Selling England By The Pound Tour - 1973

I just saw "The Musical Box" perform this show in Reading PA on December 7th, 2013. They were almost perfect, it was amazing and Jackie would have loved it.

  • Watcher of the Skies (0:00)
  • Dancing with the Moonlit Knight (8:36)
  • I Know What I Like (17:40)
  • The Musical Box (24:00)
  • Supper's Ready (37:10)

The original show (and The Musical Box replication) included....

  • Watcher of the Skies
  • Dancing with the Moonlit Knight
  • The Cinema Show
  • I Know What I Like
  • Firth of Fifth
  • The Musical Box
  • Horizon
  • Battle of Epping Forest
  • Supper's Ready
  • The Knife

 

Supper's Ready

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?


[The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man]

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.
We will rock you, rock you little snake,
We will keep you snugg and warm.


[Ikhnaton And Itsacon And Their Band Of Merry Men]

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,
'Cos 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.


[How Dare I Be So Beautiful?] 

Wandering in the chaos the battle has left,
We climb up the 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?


[Willow Farm]

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 fox on the rocks,
and the musical box.
Yes, 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!)
Yahoo, 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 dum 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, the soil!).
So we'll end with a whistle and end with a bang
and all of us fit in our places.


[Apocalypse In 9/8 (Co-Starring the delicious talents of Gabble Ratchet)]

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.


[As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet)]

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",
The Lord of Lords,
King of Kings,
Has returned to lead His children home,
To take them to the new Jerusalem.

Supper's Ready (Banks/Collins/Gabriel/Hackett/Rutherford) Audio: Genesis Archive (1967-75) Video: Live at Bataclan (1973), Live at Shepperton (1973), Live at Melody TV (1974). I "Lover's Leap" 0:00 II "The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man" 4:01 III "Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men" 5:54 IV "How Dare I Be So Beautiful?"

Tony Banks describes writing Supper's Ready

Firth of Fifth

Steve Hackett - Firth of Fifth Solo (Budapest 2004)

 

Genesis Firth of Fifth live (with Peter Gabriel) - Montreal 1974
(at least this has the opening intro but it really needs a piano - thus why Tony stopped playing it live)

 

The path is clear
Though no eyes can see
The course laid down long before.
And so with gods and men
The sheep remain inside their pen,
Though many times they've seen the way to leave.

He rides majestic
Past homes of men
Who care not or gaze with joy,
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.
Let it be revealed.
A waterfall, his madrigal.
An inland sea, his symphony.

Undinal songs
Urge the sailors on
Till lured by sirens cry.

Now as the river dissolves in sea,
So neptune has claimed another soul.
And so with gods and men
The sheep remain inside their pen,
Until the shepherd leads his flock away.

The sands of time were eroded by
The river of constant change.

 

 

 

The Return of the Giant Hogweed

Turn and run!
Nothing can stop them,
Around every river and canal their power is growing.
Stamp them out!
We must destroy them,
They infiltrate each city with their thick dark warning odour.

They are invincible,
They seem immune to all our herbicidal battering.

Long ago in the russian hills,
A victorian explorer found the regal hogweed by a marsh,
He captured it and brought it home.
Botanical creature stirs, seeking revenge.
Royal beast did not forget.
He came home to london,
And made a present of the hogweed to the royal gardens at kew.

Waste no time!
They are approaching.
Hurry now, we must protect ourselves and find some shelter
Strike by night!
They are defenceless.
They all need the sun to photosensitize their venom.

Still they're invincible,
Still they're immune to all our herbicidal battering.

Fashionable country gentlemen had some cultivated wild gardens,
In which they innocently planted the giant hogweed throughout the land.
Botanical creature stirs, seeking revenge.
Royal beast did not forget.
Soon they escaped, spreading their seed,
Preparing for an onslaught, threatening the human race.

The dance of the giant hogweed

Mighty hogweed is avenged.
Human bodies soon will know our anger.
Kill them with your hogweed hairs
Heracleum mantegazziani

Giant hogweed lives

The Musical Box

While Henry Hamilton-Smythe minor (8) was playing croquet with Cynthia Jane De Blaise-William (9), sweet-smiling Cynthia raised her mallet high and gracefully removed Henry's head. Two weeks later, in Henry's nursery, she discovered his treasured musical box. Eagerly she opened it and as "Old King Cole" began to play, a small spirit- figure appeared. Henry had returned - but not for long, for as he stood in the room his body began ageing rapidly, leaving a child's mind inside. A lifetime's desires surged through him. Unfortunately the attempt to persuade Cynthia Jane to fulfill his romantic desire led his nurse to the nursery to investigate the noise. Instinctively Nanny hurled the musical box at the bearded child, destroying both. 


Play me Old King Cole
That I may join with you,
All your hearts now seem so far from me
It hardly seems to matter now.

And the nurse will tell you lies
Of a kingdom beyond the skies.
But I am lost within this half-world,
It hardly seems to matter now.

Play me my song.
Here it comes again.
Play me my song.
Here it comes again.

Just a little bit,
Just a little bit more time,
Time left to live out my life.

Play me my song.
Here it comes again.
Play me my song.
Here it comes again.

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

But the clock, tick-tock,
On the mantlepiece -
And I want, and I feel, and I know, and I touch,
the wall

She's a lady, she's got time,
Brush back your hair, and let me get to know your face.
She's a lady, she is mine.
Brush back your hair, and let me get to know your flesh.

I've been waiting here for so long
And all this time has passed me by
It doesn't seem to matter now
You stand there with your fixed expression
Casting doubt on all I have to say.
Why don't you touch me, touch me,
Why don't you touch me, touch me,
Touch me now, now, now, now, now...

Back In N.Y.C.

No-one seems to take up the chase, and with the familiar faces fresh in his mind he moves into a reconstruction of his old life, above ground - Too much time was one thing he didn't need, so he used to cut through it with a little speed. He was better off dead, than slow in the head. His momma and poppa had taken a ride on his back, so he left very quickly to join The Pack. 


I see faces and traces of home back in New York City -
So you think I'm a tough kid? Is that what you heard?
Well I like to see some action and it gets into my blood.
They call me the trail blazer - Rael - electric razor
I'm the pitcher in the chain gang, we don't believe in pain
'cos we're only as strong, yes we're only as strong,
as the weakest link in the chain.


Only after a spell in Pontiac reformatory was he given any respect in the gang. 

Let me out of Pontiac when I was just seventeen,
I had to get it out of me, if you know what I mean, what I mean.

You say I must be crazy, 'cos I don't care who I hit, who I hit.
But I know it's me that's hitting out and I'm, I'm not full of shit.
I don't care who I hurt, I don't care who I do wrong.
This is your mess I'm stuck in, I really don't belong.
When I take out my bottle, filled up high with gasoline,
You can tell by the night fires where Rael has been, has been.


Now, walking back home after a raid, he was cuddling a sleeping porcupine.
That night he pictured the removal of his hairy heart and to the accompaniment of very romantic music he watched it being shaved smooth by an anonymous stainless steel razor. 


As I cuddled the porcupine
He said I had none to blame, but me.
Held my heart, deep in hair,
Time to shave, shave it off, it off.
No time for romantic escape,
When your fluffy heart is ready for rape. No!
Off we go...

Your sitting in your comfort you don't believe I'm real,
You cannot buy protection from the way that I feel.
Your progressive hypocrites hand out their trash,
But it was mine in the first place, so I'll burn it to ash.
And I've tasted all the strongest meats,
And laid them down in coloured sheets (laid them down in coloured
sheets).
Who needs illusion of love and affection
When you're out walking the streets with your mainline connection?
connection.

As I cuddled the porcupine
He said I had none to blame, but me.
Held my heart, deep in hair.
Time to shave, shave it off, it off.
No time for romantic escape,
When your fluffy heart is ready for rape. No!

Squonk

Like father like son
Not flesh nor fish nor bone
A red rag hangs from an open mouth.
Alive at both ends but a little dead in the middle,
A-tumbling and a-bumbling he will go.
All the kings horses and all the kings men
Could never put a smile on that face.

Hes a sly one, he's a shy one
Wouldnt you be too.
Scared to be left all on his own.
Hasn't a, hasn't a friend to play with, the ugly duckling
The pressure on, the bubble will burst before our eyes.
All the while in perfect time
His tears are falling on the ground
But if you don't stand up you don't stand a chance.

Go a little faster now, you might get there in time.

Mirror mirror on the wall,
His heart was broken long before he ever came to you.
Stop your tears from falling,
The trail they leave is very clear for all to see at night
All to see at night.

In season, out of season
What's the difference when you don't know the reason.
In one hand bread, the other a stone.
The hunter enters the forest.
All are not huntsmen who can blow the huntsmans horn
By the look of this one youve not got much to fear.

Here I am, Im very fierce and frightening
Come to match my skill to yours.
Now listen here, listen to me, don't you run away now
I am a friend, I'd really like to play with you.
Making noises my little furry friend would make
Ill trick him, then I'll kick him into my sack.
You better watch out... you better watch out.

Ive got you, Ive got you, you'll never get away.

Walking home that night
The sack across my back, the sound of sobbing on my shoulder.
When suddenly it stopped,
I opened up the sack, all that I had
A pool of bubbles and tears - just a pool of tears.

All in all you are a very dying race
Placing trust upon a cruel world.
You never had the things you thought you should have had
And you'll not get them now,
And all the while in perfect time
Your tears are falling on the ground.

The squonk is of a very retiring disposition and due to it's ugliness, weeps constantly. it is easy prey for hunters who simply follow a tear-stained trail. when cornered it will dissolve itself
Tears.
True or false?

In the Cage

Live with Peter Gabriel

Live with Phil Collins (Mama tour)

I got sunshine in my stomach
Like I just rocked my baby to sleep.
I got sunshine in my stomach
But I cant keep me from creeping sleep,
Sleep, deep in the deep.

He wakes in a cold sweat with a strong urge to vomit. theres no sign of the cocoon and he can see more of the cave about him. there is much more of the glowing water dripping from the roof and
Ctites and stalagmites are forming and decomposing at an alarming rate all around him.

Rockface moves to press my skin
White liquid turn sour within
Turn fast - turn sour
Turn sweat - turn sour.
Must tell myself that Im not here.
Im drowning in a liquid fear.
Bottled in a strong compression,
My distortion shows obsession
In the cave.
Get me out of this cave!

As fear and shock register, he assures himself that self-control will provide some security, but this thought is abandoned as the stalactites and stalagmites lock into a fixed position, forming
E whose bars are moving in towards him.

If I keep my self-control,
Ill be safe in my soul.
And the childhood belief
Brings a moments relief,
But my cynic soon returns
And the lifeboat burns.
My spirit just never learns.

Stalactites, stalagmites
Shut me in, lock me tight.
Lips are dry, throat is dry.
Feel like burning, stomach churning,
Im dressed up in a white costume
Padding out leftover room.
Body stretching, feel the wretching
In the cage
Get me out of the cage!

At one moment there is a flash of light and he sees an infinite network of cages all strung together by a ropelike material.

In the glare of a light,
I see a strange kind of sight;
Of cages joined to form a star
Each person cant go very far;
All tied to their things
Theyre netted by their strings,
Free to flutter in memories of their wasted wings.

As the rocky bars press in on raels body, he sees his brother john outside, looking in. johns face is motionless despite screams for help, but in his vacant expression a tear of blood forms an
Ckles down his cheek. then he calmly walks away leaving rael to face the pains which are beginning to sweep through his body.

Outside the cage I see my brother john,
He turns his head so slowly round.
I cry out help! before he can be gone,
And he looks at me without a sound.
And I shout out john please help me!
But he does not even want to try to speak.
Im helpless in my violent rage
And a silent tear of blood dribbles down his cheek,
And I watch him turn away and leave the cage.
My little runaway.

(raindrops keep failing on my head, they keep falling on my...)

In a trap, feel a strap
Holding still. pinned for kill.
Chances narrow that Ill make it,
In the cushioned straight-jacket.
Just like 22nd street,
They got me by my neck and feet.
Pressures building, cant take more.
My headaches charge, earaches roar.
In this pain
Get me out of this pain.

If I could change to liquid,
I could fill the cracks up in the rocks.
I know that I am solid
And I am my own bad luck.

However, just as john walks out of sight, the cage dissolves and rael is left spinning like a top.

Outside john disappears, my cage dissolves,
Without any reason my body revolves.

Keep on turning,
Keep on turning,
Turning around,
Spinning around.

(round, round, round, round...)