were Three...
Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford
So i think they saw an opportunity to speak on PID.....
Before I go into the lyrics we should talk about the album cover.
"We were trying to tell a story by the traces left by the light trails. It was a torch, a car, and a man with a cigarette. The band was losing members and there were only three of them left. The lyrics of the songs were about comings and goings and we tried to describe this in photographic terms by using time-lapse. So there's a car going off to one side and then the guy gets out of the car, walks over to the front of it, and lights a cigarette. But as he walks he uses a torch and the car he was in leaves. There's a trail left by the car, a trail left by him as he's walking and then he lights a cigarette, which on the cover is where there's a flash of his face." Storm Thorgerson cover designer (Wiki)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...And_Then_There_Were_Three...
Now for the songs...
track 1.Down and out (or James Paul wants out)
It's good to be here! How've you been?
Check my bags, boy! Where's my room?
I sit on the phone, that's my game,
Keep up the pressure all the way!
I don't want to beat about the bush
but none of us are getting any younger.
There's people out there who could take your place.
A more commercial view! A fresher face!(Faul?)
I need a shower, take a nap
I'll meet you in the bar, we must have a rap.
There's a lot on the line, a lot to say.
There's something I must tell you today.
You and I both know the score,
you can't go on like this forever.
So it's with regret that I tell you now
that from this moment on,
you're on your own!
I don't talk round corners, it's right between the eyes
If you're slow they'll run past you,
Stand tall, see them falling over.
I walk a straight line, it's right between the eyes.
Well show me the door, show me someone who'll do it better.
The drinks are on me, be my guest.
Smoke a cigar? Take the best.
Don't hedge your bets, we can make a deal,
you got it in your pocket, how do you feel?
So glad that's over, now you know,
but I'm only acting under orders.
And looking down on you from way up here.
You've got to sink or swim, get off the floor!
I don't talk round corners, it's right between the eyes
If you're slow they'll run past you,
Stand tall, see them falling over,
I walk a straight line, right between the eyes.
Well show me the door, show me someone who'll do it better.
track 2. Undertow (or replacement justification)
The curtains are drawn
Now the fire warms the room.
Meanwhile outside
Wind from the north-east chills the air,
It will soon be snowing out there.
And some there are
Cold, they prepare for a sleepless night.
Maybe this will be their last fight.
But we're safe in each other's embrace,
All fears go out as I look on your face -
Better think awhile
Or I may never think again.
If this were the last day of your life, my friend,
Tell me, what do you think you would do then?
Stand up to the blow that fate has struck upon you,
Make the most of all you still have coming to you, [or]
Lay down on the ground and let the tears run from you,
Crying to the grass and trees and heaven finally on your knees
Let me live again, let life come find me wanting.
Spring must strike again against the shield of winter.
Let me feel once more the arms of love surround me,
Telling me the danger's past, I need not fear the icy blast again.
Laughter, music and perfume linger here
And there, and there,
Wine flows from flask to glass and mouth,
As it soothes, confusing our doubts.
And soon we feel,
Why do a single thing to-day,
There's tomorrow sure as I'm here.
So the days they turn into years
And still no tomorrow appears.
Better think awhile
Or I may never think again.
If this were the last day of your life, my friend,
Tell me, what do you think you would do then?
Stand up to the blow that fate has struck upon you,
Make the most of all you still have coming to you, [or]
Lay down on the ground and let the tears run from you,
Crying to the grass and trees and heaven finally on your knees
Let me live again, let life come find me wanting.
Spring must strike again against the shield of winter.
Let me feel once more the arms of love surround me,
Telling me the danger's past, I need not fear the icy blast again.
track 3.Ballad of Big (or replacement found)
Big Jim Cooley commanded respect, whatever he wanted he could get.
The badge on his waistcoat shone in the sun.
It ain't no lie that Big Jim was feared by everyone.
In the saloon one evening Big took a bet
with a rancher whose name I forget.(James Paul?)
He wanted a herd taken over the plain,
and he called Jim `yellow', he'll never do that again.
He got mad!
He threw his badge on the floor and walked out,
he's gonna give it a try, he left no doubt.
"Must be mad, he must be mad"!
The people wished him well, and good luck.
"Well I don't need it"! He laughed,
got on his horse and rode away.
Out on the trail, Jim 'n' his crew of five
were trying their best to keep the cattle alive.
The weather was hard, but so were the men,
Though I don't think even Big will try this trip again.
His horses were edgy, sensing trouble ahead,
but the trouble didn't start until the men were in bed
A-whooping and a-hollering, flashing their knives,
Big and his men were jumped by an all-star Indian tribe.
He was scared, Big Jim was scared
Alive, they called him lucky, but not today.
Cos he died like all good cowboys with his boots on next to his men.
Big Jim, he still won't lie down,
for him the bet is still on.
Some say he rides there, cursing still.
Some say they've seen him
track 4.Snowbound (or allegory of false identity)
Lay your body down upon the midnight snow
Feel the cold of winter in your hair
Here in a world of your own
In a casing that's grown
To the children's delight
That arrived on the night
Here they come to play their magic games
Carving names upon your frozen hand
Here in a world of your own
Like a sleeper whose eyes
Sees the pain with surprise
As it smothers your cries
They'll never, never know
Hey there's a Snowman
Hey, hey what a Snowman
Pray for the Snowman
Ooh, ooh what a Snowman
They say a snow year's a good year
Filled with the love of all who lie so deep
Smiling faces tear your body to the ground
Covered red that only we can see
Here in a ball that they made
From the snow on the ground
See it rolling away
With wild eyes to the sky
They'll never, never know
Hey there's a Snowman
Hey what a Snowman
Pray for the Snowman
Ooh, ooh what a Snowman
They say a snow year's a good year
Filled with the love of all who lie so deep
Hey there goes the Snowman
Hey there what a Snowman
Hey there lies a Snowman
Hey there was a Snowman
They say a snow year's a good year
Filled with the love of all who lie so deep
Hey there goes the Snowman
track 5. Burning Rope (or regret of false identity)
The warming sun, the cooling rain,
The snowflake drifting on the breath of the breeze,
The lightning bolt that frees the sky for you
Yet only eagles seem to pass on through.
The words of love, the cries of hate,
And the man in the moon who seduced you
Then finally loosed you.
You climbed upon a burning rope to escape the mob below,
But you had put the flaming out so that others could now follow,
To be out of the bounds and the barks of those who do not wish you well.
You must blaze a trail of your own, unknown, alone,
But keep in mind
Don't live today for tomorrow like you were immortal.
The only survivors on this world of ours are
The warming sun, the cooling rain,
The snowflake drifting on the breath of the breeze,
The lightning bolt that frees the sky for you
Yet only eagles seem to pass on through.
The words of love, the cries of hate,
And the man in the moon who seduced you
Then finally loosed you.
You're old and disillusioned now as you realise at last,
That all all you have accomplished here will have soon all turned to
dust.
You dream of a future after life, well that's as maybe, I don't know.
But you can't take what you left behind, you're all alone.
So keep in mind
Don't live today for tomorrow like you were immortal.
The only survivors on this world of ours are
The warming sun, the cooling rain,
The snowflake drifting on the breath of the breeze,
The lightning bolt that frees the sky for you
Yet only eagles seem to pass on through.
The words of love, the cries of hate,
And the man in the moon...
track 6. Deep in the Motherlode (or Faul and fame)
Get out of the way fat man(James Paul?). You got something to do
Go fill up your hands till they're shining up at you.
You gotta get out while there's gold in the air
It's falling like water, coming down from the hills.
Go West young man
Earn a dollar a day just like your family said.
You're rolling your days right on into the night
The head of the line's going way out of sight.
Go West young man like your family said
All along the wagons
All along the dusty trail.
Seventeen years not over a day
Like children in the wild.
Your mother's milk still wet on your face
And no one to pray for your safe journey home.
Out beyond the desert
Across the mountains by the fall.
Servants who leave their masters house
Are walking all the way.
The golden fields that beckoned you
Are darkened by the years.
Go West Young Man
If you knew then what you know today
You'd be back where you started a happier man
And leave all the glory to those who have remained.
So Go West Young Man
Go West Young Man, like your family said
track 7. Many Too Many (self explanatory)
Many too many have stood where I stand
Many more will stand here too,
I think what I find strange is the way you built me up
Then knocked me down again.
The part was fun but now it's over,
Why can't I just leave the stage?
Maybe that's because you securely locked me up
Then threw away the key.
Oh mama,
Please would you find the key.
Oh pretty mama,
Please won't you let me go free.
I thought I was lucky
I thought that I'd got it made.
How could I be so blind?
You said good-bye on a corner
That I thought led to the straight.
You set me on a firmly laid and simple course
Then removed the road.
Oh mama,
Please help me find my way.
Oh pretty mama,
Please lead me through the next day.
I thought I was lucky
Oh I thought that I'd got it made.
How could I be so blind? Oh no..
track 8. Scenes From a Night's Dream (Faul is Little Nemo)
Little Nemo rubbed his eyes and got out of bed,
trying hard to piece together a broken dream.
His visions lifelike and full of imagination
it's strange to think they came from such a tiny head.
Dragons breathing fire, but friendly.
Mushrooms tall as houses.
Giant Nymphs and goblins playing,
scenes from a night's dream, poor Little Nemo!
Eating all kinds of food so close to bedtime
they always made him have these nightmares, it seemed.
Helped young Washington in the garden,
cut the cherry tree down.
Now we all know that's not history,
scenes from a night's dream, poor Little Nemo!
"Nemo, get out of bed!"
"Don't tell me stories, I don't want to know!"
"Come on you sleepy head, we're waiting to go!"
Once he went to the 'Carnival of Nations'
dancing with the princess through the night.
Found themselves on a moving platform
ten ton weights above them,
seeking audience with King Morpheus.
Scenes from a night's dream, poor little Nemo!
"Nemo, get out of bed!"
"Don't tell me stories, I don't want to know!"
"Come on you sleepy head, we're waiting to go!"
track 9. Say It's Alright Joe(John) (or Faul and John)
Say it's alright Joe,
I need another drink
To blow on the glass so I know I'm alive
Play me a song Joe
To fill the hours till morning
Then never again will I bother you
Ooh, Build myself a tower
No way in no way out.
Then my friends can visit me
Once in a while.
Say it's alright Joe,
I need some reassurance
You never know what you might find in the night.
Ooh I'm just a busy bee, still alive in my hive,
I'm looking for some other world
To dream out my dreams.
There were Kings who were laughing in the rain
And they told me I'd come here to lead the parade
All the colours were changing, The sky was in ruins
The lights are all shining on me and on you
Oh, Shine on........
Say it's alright Joe
The night will soon be over
And nothing and no one will ever know.
Open my eyes Joe
I'd like to see the daylight
The clock on the wall says it's time to leave.
Never seen the same face twice
Never walked the same way
The little love that I have known
I keep to myself.
If there's a fire it's asleep in my bed
I must leave it to burn till it burns itself out
Catch as you can I'm not staying here long
I'll be coming back early or never at all
Shine on.......
track 10.The Lady Lies (John and Yoko)
The man steps out in the moonlight
At the sound of a scream from below.
He thinks he is a warrior
So he picks up his sword and goes.
From the mouth of the monster
He rescues the maiden fair.
But we know she's a demon
Come to lure him to demon's lair.
Through restless foliage and tall trees he leads
To a house in a clearing, a place in her fear she calls home.
"Come with me, I need you,
I fear the dark and I live all alone.
I'll give you wine and food too
And something special after if you like."
And though his body bids him
To enter in with her,
There was something in her manner
That his mind could not ignore.
Also it is whispered
In the kingdom far and wide,
To beware a little cottage
In the forest in a glade.
For who knows what magic takes place in his world?
So he just thanks her kindly preparing to go on his way.
"Come with me, I need you,
I fear the dark and I live all alone.
I'll give you wine and food too
And something special after if you like.
Come to my garden,
Taste the fruits and the spices of love.
You can't resist me,
I'm the kind that your dreams tell you of."
"So glad you could make it
We had everything arranged.
So glad you saw fit to pay a call."
Some men never listen,
And others never learn,
But why this man did as he did
Only he will ever know.
He knew he was walking
Into a waiting trap,
Neatly set up for him
With a bait so richly wrapped.
So he went inside there to take on what he found
But he never escaped them, for who can escape what he desires?
"Come with me, I need you,
I fear the dark and I live all alone.
I'll give you wine and food too
And something special after if you like."
track 11. Follow You Follow Me (Faul too Linda or too us)
Stay with me,
My love I hope you'll always be
Right here by my side if ever I need you
Oh my love
In your arms,
I feel so safe and so secure
Everyday is such a perfect day to spend
Alone with you
I will follow you will you follow me
All the days and nights that we know will be
I will stay with you will you stay with me
Just one single tear in each passing year
With the dawn,
Oh I see so very clearly now
All my fears are drifting by me so slowly now
Fading away
I can say
The night is long but you are here
Close at hand, oh I'm better for the smile you give
And while I live
I will follow you will you follow me
All the days and nights that we know will be
I will stay with you will you stay with me
Just one single tear in each passing year there will be
I will follow you will you follow me
All the days and nights that we know will be
I will stay with you will you stay with me
Just one single tear in each passing year.
all song copyrighted by HIT & RUN MUSIC PUBLISHING INC
Theres good stuff in there, very good music as well. Would like to hear what all of you think. I'll repost this on its own as well. thankyou
