THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY
released as a double LP in 1974 Tony Banks - Peter Gabriel - Mike Rutherford - Steve Hackett - Phil Collins (note: all lyrics to this album were written by Peter Gabriel, except where indicated) ******************************************************************* ***Look for Peter's story in the liner notes of The Lamb soon!!!*** ******************************************************************* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/ --------------------------------Collins)------------------------------ And the lamb lies down on Broadway Early morning Manhatten Ocean winds blow on the land Movie-palace is now undone The all-night watchmen have had their fun Sleeping cheaply on a midnight show It's the same old ending, time to go Get Out! It seems they cannot leave their dream There's something moving in the sidewalk steam And the lamb lies down on Broadway Night-time's flyers feel their pain Drugstore takes down it's chains Metal motion comes in bursts But the gas station can quench that thirst Suspension cracked on an unmade road The trucker's eyes read "overload!" And out on the subway Rael imperial aerosol kid Exits in the daylight, his spraygun hid And the lamb lies down on Broadway The lamb seems right out of place Yet the Broadway street scene finds a focus in it's face Somehow it's lying there Brings a stillness to the air Though man-made light, at night is very bright There's no whitewash victim As the neons dim to the code of white Rael imperial aerosol kid Wipes his gun, he's forgotten what he did And the lamb lies down on Broadway Suzanne tired, her work all done Thinks money-honey-be on-neon Cabman's velvet glove sounds the horn And the sawdust king spits out his scorn Wonder women can draw your blind! Don't look at me, I'm not your kind I'm Rael! Something inside me has just begun Lord knows what I have done- And the lamb lies down on Broadway On Broadway- They say the lights are always bright on Broadway They say there's always magic in the air They say the lights are always bright on Broadway [repeat and fade into]: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FLY ON A WINSHIELD (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- There's something solid forming in the air And the wall of death is lowere in Times Square No-one seems to care They carry on as if nothing was there The wind is blowing harder now Blowing dust into my eyes The dust settles on my skin Making a crust I cannot move And I'm hovering like a fly, waiting for the winshield on the freeway ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BROADWAY MELODY OF 1974 (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Echoes of the Broadway Everglades With her mythical madonnas still walking in their shades Lenny Bruce declares a truce and plays his other hand Marshall McLuhen, casual viewin', head buried in the sand Sirens on the rooftops wailing, but there's no ship sailing Groucho with his movie trailing, stands alone with his punchline faling Ku Kluk Klan serve hot soul food, and the band plays "In The Moond" The cheerleader waves her cyanide want, there's a smell of peach blossom and bitter almond Carly Chessman sniffs the air and leads the parade He knows, in a scent, you can bottle all you made There's Howard Hughs in blue suede shoes, smiling at the majorette smoking Winston cigarettes And as the song and dance begins, the children play at home with needles; needles and pins ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CUCKOO COCOON (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wrapped up in some powdered wool-I guess I'm losing touch Don't tell me this is dying, 'cos I ain't changed that much Teh only sound is water drops, I wonder where the hell I am Some kind of jam? Cuckoo cocoon have I come too, too soon for you? There's nothing I can recognize, this is nowhere that I've known With no sign of life at all, I guess that I'm alone And I feel so secure that I know this can't be real but I feel good Cuckoo Cocoon have I come too, too soon for you? I wonder if I'm a prisoner locked in some Brookly jail -or some sort of Jonah shut up inside the whale No-I'm still Rael and I'm stuck in some kind of cave What could have saved me? Cuckoo cocoon have I come too, too soon for you? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IN THE CAGE (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I got sunshine in my stomach Like I just rocked my baby to sleep I got sunshine in my stomach But I can't keep me from creeping sleep Sleep, deep in the deep Rockface moves to press my skin White liquids turn sour within Turn fast-turn sour Turn sweat-turn sour Must tell myself that I'm not here I'm drowning in a lake of fear Bottled in a strong compression My distortion shows obsession In the cave Get me out of this cave! If I keep self-control I'll be safe in my soul And the childhood belief Brings a moments relief But my cynic soon returns And the lifeboat burns My spirit just never learns Stalactities, Stalagmites Shut me in, lock me tight Lips are dry, food is dry Feel like burning, stomach churning I'm dressed up in a white costume Padding out left-over room Body stretching, feel the wretching In the cage Get me out of this cage! In the glare of a light I see a strange kind of sight Of cages joined to form a star Each person can't go very far All tied to their things They are netted by their strings Free to flutter in memories of their wasted wings Outside the cage I see my brother John He turns his head so slowly round I cry out "Help!" before he can be gone And he looks at me without a sound And I shout out "John, please help me!" But he does not even want to try to speak I'm helpless in my violent rage And a silent tear of blood dribbles down his cheek And I watch him turn again and leave the cage My little runaway In a trap, feel a strap Holding still, Pinned for kill Chances narrow that I'll make it In the cushioned straightjacket Just like 22nd street And they got me by their neck and feet Pressure's building, can't take more My headache's charge, my earache's roar in this pain Get me out of this pain! If I could turn to liquid I could fill the cracks up in the rock But I know that I am solid And I am my own bad luck Outside John disappears and my cage dissolves And without any reason my body revolves Keep on turning Keep on turning Keep on turning Keep on turning Keep on turning Turning around Just spinning around Down, down, down ... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE GRAND PARADE OF LIFELESS PACKAGING (L: Banks/Gabriel/L: Rutherford/ ----------------------------------------Hackett/Collins)-------------- "It's the last great adventure left to man kind" -Screams a dropping lady offering her dreamdolls at less than extortinoate prices and as the notes and coins are taken out I'm taken in, to the factory floor For the Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging -All ready to use The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging -I just need a fuse Got people stocked in every shade You must be doing well with trade Stamped, addressed, in odd fatality That evens out their personality With profit potential marked by a sign I can recognize some of the production line No bite at all in labour bondages Just wrinkled wrappers on human bandages Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging -All ready to use It's the Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging -I just need a fuse Teh hall runs like clockwork Their hands mark out this time Empty in their fullness Like a frozen pantomime Everyone's sales representative Wearing slogans on their shrine Dishing out fallsafe superlative Brother John in No. 9 The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging -Ready to use It's the Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging -I just need a fuse and the decor on the ceiling planned out their future day I see no sign of farewell so I guess I have to pay pay my way for the Grand Parade Grand Parade Oh, the Grand Parade Yes, the Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging -All ready to use The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging -I just need a fuse Grand Parade Grand Parade ... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BACK IN N.Y.C. (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I see faces and traces of home back in New York City- So you think I'm a tough kid? Is that what you heard? Well I like to see some action and it gets into my blood They call me the trail blazer-Rael-electric razor I'm a pitcher in a chain gang, we don't believe in pain 'cos we're only the strong, yes we're only as strong, as the weakest link to the chain Let me out of Pontiac when I was just seventeen I had to get it out of me, i fyou know what I mean, what I mean You say I must be crazy, 'cos I don't care who I hit But I know it's me that hittin' out, and I'm, I'm not full of shit I don't care who I hurt, I don't care who I do wrong This is your mess I'm stuck in, I really don't belong When I take out my bottle, filled up high with gasoline You can tell by the night, fires where Rael has been, has been As I cuddled the porcupine He said I had none to blame, but me Held my heart, deep in hair Time to shave, shave it off, it off No time for romantic escape When your fluffy heart is ready for rape. No! No time for romantic escape When your fluffy heart is ready for rape. No! Off we go! You're sitting in your comfor you don't believe I'm real You cannot buy protection from the way that I feel Your progressive hypocrites hand out their trash But it was mine in the first place, so I'll burn it to ash And I've tasted all the strongest meats And laid them down in coloured sheets Who need illusion of love and affection When you're out walking in the streets with your mainline connection? Connection. As I cuddled the porcupine He said I had none to blame, but me Held my heart, deep in hair Time to shave, shave it off, it off No time for romantic excape Whey your fluffy heart is ready for rape. No! ...No time ---------------------------------------------------------------------- HAIRLESS HEART (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTRUMENTAL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- COUNTING OUT TIME (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherfor/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm counting out time Got the whole thing down by numbers All those numbers! Give me guidance! O lord I need that now The Day of Judement's come And you can bet that I've been resting for this testing Digesting every word the experts say Erogenous zones I love you Without you what would a poor boy do? Found a girl I wanted to date Thought I'd better get it straight Went to buy a book before it's too late Don't leave nothing to fate I've studied every line, every page in the book But now I've got the real thing here, I'm gonna take a look, take a look This is it Rael! I'm counting out time, hoping it all goes like I planned it 'cos I understand it. Look! I've found the hotspots, fiures 1-9 -still counting out, I've got my finger on the button "Don't say nuthin'-just lie there still now I'll get you turned on just fine." Erogenous zones I love you Without you, what would a poor boy do? Touch and go with 1-6 Bit of trouble in zone No. 7 Gotta remember all of my tricks There's heaven ahed in No. 11! Getting crucial responses with dilation of the pupils "Honey, get hip! It's time to unzip, to unzip,zip,zip-a-zip-zip Whippee!" Put it away Mr. Guitar -Move over Casanova- I'm counting out time, reaction none too happy Please don't slap me I'm a red-blooded male and the book said I could not fail I'm counting out time, I got unexpected distress from my mistress I'll get my money back from the book store right away Erogenous zones I question you- Without you, what would a poor boy do? Without you, what would a poor boy do? Without you, what would a poor boy do? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CARPET CRAWLERS (L: Banks/Gabriel/L: Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- There is lamb's wool under my naked feet The wool is soft and warm -gives off some kind of heat A salamander scurries into flame to be destroyed Imaginary creatures are trapped in birth on celluloid The fleas cling to the goldon fleece Hoping they'll find peace Each thought and gesture are caught in celluloid There's no hiding in memory There's no room to avoid The crawlers cover the floor in the red ochre corridore For my second sight of people, they've more lifeblood than before They're moving in time to a heavy wooden door Wehre the needle's eye is winking, closing on the poor the carpet crawlers heed their callers "We've got to get in to get out We've got to get in to get out We've got to get in to get out" There's only one direction in the faces that I see It's upward to the ceiling, where the chamber's said to be Like the forest fight for sunlight, that takes root in every tree They are pulled up by the magnet, believing they're free The carpet crawlers heed their callers "We've got to get in to get out We've got to get in to get out We've got to get in to get out." Mild-mannered supermen are held in kryptonite And the wise and foolish virgins giggle with their bodies glowing bright Through the door a harvest feast is lit by candle light It's the bottom of the staircase that spirals out of sight The carpet crawlers heed their callers "We've got to get in to get out We've got to get in to get out We've got to get in to get out." The porcelain mannikin with shatterd skin fears attack And the eager pack lift up their pitchers-they carry all they lack The liquid has congealed, which has seeped out through the crack And the tickler takes his stickleback The carpet crawlers heed their callers "We've got to get in to get out We've got to get in to get out We've got to get in to get out ..." [repeat and fade] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CHAMBER OF 32 DOORS (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- At the top of the stairs, there's hundreds of people running around to all the doors they try to find, find themselves an audience their deductions need applause The rich man stands in front of me The poor man behind my back They believe they can control the game but the juggler holds another pack I need someone to believe in, someone to trust I need someone to believe in, someone to trust I'd rather trust a countryman than a townman You can judge by his eyes, take a look if you can He'll smile through his guard Survival trains hard I'd rather trust a man who works wiht his hands He looks at you once, you know he understands Don't need any shield When you're out in the field But down here I'm so alone with my fear With everything that I hear And efery single door, that i've walked through Brings me back, back here again i've got to find my own way The priest and the magician Singing all the chants that they have ever heard And they're all calling out my name Even academics, searching printed word My father to the left of me My mother to the right Like evryone else they're pointing But nowhere feels quite right And I need someone to believe in, someone to trust I need someone to believe in, someone to trust I'd rather trust a man who doesn't shout what he's found There's no need to sell if you're homeward bound If I choose a side He won't take me for a ride Back inside This chamber of so many doors I've nowhere, nowhere to hide I'd give you all of my dreams, if you'd help me Find a door That doesn't lead me back again -take me away ---------------------------------------------------------------------- LILYWHITE LILLITH (Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The chamber was in confusion-all the voices shouting loud I could only just hear a voice quite near say, "Please help me through the crowd" I said if I helped her through she could help me too, but I could see that she was wholly blind But from her pale face and her pale skin, a moonlight shined Lilywhite Lillith She gonna lead you thru' the tunnel of night Lilywhite Lillith She gonna lead you right When I'd led her through the people, the angry noise began to grow She said, "Let me feel the way the breezes blow and I'll show you where to go" So I followed her into a big round cave, she said "They're coming for you, now don't be afraid Then she sat me down on a stone cold throne, carved in jade Lilywhite Lillith She gonna lead you thru' the tunnel of night Lilywhite Lillith She gonna lead you right She leaves me in my darkness I have to face, face my fear And the darkness closes in on me I can hear a whirring sound growing near i can see the corner of the tunnel Lit up by whatever's coming here Two golden globes float into the room And a blaze of light fills the air ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE WAITING ROOM (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTRUMENTAL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ANYWAY (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- All the pumping's nearly over for my sweetheart This is the one for me Time to meet the chef Oh boy! The running man is out of death Feel cold and old, it's getting hard to catch my breath It's back to ash, "now, you've had your flash boy" The rocks, in time, compress your blood to oil your flesh to coal enrich the soil not everybody's goal Anyway, they say she comes on a pale horse But I'm sure I hear a train Oh boy! I don't even feel no pain- I think I must be driving myself insane Damn it all! Does earth plug a hole in heaven Or heaven plug a hole in earth-"how wonderful to be so profound when everything you are is dying underground I feel like the pull on the rope, let m off at the rainbow I could have been exploded in space Diffirent orbits for my bones Not me, just quietly buried in stones Keep the deadline open with my maker! See me stretch; for God's elastic acre The door bell rings and it's "Good morning, Rael So sorry you had to wait It won't be long, yeah! She's very rarely late" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (HERE COMES) THE SUPERNATURAL ANAESTHETIST (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/ --------------------------------------------Hackett/Collins)---------- Here comes the supernatural anaesthetist If he wants you to snuff it All he has to do is puff it -he's such a fine dancer ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE LAMIA (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The scent grows richer, he knows he must be here He finds a long passageway lit by chandelier Each step he takes, the perfumes change From familiar fragrance to flavours strange A magnificant chamber meets his eye Inside, a long rose-water pool is shrouded by fine mist Stepping in the moist silence, with a warm breeze he's gently kissed Thinking he is quite alone He enters the room, as if it were his own But ripples on the sweet pink water Reveal some company unthought of- Rael stands astonished doubting the sight Struck by beauty, gripped with fright Three vermillion snakes of female face The smallest motion, filled with grace Muted melodies fill the echoing hall but there is no sign of warning in the sirens' call "Rael, welcome, we are the Lamia of the pool, We have been waiting for our watrst bo bring you cool." Putting fear beside him, he trusts in beauty blind He slips into the nectar, leaving his shredded clothes behind With their tongues, they test, taste and judge all that is mine They move in a series of caresses That glide up and down my spine As they nibble the fruit of my flesh, I feel no pain Only a magic that a name would stain With the first drop of my blood in their veins Their faces are convulsed in mortal pains Ther fairest cries, "We all have loved you, Rael" Each empties snamkelike body floats Silent Sorrow in empty boats A sickly sourness fills the room The bitter harvest of a dying bloom Looking for motion I know I will not find I stork the curls now turning pale, in which I'd laid entwined "Oh Lamia, your flesh remains I will take as my food" It is the scent of garlic that lingers on my chocolat fingers Looking behind me, the water turns icy blue The lights are dimmed and once again the stage is set to you ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SILENT SORROW IN EMPTY BOATS (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTRUMENTAL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE COLONY OF SLIPPERMEN (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Arrival ----------- Rael: I wandered lonely as a cloud Till I came upon this dirty street I've never seen a stranger crowd Slubberdegullions on squeaky feet Continually pacing With nonchalant embracing Each orifice disgracing And one facing he moves to say "hellay" Your skin's all covered in slimy lumps With lips that slide accrossed each chin His twisted limbs like rubber stumps Are waved in welcome say "Please join in" My grip must be flipping Cos his handshake keeps slipping My hopes keep on dipping And his lips keep on smiling all the time Slippermen: "We, like you, have tasted love Don't be alarmed at what you see You yourself are just the same As what you see in me" Rael: Me, like you? Like that! Slipperment: "Better watch it son, your sentence has only just begun Better run and join your brother John" A Visit To The Doktor --------------------- Slippermen: "You're in the colony of slippermen There's no who? why? what? or when? You can get out if you've got the gripe To see Doktor Dyper, reformed sniper-he'll whip off your windscreenwiper Rael: John and I are able To face the Doktor and his mountain table The Doktor: Understand Rael, that's the end of your tail Rael: Don't delay, dock the dick! I watch his countdown timer tick ... The Raven --------- He places the number into a tube Its a yellow plastic shoobedoobe It says: 'Though your fingers may tickle, you'll be safe in our pickle' Suddenly, black cloud come down from the sky It's a supersized black bird that sure can fly The raven brings on darkness and night He flies right down, gives me one hell of a fright He takes the tube right out of my hand Man, I've got to find where that black bird lands "Look here, John, I've got to run I need you now, you're going to come?" He says to me: John: Now can't you see Where the raven flies there's jeopardy? We've been cured on the couh Now you're sick with your grouch I'll not risk my honey pouch Which my souch will wear slung very low Rael: He walks away and leaves me once again Even though I never learn, I hoped he'd show just some concern I'm in the agony of slipperpain I pray my undercarriage will sustain The chase is on, the pace is hot But I'm running so very hard with everything that I've got He leads me down an underpass Though it narrows, he still flies very fast When the tunnel stops Catch sight of the tube, just as it drops I'm on top of a bank too steep to climb I see it hit the water just in time To watch it float away, watch it float away, watch it float away [repeat, fade and ad lib] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RAVINE (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTRUMENTAL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE LIGHT DIES DOWN ON BROADWAY (L: Banks/Gabriel/L: Rutherford/ ---------------------------------Hackett/Collins)--------------------- As he walks along the gorge's edge He meets a sens of yesteryear A window in the bank above his head Reveals his home amidst the streets Subway sounds, the sounds of complaint The smell of acid on his gun of paint As he carves out anger in a blood-red band Destroyed tomorrow by unknown hand; -My home Is this the way out from the endless scene Or just an entrance to another dream And the light dies down on Broadway But as the skylight beckons him to leave He hears a scream from far below Within the raging water, writhes the for Of brogher John, he cries for help Teh gate is fading now, but open wide But John is drowning, I must decide Between the freedom I had in the rat-racee Or to stay forever in this forsaken place Hey John! He makes for the river and the gate is gone Back to the void where it came from And the light dies down on Broadway ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RIDING THE SCREE (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherfor/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Struggling down the slope There's not much hope I begin to try to ride the scree the rocks are tumbling all around me If I want John alive I've got to ditch my fear-take a dive While I've still got my drive to survive Evil Knievel you got nothing on me Here I go! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IN THE RAPIDS (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Moving down the water John is drifiting out of sight It's only at the turning point That you find out how you fight In the cold, feel the cold all around And the rush of crashing water Surrounds me with its sound Striking out to reach you I can't get through to the other side Whe you're racing in the rapids There's only one way, that's to ride Taken down, taken down by the undertow I'm spiralled down the river bed My fire is burning low Catching hold of a rock that's firm I'm waiting for John to be carried pas We hold together, hold together And shoot the rapids fast And when the waters slow down The dark and the deep There's no one, no one, no one, no one No one left to keep Hang on John! We're out of this at last Something changed, that's not your face, it's mine, it's mine! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IT (Banks/Gabriel/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- When it's cold, it comes slow When it's warm, just watch it grow All around me It is here, it is now Just a little bit of it can bring you up or down Like the supper, it is cooking in your home town It is chicken, it is eggs, it is in between your legs It is walking on the moon, leaving your cocoon It is the jigsaw, it is purple haze It never stays in one place, but it's not a passing faze It is in the single's bar, in a distance of the face It is in between the cages, it is always in a space It is here, it is now Any rock can be made to roll If you've enough of it to pay the toll It has no home in words or gold Not even in your favourite hole It is hope for the dope That rides a horse without a hoof It is shaken not stirred, Cocktails on the roof Wehn you eat right thru' it, you see everything alive It is inside the spirit, with enough grit to survive If you think it's pretentious, you've been taken for a ride Look across the mirror sonny, before you choose decide It is here, it is now It is Real. It is Rael 'Cos it's only knock and know-all, but I like it Yes it's only knock and know all, but I like it [repeat several times and then fade out] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael-Bass and Twelve String Guitar Phil-Percussion, Vibing and Voicing Steve-Guitars Tony-Keyboards Peter-Voices and Flute with variations on the above and Experiments with foreign sounds
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