Shhhh.....Keep It Dark

Keep it dark is one of those Genesis songs that at first seems quite simple. However, listen to the lyrics and you soon realize that the songt has many layers. Keep it dark provides an ironic twist.  It describes a man abducted by Aliens and brought to an alternate world that is better than the one he lives in. When he gets back to the world he lives in, he decides to lie about the entire incident thinking no one would believe him. He explains his disappearance as a kidnapping that involved money. The twist for this song is that a lie is more believable than the truth.

Dreaming While You Sleep - Hauntingly Genesis

On Halloween, it would be easy to choose Home By The Sea as a Genesis Song for such an occasion. After all, it is a song about Ghosts. However, Genesis has another song that that can be haunting on many levels. Stories that scare a person's soul can be fictional, such as Snowbound on And Then There Were Three. Yet, we know that songs that fashion themselves after Grimm's fairy tales are just that, fairy tales. What haunts a person's soul more is something that can happen that is very plausible. Usually, unexplained events can cause long term traumatic experiences that haunts a person's soul. These type of stories are very real.

Back in 1992, Genesis came out with Dreaming While You Sleep. A very underrated song from the We Can't Dance Album.  In this song, someone we will never know, is driving at night while they are exhausted. As can happen, in a moment of inattention, he hits a young lady who entered the street unbeknownst to the driver until after he hits his victim. The driver seriously injures the person and puts them into a coma. Instead of staying, he leaves the scene of the crime. The man then visits the woman, and as we listen, the story takes us in and out of conscious of what the man is thinking while he is wondering what it must be for her to be in and out of conscious.

The song hauntingly reminds us these people really exist. They escape the reality of justice for their actions. The successfully run away only to live a tortured life of their conscious reminding them of their actions. A truly powerful song.

What lies beneath the Silver Rainbow?

What lies beneath the Silver Rainbow. Well, Genesis has left that up to us to decide. Two common stories come from the song. The most prominent is that this is a story about teenage love. When you have the excitement of "making out" and you don't know when it might happen. The second theory is a bit darker. Some have speculated that being the 80s, the song is about Heroin addiction. The common theme is response to stimuli. One a drug, the other young love. Either way, this is a great track on the album. Typical of Genesis, it has transitions that highlight the change in mood. Great tune. Positively Genesis.

Genesis - Heathhaze

Genesis Heathhaze - This cold weather gives you time to think in Upstate New York. Countless days of contemplating what is....reminds me of the song Heathhaze. This is one of the great songs from Duke.The first part describes the feeling of just doing nothing but taking in the feeling of nature's breezes, sun, trees gently dancing with the early breezes of spring and summer. Just one with yourself, like the dead of winter allows you to be. For days, I have been just thinking about what is, and why am I here. What can I do with my life today and tomorrow....  The next part of the song is the sounds of people interrupting my slumber. Life steps in, time for me to wake up. (orange lights and smokey atmosphere) and go back to "working" to sustain the "life system" that is bestowed upon us. Trees, are mentioned a lot in Genesis songs. They lose their leaves and represent the dead of winter....only to renew themselves in spring. People cannot hibernate in winter such as trees. They must go to work everyday to pay the bills in this "new" way of life. I feel like I don't belong here; like an alien... in a alien place so removed from a natural way of life and consumed by material things that are all perversely perpetuated by the system of money. What is it all for? Might as well throw some bread to the ducks instead...it's easier that way. Such Genesis wisdom to get me through this winter.

 

Me And Sarah Jane....

Me and Sarah Jane was written by Tony Banks, and to me it sounds like someone describing their dream of a woman that they very much wish existed . Why do I think this? Such creative lines as "I invent a name" suggesting that she does not exist at all, only in our minds. Tony Banks had a habit of writing songs that were caught between two worlds, one that is real and one that is imaginative.  The song has typical transitions that make it a pure Genesis song.

Was This The Swan Song All Along?

Fading Light is how Genesis closes out their last song as the trio of Mike, Tony, and Phil.  Tony said about this song, "This is a sad song, that Iyrically reflects back on times past. It's the age thing, when you realize you are not going to do a certain thing again or see that person again. It's one number on the album with an extended instrumental section where we let ourselves go a bit with more drama." For Genesis fans, this song is the swan song. While they toured again in 2007, they would never enter the studio to create new music. For me, this song was the proper way to close the era of songwriting for the big 3.

And then there were three....and Daryl and Chester

This time period gets the most criticisms. Oh man the haters have a field day. Its not Genesis. They sold out. Phil is the freakin anti-christ. It is a very complicated time period.

Yet, this line up held up the longest. What people fail to see is that they stayed fresh. They tried new ideas. Yes there was pop. However, the pop never failed to honor the past. Look at Paperlate. The title is from a lyric in the lamb. Mama is rich. Home by the sea is one of their longest songs. Domino is rich and complex. Each album had songs that were very good.

It is important to honor this time period. The work was great. We should not fault the music for the popularity of the band or Phil Collins. This time period is uniquely Genesis.

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