 Genesis
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79.61 %
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73.93 %
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70.42 %
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70.33 %
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A Trick of the Tail
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66.42 %
(2020-05-30) |
Date released: 1976-02-02 Type: studio In collection: CD (2005-08-10)Average track length: 06:24 Average track rating:  |
Ranking
Genesis:
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15
Year (1976):
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56
Decade (1970's):
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597
Overall:
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2711 |
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Tracks
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1 lyrics 05:55 | 2 lyrics  06:27 | 3 lyrics 06:30 | 4 lyrics  07:36 | 5 lyrics 06:17 | 6 lyrics 08:06 | 7 lyrics  04:35 | 8 instr 05:47 | Total time: 51:13 |
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Credits
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Band members
 Tony Banks (25)pianos, synthesizers, organ, Mellotron, 12-string guitar, backing vocals Producers
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Lyrics
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Dance on a Volcano 05:55 |
Holy Mother of God
You've got to go faster than that to get to the top
Dirty old mountain
All covered in smoke, she can turn you to stone
So you better start doing it right
better start doing it right
You're halfway up and you're halfway down
And the pack on your back is turning you around
Throw it away, you won't need it up there, and remember
You don't look back whatever you do
Better start doing it right
On your left and on your right
Crosses are green and crosses are blue
Your friends didn't make it through
Out of the night and out of the dark
Into the fire and into the fight
Well that's the way the heroes go, ho! Ho! Ho!
Through a crack in Mother Earth
Blazing hot, the molten rock
Spills out over the land
And the lava's the lover who licks your boots away, hey! Hey!
Hey!
If you don't want to boil as well
B-B-Better start the dance
D-D-Do you want to dance with me
The music's playing, the notes are right
Put your left foot first and move into the light
The edge of this hill is the edge of the world
And you're going to cross you better start doing it right
better start doing it right |
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Entangled 06:27 |
When you're asleep they may show you
Aerial views of the ground
Freudian slumber empty of sound
Over the rooftops and houses
Lost as it tries to be seen
Fields of incentive covered with green
Mesmerised children are playing
Meant to be seen but not heard
"Stop me from dreaming!"
"Don't be absurd!"
"Well if we can help you we will
You're looking tired and ill
As I count backwards
Your eyes become heavier still
Sleep, won't you allow yourself fall?
Nothing can hurt you at all
With your consent
I can experiment further still."
Madrigal music is playing
Voices can faintly be heard
"Please leave this patient undisturbed."
Sentenced to drift far away now
Nothing is quite what it seems
Sometimes entangled in your own dreams
"Well, if we can help you we will
Soon as you're tired and ill
With your consent
We can experiment further still
Well, thanks to our kindness and skill
You'll have no trouble until
You catch your breath
And the nurse will present you the bill" |
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Squonk 06:30 |
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 King's horses and all the King's men
Could never put a smile on that face.
He's a sly one, he's a shy one
Wouldn't 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 huntsman's horn
By the look of this one you've not got much to fear.
Here I am, I'm 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
I'll trick him, then I'll kick him into my sack.
You better watch out... You better watch out.
I've got you, I've 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. |
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Mad Man Moon 07:36 |
Was it summer when the river ran dry
Or was it just another dam
When the evil of a snowflake in June
Could still be a source of relief
Oh how I love you, I once cried long ago
To search beyond the final crest
Though I'd heard it said just birds could dwell so high
So I pretended to have wings for my arms
And took off in the air
I flew to places which the clouds never see
Too close to the deserts of sand
Where a thousand mirages, the shepherds of lies
Forced me to land and take a disguise
I would welcome a horse's kick to send me back
If I could find a horse not made of sand
If this desert's all there'll ever be
Then tell me what becomes of me
A fall of rain?
That must have been another of your dreams
A dream of mad man moon
Hey man
I'm the sand man
And boy have I news for you
They're gonna throw you in jail
And you know they can't fail
Cos sand is thicker than blood
But a prison in sand
Is a haven in hell
For a jail can give you a goal
And a goal can find you a role
On a muddy pitch in Newcastle
Where it rains so much
You can't wait for a touch
Of sun and sand
Within the valley of shadowless death
They pray for thunderclouds and rain
But to the multitude who stand in the rain
Heaven is where the sun shines
The grass will be greener till the stems turn to brown
And thoughts will fly higher till the earth brings them down
Forever caught in desert lands one has to learn
To disbelieve the sea
If this desert's all there'll ever be
Then tell me what becomes of me
A fall of rain?
That must have been another of your dreams
A dream of mad man moon |
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Robbery, Assault and Battery 06:17 |
The streets were deserted though the police were alerted
They considered the phone call a hoax
Furtively glancing the jauntily prancing
The youth caught the guards unaware
Slipping between them he ought to have seen the
The eyes and their owner so near
With torch shining bright he strode on in the night
Till he came to the room with the safe
"Hello son, I hope you're having fun"
"You've got it wrong Sir, I'm only the cleaner"
With that he fired, the other saying as he died
"You've done me wrong", it's the same old song forever
Robbery, assault and battery
The felon and his felony
He picked up the diamonds and bundles of fivers
He pushed them well down in his sack
But the alarm had been sounded, he was completely surrounded
But he had some more tricks up his sleeve
"Come outside with your hands held high"
"You'll not get me alive Sir, I promise you that Sir"
With that he fired, the other saying as he died
"You've done me wrong", it's the same old song forever
Robbery, assault and battery
The felon and his felony
"He's leaving via the roof, the bastard's got away
God always fights on the side of the bad man"
"I've got clean away but I'll be back some day
Just the combination will have changed
Some day they'll catch me, to a chain they'll attach me
But until that day I'll side the old crime wave
If they try to hold me for trial
I'll stay out of jail by paying my bail
And after I'll go to the court of appeal saying
"You've done me wrong", it's the same old song forever" |
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Ripples... 08:06 |
Bluegirls come in every size
Some are wise and some otherwise
They got pretty blue eyes
For an hour a man may change
For an hour her face looks strange
Looks strange, looks strange
Marching to the promised land
Where the honey flows and takes you by the hand
Pulls you down on your knees
While you're down a pool appears
The face in the water looks up
And she shakes her head as if to say
That it's the last time you'll look like today
Sail away, away
Ripples never come back
Gone to the other side
Sail away, sail away
The face that launched a thousand ships
Is sinking fast, that happens you know
The water gets below
Seems not very long ago
Lovelier she was than any that I know
Angels never know it's time
To close the book and gracefully decline
The song has found a tale
My, what a jealous pool she is
The face in the water looks up
She shakes her head as if to say
That the bluegirls have all gone away
Sail away, away
Ripples never come back
They've gone to the other side
Look into the pool
Ripples never come back
Dive to the bottom and go to the top
To see where they have gone
Oh, they've gone to the other side |
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A Trick of the Tail 04:35 |
Bored of the life in the city of gold
He'd left and let nobody know
Gone were the towers he had known from a child
Alone with the dream of a life
He travelled the wide open road
The blinkered arcade
In search of another to share in his life
Nowhere
Everyone looked so strange to him
They've got no horns and they've got no tail
They don't even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried
And wept as they led him away to a cage
"Beast that can talk", read the sign
The creatures they pushed and they prodded his frame
And questioned his story again
But soon they grew bored of their prey
Beast that can talk?
More like a freak or publicity stunk
Oh, no
They've got no horns and they've got no tail
They don't even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried
And broke down the door of the cage and marched on out
He grabbed a creature by the scruff of his neck, pointing out
There, beyond the bounds of your weak imagination
Lie the noble towers of my city, bright and gold
Let me take you there and show you a living story
Let me show you others such as me
Why did I ever leave?
They've got no horns and they've got no tail
They don't even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried
And wept
And so we set out with the beast and his horns
And his crazy description of home
After many days journey we came to a peak
Where the beast gazed abroad and cried out
We followed his gaze and we thought maybe we saw
A spire of gold - no, a trick of the eye that's all
But the beast was gone and a voice was heard
They've got no horns and they've got no tail
They don't even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried
Hello friend, welcome home |
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Los Endos 05:47 |
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instrumental |
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