The "Define/Explain That Lyric" Thread

Quote from BillysNumber

For me, several of the lyrics in the song Blood on the Rooftops are confusing to me. Certain shows, certain words. The biggest mystery for me from that song would be "the grime on the tyne is all mine..." What are they referring to there?

Also, the term "paperlate." IIRC, I understand that to mean a late edition of a newspaper-but is/was that a real thing? How does it fit in the context of the actual song Paperlate?

The BOTR line is a jokey reference to Fog On The Tyne by lablemates and former tour compatriots Lindisfarne. The lyric as you say refers to various aspects of British TV and life, which might not be clear to those of other nationalities and/or too young to know them.

Yes "paperlate" was a term shouted by street sellers of evening newspaper editions. Given that Paperlate grew "organically" from repeating the word in rehearsal, other than the newspaper context probably triggering "no news is good news" it's unlikely there's any tangible meaning to it.

"Paperlate" as used in rehearsal, was, of course, just Phil using the word from "DWTMK".

Quote from foxfeeder

"Paperlate" as used in rehearsal, was, of course, just Phil using the word from "DWTMK".

Yes, we gather during the 1980 tour. I vaguely hoped it might also have led to a song called Unifaun.

Quote from BillysNumber

where on earth did PG get the phrase "shock the monkey," and what does it have to do with the rest of the (IMO somewhat random) lyrics??

At the time he said the song was about jealousy and that it was a metaphorical monkey... the monkey within us all... or... something.

By the way, Metaphorical Monkey - great band. Saw them support the Enid at Hammersmith Odeon in 1985.

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What lyrical wonders do YOU have?

I tended to do this when I was a child but not in adulthood. The only Genesis one that springs to mind is that for decades I had no idea why 'the Reverend' was so shocked by the offer of old-fashioned Staffordshire plate. It's only a few years ago that I found out it's an oral sex reference.

Some of PG's lyrical quirks would stick in my mind, such as garlic-scented chocolate fingers and activating a prayer capsule, but I never really wondered about them as such - I've always accepted them as part of his distinctive writing style.

Quote from BillysNumber

Lastly, where on earth did PG get the phrase "shock the monkey," and what does it have to do with the rest of the (IMO somewhat random) lyrics??

These are simply examples of such questions that we could share, as well as speculate/answer what they mean...

What lyrical wonders do YOU have???

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I always thought Shock was about animal experiments. The video certainly plays with that imagery and the lyrics make a little bit of sense. But I’ve read that Peter claims it’s about relationships and jealousy, although I’ve not seen the source for that. In which case the lyrics make little or no sense to me.

Maybe it was about animal experiments and was written in opposition to them but he later became worried about being misinterpreted. Who knows?

Good thread by the way

Quote from Thelawnmower

I always thought Shock was about animal experiments. The video certainly plays with that imagery and the lyrics make a little bit of sense. But I’ve read that Peter claims it’s about relationships and jealousy, although I’ve not seen the source for that. In which case the lyrics make little or no sense to me.

It's commonly thought to be about animal experimentation but the source of the 'relationships' explanation is PG in an interview with journalist Chris Welch, who I think included the quote in a book. I doubt he changed his own interpretation in the way you suggest.

"And in the beating of your heart there is another beating heart

All at once I can see what we do,

Me into me and you into you

Me into me and you into you

Tonight, tonight, oh he's s burning bright"

I've always had a strange, diffuse, orwellian feeling about this song. What do you think of it ?

Genesis-Happy the man.

"Like a nun with a gun."

It drive me crazy!

oh yes ...lyrics will drive you crazy if you start trying to figure out what they are all about...some of the greatest bands have songs that when you read the words make very little sense

'I am the egg man"

I try not to overthink it...

I'm glad that "nun with a gun" it's a nosense.

I thought she was a character in a comedy.

Quote from BillysNumber

Indeed, this is another one of mine - I've always been confused by the lyrics for Man of our times! I mean, the lyrics don't even seem to relate at all to the title of the song! LOL I kind of always thought of it as a completely random selection of throwaway lines, or just improvised jibberish Phil had sung while they were rehearsing...

Mike Rutherford song, so not Phil's fault. Never listened to it enough to wonder about the lyrics, it's easily the worst song on the album, just a racket.

Quote from foxfeeder

Mike Rutherford song, so not Phil's fault. Never listened to it enough to wonder about the lyrics, it's easily the worst song on the album, just a racket.

On of my favorites because it's a racket! I love how Phil's voice sounds like it's being overwhelmed in the mix when he shouts "maaaaaaaaaaaaan of our tiiiimes", plus the bit where he's singing something I can't make out (sounds like "an enemy <something something>"). And the effective pauses dropped in here and there. The tense keyboard notes that loom ominously in the background in parts.

As regards the thread, I'm partial to cryptic lyrics also.

Quote from thewatcher

On of my favorites because it's a racket! I love how Phil's voice sounds like it's being overwhelmed in the mix when he shouts "maaaaaaaaaaaaan of our tiiiimes", plus the bit where he's singing something I can't make out (sounds like "an enemy <something something>"). And the effective pauses dropped in here and there. The tense keyboard notes that loom ominously in the background in parts.

As regards the thread, I'm partial to cryptic lyrics also.

What you said.

Quote from thewatcher

On of my favorites because it's a racket! I love how Phil's voice sounds like it's being overwhelmed in the mix when he shouts "maaaaaaaaaaaaan of our tiiiimes", plus the bit where he's singing something I can't make out (sounds like "an enemy <something something>"). And the effective pauses dropped in here and there. The tense keyboard notes that loom ominously in the background in parts.

As regards the thread, I'm partial to cryptic lyrics also.

I quite agree with that. Strange song, but there's something I like in it, the musical tension that goes through, only released when the drum pattern changes at the very end.

Another set of cryptic lyrics is Abacab. The band itself explained that at the time they tended to write lyrics that sounded good rather than had any sense, but these ones are particularly obscure.

Quote from Duke of Earl of Mar

...Another set of cryptic lyrics is Abacab. The band itself explained that at the time they tended to write lyrics that sounded good rather than having any sense, but these ones are particularly obscure.

Mike Rutherford in 1982: "Some melody has got to come from key phrases in the song and the lyrics tend to come from that. The Abacab sessions were different only in that the band stuck with the melodies in the instrumental tracks and didn't try to write a great lyric and a great melody, which often screws it up because there isn't room for a great instrumental and another great melody on top. Take the title track on Abacab. I did the melody and lyrics for that and the backing track was so damned good that our main objective was not to get in the way of it."

Rutherford again in 2007: "I wrote the lyrics. They're ok but not great, but the title is quite fun."

Abacab is the kind of lyrical oddity of which I wished they had done more. It has a sort of economy that nicely matches the taut sparseness of the music. One of my favourite lines in their entire output is "wake and find you're covered in cellophane/there's a hole in there somewhere". I recall one of those many Genesis-sceptic critics being confounded by the space and relative terseness of the album and quoting that line as showing how much they'd changed.

It's one of their lyrics most illustrative of the point made by Simon1967 that there's usually little mileage in pondering the meaning of lyrics and individual lines.