Genesis in a live performance from 1973. There was already a version of "Supper's Ready" from this concert on YouTube but this one was prepared by The Genesis Museum and the audio quality is hugely improved.
All of them are incredible but the most remarkable for this period were Peter Gabriel's astounding portrayal of it and Phil Collins' outstanding drumming. Steve Hackett and Tony Banks are incredibly incredible, as always, but people don't often think of Phil Collins as a drummer and sometimes they don't think of Peter Gabriel at all. Others can do as they will but I regard this recording as a treasure.
All of them are incredible but the most remarkable for this period were Peter Gabriel's astounding portrayal of it and Phil Collins' outstanding drumming. Steve Hackett and Tony Banks are incredibly incredible, as always, but people don't often think of Phil Collins as a drummer and sometimes they don't think of Peter Gabriel at all. Others can do as they will but I regard this recording as a treasure.
Shepperton Studios, UK: 30/31 October 1973
Watcher of the Skies (0:00)
Dancing with the Moonlit Knight (8:36)
I Know What I Like (17:40)
The Musical Box (24:00)
Supper's Ready (37:10)
The last segment of "Supper's Ready" gets me misty every time. You can interpret it any way you like and that's why it is so beautiful to me. I've heard music in Catholic funerals and some of that stuff is so heartbreakingly beautiful you can't play it for any other type of situation. "As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs" ending "Supper's Ready" has a similar kind of beauty and reverence. Very few songs are haunting for me but this is one of them and it has been for a long, long time (start at about 55:00 to get some of the build-up for it as they were one hell of a prog rock band):
As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet)
Can't you feel our souls ignite
Shedding ever changing colours, in the darkness of the fading night,
Like the river joins the ocean, as the germ in a seed grows
We have finally been freed to get back home.
There's an angel standing in the sun, and he's crying with a loud voice,
"This is the supper of the mighty one",
Lord of Lords,
King of Kings,
Has returned to lead his children home,
To take them to the new Jerusalem.
You can find a detailed analysis of the compositional complexity of the song in "Expression in Pop-rock Music: A Collection of Critical and Analytical Essays" by Walter Everett. There is a comparison of motifs between this song and Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" and you can read more on the subject.
There has been a great deal of prog rock and even theater rock but, to my taste, no-one ever combined it better to such extraordinary musical effect with so much emotional sincerity and authenticity. It may be even more moving today than it ever was as then I hoped music would blow me away and now I expect it from knowing finally which ones do it best. "Supper's Ready" never fails.
Can't you feel our souls ignite
Shedding ever changing colours, in the darkness of the fading night,
Like the river joins the ocean, as the germ in a seed grows
We have finally been freed to get back home.
There's an angel standing in the sun, and he's crying with a loud voice,
"This is the supper of the mighty one",
Lord of Lords,
King of Kings,
Has returned to lead his children home,
To take them to the new Jerusalem.
You can find a detailed analysis of the compositional complexity of the song in "Expression in Pop-rock Music: A Collection of Critical and Analytical Essays" by Walter Everett. There is a comparison of motifs between this song and Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" and you can read more on the subject.
There has been a great deal of prog rock and even theater rock but, to my taste, no-one ever combined it better to such extraordinary musical effect with so much emotional sincerity and authenticity. It may be even more moving today than it ever was as then I hoped music would blow me away and now I expect it from knowing finally which ones do it best. "Supper's Ready" never fails.
2 comments:
Chris Squire died last week. He played the bass and was the only one who never left the band.
It was an unusual week for old rockers as Joe Cocker died ... again. Someone does an R.I.P. on Facebook and suddenly it's news: Joe Cocker died. Laments come from everywhere until maybe someone tells them he died last December. It's such a delicious irony in Facebook where people try to show they're so connected with something but only reveal through that they haven't even a clue about it.
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