TotW 08/19/2024 - 08/25/2024: GENESIS - The Light Dies Down On Broadway

    Your rating for "The Light Dies Down On Broadway" by GENESIS 34

    1. 15 points - outstanding (3) 9%
    2. 14 points - very good (5) 15%
    3. 13 points - very good - (3) 9%
    4. 12 points - good + (11) 32%
    5. 11 points - good (6) 18%
    6. 10 points - good - (4) 12%
    7. 09 points - satisfactory + (1) 3%
    8. 08 points - satisfactory (1) 3%
    9. 07 points - satisfactory - (0) 0%
    10. 06 points - sufficient + (0) 0%
    11. 05 points - sufficient (0) 0%
    12. 04 points - sufficient - (0) 0%
    13. 03 points - poor + (0) 0%
    14. 02 points - poor (0) 0%
    15. 01 points - poor - (0) 0%
    16. 00 points - abysmal (0) 0%

    We invite you to share interesting facts and tidbits about this track. Let's look at the track in the context of the band's / the artist's history, at the music, the songwriting and all other aspects that are relevant for this track. Please do stick to the discussion of the track above. Comparisons to other tracks are okay, but remember that the other track you may be keen to talk about has or will have its own Track Of The Week thread. If you spot a mistake or if you can close a gap in the fact sheet above please feel free to contact martinus or Christian about it; we will gladly add and improve!


    GENESIS - The Light Dies Down On Broadway

    Year: 1974
    Album: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
    Working title: ?
    Credits: Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Hackett, Rutherford
    Lyrics: Yes
    Length: 3:33
    Musicians: Phil Collins, Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford
    Played Live: 1974, 1975,
    Cover versions:

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    Notes: With the first sounds of The Light Dies Down On Broadway, the album and Rael's story move inexorably towards a climax: Rael is given the chance to return to the "upper world", back on Broadway. The familiar sounds ring seductively in his ears - and those of the listener, as this is a softer reprise of The Lamia (in the verses) and The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (in the chorus). With this trick, the band saved musical effort; moreover, the lyrics for this piece were not written by Gabriel, but by Banks and Rutherford, who thus relieved Gabriel. Even if it is probably more of a recycling than a new creation: This makes our current Song of the Week the first track by the four-piece line-up of Genesis, so to speak.

    cheers

    Christian


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    Although it’s really a bit of filler to move the story along rushed in to help get the thing finished in time, this is actually quite a strong track I think. The lyrics are straightforward storytelling and get a lot done in a small amount of time, the music is also straightforward, as already said, recycling motifs completely appropriately for such a concept album. But two aspects really appeal to me - Phil’s utterly inventive drumming, very subtle fills and rolls and some very clever use of the bass pedal and Peter’s vocals, which are a reminder of just what a compelling voice he had in Genesis. Without any over the top verbal theatrics he just instinctively knows when to emphasise a word eg ‘the freedom I had in the RAT race’ and the way he pronounces ‘forever’ just afterwards just do enough to engage interest without stealing the scene. These components make this more than just a workmanlike bit of finishing off.

    I have a question for you. Years ago, I had an argument with a fellow Genesis fan on this site about the ending of that song. He pretended that he could hear a reprise of the keyboard melody used in Hairless Heart while I thought it was slightly different. What do you think? Is this the same line or is just our imagination?

    Quote from somsom

    I have a question for you. Years ago, I had an argument with a fellow Genesis fan on this site about the ending of that song. He pretended that he could hear a reprise of the keyboard melody used in Hairless Heart while I thought it was slightly different. What do you think? Is this the same line or is just our imagination?

    There's some similarity to the HH lead line at around 3.10 but I wouldn't go as far as to say it's a 'reprise'. I'd say it's unlikely to have been intentional, even on a story album where there's some degree of callback to earlier motifs.


    I like the Archive 1 live version of this, especially Hackett's work (it wasn't one of his overdubs, I think - ?)

    Abandon all reason

    Exactly the same as Dr. John.


    This part of the album is rather melancholic and feels padded in places, including here. I would obviously listen to it if listening to the whole album, but I have my own "filleted" version of The Lamb where I removed the bits I could manage without and this one ended up on the cutting room floor. It's not awful, it's not magnificent either, it's most definitely an inbetweener.

    12 points for me.

    Although the song itself has a very "transitional' feel in terms of the lyrics and the open instrumentation and slower tempo, I feel that if this song had been given a bit more attention and didn't happen to fall in between several more obscure songs on the album, The Light Dies Down on Broadway might have ended up being a more memorable piece. At any rate, it serves as a really nice 'reflective reprise' to the title track and also the story in general.


    I think the reason it's forgotten sometimes is cos it falls right in the middle of that 'is this almost over yet?' kind of point about 3/4 of the way thru that comes with any drawn out production that demands this much attention from listeners.

    A filler, maybe, but it's actually one of my favourite part of this album. 14

    Quote from Thelawnmower

    Phil’s utterly inventive drumming, very subtle fills and rolls and some very clever use of the bass pedal

    I completely agree. I also love his hi-hat at the end of the song (just after the Hairless Heart reminder).


    Quote from somsom

    Years ago, I had an argument with a fellow Genesis fan on this site about the ending of that song. He pretended that he could hear a reprise of the keyboard melody used in Hairless Heart while I thought it was slightly different.

    Me, maybe ? RE: Things you've only recently noticed

    To me, it is a part of the HH melody, slightly altered to go with the key (E instead of D) and the harmony (major instead of minor). Overall melodic construction ? Same. Rhythm (tempo aside) ? Same also.


    ;)

    11 from me. One of the weaker tracks on "side 4" ("It" being worst), the weakest side, but still it's a necessary moment to take the story to its conclusion, which is why I've given it 11, rather than maybe 9 or 10.


    And I have no issue with the story, like some, I just take it at face value, as a document of a dream-like situation. if Peter meant it to be allegorical, good luck to him, but the general consensus seems to be it fails, since no-one does know "what it means".


    It could have benefited from "a focal point" like a guitar or keyboard solo, whereas it does just become a narrative, pure and simple.

    Ian


    Putting the old-fashioned Staffordshire plate in the dishwasher!

    Quote from foxfeeder

    11 from me. One of the weaker tracks on "side 4" ("It" being worst), the weakest side, but still it's a necessary moment to take the story to its conclusion, which is why I've given it 11, rather than maybe 9 or 10.


    And I have no issue with the story, like some, I just take it at face value, as a document of a dream-like situation. if Peter meant it to be allegorical, good luck to him, but the general consensus seems to be it fails, since no-one does know "what it means".


    It could have benefited from "a focal point" like a guitar or keyboard solo, whereas it does just become a narrative, pure and simple.

    Can agree to most of this. Apart from "it", which I think is a really strong track. Best version is probably the rerecorded live version for the first Archive set....


    Anyway, as for "The Light Dies Down..." I also voted 11 points.

    Quote from Ashley

    Can agree to most of this. Apart from "it", which I think is a really strong track. Best version is probably the rerecorded live version for the first Archive set....


    Anyway, as for "The Light Dies Down..." I also voted 11 points.

    It was actually an alternative mix of the album track, only used as apparently, the tape ran out while the live set was being recorded.

    Ian


    Putting the old-fashioned Staffordshire plate in the dishwasher!

    Quote from thewatcher

    I quite like this song, most particularly for the somewhat strange vibe of heralding the end that it brings. It's disconcerting.

    That's a good point, I'd never thought of it like that but you're right. The reprised sections from the title track and Lamia are used really well in this respect as they both have a tense feel in their 'host' songs but in their slower tempo here that sense of tension seems amplified, and adds to that slight oddness. Which seems a daft thing to say about one track on an album replete with weirdosity but it specifically nicely serves the notion of possible transition back from the nightmarish world to his normal life.

    Abandon all reason

    Like 1

    I agree that the keyboard melody here is a quote of the melody for Hairless Heart. It is reworked because of the change in key and chords, but it is otherwise the same sequence of notes in the (altered) scale and the same timing.


    I also noticed - and posted long ago - on that similarity from Hairless Heart, played in a different key (can't remember which thread I posted it, but it was different from the one quoted above). Sounds like there's a select few out there that caught that subtle reworking of the Hairless Heart melody.