Who wrote the lyrics to "Abacab"?

  • Of course fans always like to analyse and look for meaning in things but the band themselves have said Abacab's lyrics weren't really supposed to mean anything in particular. At most, you could possibly say there's a vague sense of a person being told they only have themselves to blame for some sort of predicament they're in. But given the band said the lyric is intentionally unspecific, assigning any meaning is always going to be a bit of a stretch.


    It's one of my favourite Genesis lyrics precisely because it's vague. I especially like "When you wake in the morning/Wake and find you're covered in cellophane/There's a hole in there somewhere". As with lots of things about the whole album it's untypical Genesis, which appeals to me.


    Banks said an interesting thing about choosing it as the title track, that they wanted an album title that conveyed no particular emotion or meaning.

    Abandon all reason

  • A Google search shows that it's Mike Rutherford - is this correct? It appears to be about short term relationships.

    I always thought it was about infidelity...


    "cause you've taken someone else's girl"


    "..when they answer the telephone, don't you think they'll find out?"


    All the stuff about their being a crack in the mirror, a hole in the window pane, I took as being metaphorical for something being wrong at home / in the relationship.


    That being said, I expect Rutherford wrote the lyrics mainly stream-of-consciousness style. But I feel like the infidelity idea was the hook he hung the words on

  • Abacab like...IT!?


    "IT's an illusion, IT's a game

    Or reflection of someone else's name."


    "IT is the jigsaw. IT is purple haze.

    IT never stays in one place, but IT's not a passing phase..."


    :S:S:S

  • I also thought the song was about infidelity. If that was the band’s intent I could see them deciding not to reveal that... for personal reasons.
    That said, in recent years I’ve also wondered if the song isn’t about an affair but instead about moving on from Peter Gabriel and creating a new identity for the band. The line “Tell me, do you think I'm to blame?” Could be about the public’s (incorrect) assertion that Phil forced Peter out.Cause you've taken someone else's girl“ Maybe the band itself is the “girl” in the song and even though Peter left they associate him with it (reflection of someone else's name). This left the band feeling trapped (Wake and find you're covered in cellophane) and desperate to poke a “hole” in the public’s image of Genesis to stylistically move on

  • I also thought the song was about infidelity. If that was the band’s intent I could see them deciding not to reveal that... for personal reasons.
    That said, in recent years I’ve also wondered if the song isn’t about an affair but instead about moving on from Peter Gabriel and creating a new identity for the band. The line “Tell me, do you think I'm to blame?” Could be about the public’s (incorrect) assertion that Phil forced Peter out.Cause you've taken someone else's girl“ Maybe the band itself is the “girl” in the song and even though Peter left they associate him with it (reflection of someone else's name). This left the band feeling trapped (Wake and find you're covered in cellophane) and desperate to poke a “hole” in the public’s image of Genesis to stylistically move on

    Wow. This is top-level contortionism. Nicely done!

    Abandon all reason

  • I also thought the song was about infidelity. If that was the band’s intent I could see them deciding not to reveal that... for personal reasons.
    That said, in recent years I’ve also wondered if the song isn’t about an affair but instead about moving on from Peter Gabriel and creating a new identity for the band. The line “Tell me, do you think I'm to blame?” Could be about the public’s (incorrect) assertion that Phil forced Peter out.Cause you've taken someone else's girl“ Maybe the band itself is the “girl” in the song and even though Peter left they associate him with it (reflection of someone else's name). This left the band feeling trapped (Wake and find you're covered in cellophane) and desperate to poke a “hole” in the public’s image of Genesis to stylistically move on

    Leaving aside the contortionism, it also doesn't follow that any alleged 'infidelity' in the lyrics is about a member of the band.

  • Leaving aside the contortionism, it also doesn't follow that any alleged 'infidelity' in the lyrics is about a member of the band.

    But I kind of like that fans of a band will wring meaning from a song the band themselves have said doesn't really mean anything. In a sense, why not - all creative arts should be open to interpretation. It's just that in this case I can't imagine they intended any of the stuff suggested above.


    There's also the notion that even if the writer isn't actually aiming for specific meaning, there may be some unintended significance given a creative person expressing themselves will always in some way shape that expression. (See also the brouhaha I was involved in regarding Walrus in the Beatles thread).

    Abandon all reason

  • Wow. This is top-level contortionism. Nicely done!

    Thanks, I think? Lol

    But I kind of like that fans of a band will wring meaning from a song the band themselves have said doesn't really mean anything. In a sense, why not - all creative arts should be open to interpretation. It's just that in this case I can't imagine they intended any of the stuff suggested above.


    There's also the notion that even if the writer isn't actually aiming for specific meaning, there may be some unintended significance given a creative person expressing themselves will always in some way shape that expression. (See also the brouhaha I was involved in regarding Walrus in the Beatles thread).

    I wanna make clear that I was never suggesting that I had the true interpretation of Abacab or anything. There are certain songs in the Genesis cannon where lyrics are very important then there are songs like Abacab, and Firth of Fifth where the lyrics aren’t that important (to me) and are almost solely tonal poems. So when I listen to Abacab I’m not engaging w/ the lyrics to the extent I would on Supper’s Ready instead I’m mainly listening to the instrumentation. My guess on Abacab’s potential meaning was less a theory and more half-baked thoughts I was curious if anyone else had. Even if Abacab was intentionally a nonsense song I agree that works of art can have “unintended significance”

    Leaving aside the contortionism, it also doesn't follow that any alleged 'infidelity' in the lyrics is about a member of the band.

    To quote the incumbent President of the US “C’mon Man”: You don’t think it’s POSSIBLE that rock stars would be having affairs. Tbc I ain’t accusing the trio of infidelity. I’m just saying I’ve always thought it was possible that whoever wrote the lyrics to Abacab was having an affair and it unintentionally was reflected in what were supposed to be nonsense lyrics in a song about nothing. Especially given the fact that Phil Collins literally had an affair during his 2nd marriage. Again not accusing anyone of anything but I think it’s in the realm of possibility

  • To quote the incumbent President of the US “C’mon Man”: You don’t think it’s POSSIBLE that rock stars would be having affairs. Tbc I ain’t accusing the trio of infidelity. I’m just saying I’ve always thought it was possible that whoever wrote the lyrics to Abacab was having an affair and it unintentionally was reflected in what were supposed to be nonsense lyrics in a song about nothing. Especially given the fact that Phil Collins literally had an affair during his 2nd marriage. Again not accusing anyone of anything but I think it’s in the realm of possibility

    Possible, yes, but unless one of them came out and said that's what it's about, I would be guarded about making such a claim.

  • Possible, yes, but unless one of them came out and said that's what it's about, I would be guarded about making such a claim.

    I have made it very clear in my previous point that I am not claiming that anyone in Genesis had an affair during or prior to the writing of Abacab:

    Tbc I ain’t accusing the trio of infidelity.... Again not accusing anyone of anything but I think it’s in the realm of possibility

    It is very possible the song is about an affair but it is not a reflection of anything that was happening in the band’s personal lives. That said if the song is about a real affair and they’ve kept their mouths shut for this long... I don’t think their gonna start yapping now. Plus if only one member wrote the lyrics it is possible that the rest of band thinks it really is a song about nothing.

  • Thanks, I think? Lol

    OK I was grinning a bit when I posted but wasn't being entirely unserious. Everything's up for interpretation, even Abacab. I take them at their word when they said it wasn't meant to mean anything, which makes sense given the title is nonsense based on previous song order. But in the same way this forum is partly for fans wishing to post ridiculous mad-fantasy setlists in the tour thread, why shouldn't we also suggest our own takes on song meanings, regardless of how convoluted and crazy they might sound.

    Abandon all reason

  • Abacab is one of the first Genesis songs to grab my attention. I was 13 when it came out, just starting to develop my taste in music. I enjoyed hearing Genesis on the radio (Abacab, Turn It On Again, also Phil's "Missed Again") & seeing this video on MTV. I remember being rather puzzled at the lyrics.


    My initial take picked up on mysterious/surreptitious activity, but figured it may be more of a spy story and not a love affair. Looking under pillows, cracks in mirrors, behind the door, etc... looking for "bugs" or hidden cameras? Reflection of someone else's name = assumed alias? Waking up covered in cellophane and trying to find a hole (to breathe?) sounded like the protagonist had been kidnapped, "wrapped up" by an enemy, and now struggling to escape from a deadly trap. This interpretation may have been influenced by hearing "Just a Job To Do" from the next album, or even "The Cage" (which I only knew from 3SL for many years)!


    I read an interview years later where Phil said he often just "scats" whatever words or phrases pop into his mind when working on new songs. I wonder if that applies to any of the lyrics on Abacab?

  • Abacab is one of the only post-Hackett songs I genuinely really like. I’m a Peter era fan through and through. The stuff they did after Hackett that was more lovey-dovey pop commercial wasn’t my thing as much though some of it appeals to me if I’m in a soft rock mood here and there. Abacab feels like they were trying to get back to their Trick/W&W sound.

  • Quote

    Abacab feels like they were trying to get back to their Trick/W&W sound.

    Quite surprising to say this... Especially because the band acknowledged Abacab was made not to sound like what they used to sound like.

    But everyone has his own perception... :thumbup:;)

    To me, Duke has a lot in common with Trick, W&W or even Selling England. Abacab is really special ; to me it doesn't sound like anything they did before or after it.