Definitely reminds me of Cat Stevens every time I hear it. PG's voice sounds a lot like Stevens in certain parts of the song. Foxtrot is one of my favorites, not a weak song on the album. I love the mix on the first side; it alternates between futuristic/sci-fi pieces and pieces that take you back to a previous historical era. Watcher of the Skies---This might put me in the minority, but I really don't care all that much for the mellotron intro, and I'm one of the biggest Tony Banks fans out there. But, I love the rest of the song. The Morse Code inspired rhythm is great. The interplay between keyboards and the whole band in the instrumental section is tremendous, and the ending is great. For those familiar with Arthur C Clarke's "Childhood's End", it is very easy to link the lyrics to that book. One of my favorite books. Time-Table---This one has Tony Banks written all over it. A rather simple piece with beautiful piano throughout. The lyrics make me think of England around the time of Henry VIII. Nothing fancy in the music, but I never tire of it. Get 'Em Out By Friday----Who but Genesis could write a song about a dystopian future where landlords not only control the rent, but also people's height? So many different sections, so many great musical ideas crammed together. I think it's key to understand which character is singing which line to truly "get" the song. Can-Utility and the Coastliners---This song makes so much more sense after I became familiar with the story of King Canute. Not a long, epic song like a lot of Genesis' best, but the instrumental section of this song is among their best ever. Horizons--- Great little acoustic guitar piece. It is like the appetizer for what comes after Supper's Ready---- So much more to say when we get around to discussion of this specific song. But, it still gives me goosebumps after all these years. The last verse of the song can sometimes almost bring me to tears, and I'm far from a religious person.
Keeping that mindset for Genesis is going to lead to missing out on a lot of great stuff. Twilight Alehouse, It's Yourself, Inside and Out, Vancouver, 3X3, etc. Lots of great Genesis rarities. At least get the first Archive box.
I have a boot of Twilight Alehouse and some other early stuff. Everything else is superfluous imo, and not worth the bloated price of those sets. Besides, I'm poor. I couldn't afford them even if I wanted to own that stuff.
yea, i looked at it the other day ... I used to have both back in oz, but when I moved i had a lot of hard decisions to make, and they had to move on at that time. I would get them again, but not for the prices i've seen recently
...and that should give a clue that, whether you like the fade out or not, the decision to use a fade out on the song was not arbitrary.
The entire song is about the battle between good and evil. The song ends with the reprise of Lover's Leap: this circular structure emphasizes the song's narrative of the New Jerusalem and the beginning of a new life/world after the Apocalypse has gotten rid of evil. There's not any end. This is just the beginning. That's what the fadeout means, together with the lyrics. Funny. To me it is at the very least half of the deal. The single version that takes it out (aside the other editing) feels poor in comparison. And it's a great way to state what kind of album you're gonna start listening. What buffled me is how Genesis never played the bonus track card to make represses more juicy until the remixes came out (but they were 2-discs editions). Everybody did it in the Eighties/Nineties (ok, not everybody but you got my point), they didn't. It's Yourself for example remained unavailable digitally for years and years and could have enriched Trick beautifully, and there was plenty of space on the CD.
There is a quote somewhere from Tony that he envisaged the Apocalypse part of the song as just an instrumental that kept on building up, and was initially slightly annoyed at Gabriel chiming in with "666". When he listened back to it though he realised that that was the moment that made the song, as if it were the climax to which the rest of the song had been building. This is what real bands do. They each bring something to the table that the other members would not have thought to bring. The closing portion of Supper's Ready is perhaps progressive rock's finest moment.
He was more than annoyed. He was like "here he goes again!". That's the reason some Genesis' songs are cluttered: they wrote some parts as instrumentals and left others for the singing, then Pete wrote lyrics over everything and declassed the instrumentals to accompaniments. Hackett was a "victim" of this too IIRC.
The link with Cat Stevens was down to Paul Samwell-Smith. After leaving The Yardbirds he'd moved into producing and worked with Genesis on the demos for the soundtrack to the (later aborted) TV documentary on artist Mick Jackson in January 1970. I seem to remember he'd heard a demo tape, and was impressed enough to suggest them for the project. When he later became Cat Stevens' regular producer he asked Peter to do the the session. He plays on one track on the album, Katmandu
Watcher Of The Skies "Watcher of the Skies" Single by Genesis from the album Foxtrot B-side "Willow Farm" Released 6 October 1972 Recorded August 1972 Genre Progressive rock[1] Length 7:23 3:42 (single version) Label Charisma/Virgin (UK) Atlantic (U.S.) Songwriter(s) Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford Producer(s) David Hitchcock of Gruggy Woof "Watcher of the Skies" is the first track on and the only single from Genesis' 1972 album Foxtrot. The title is borrowed from John Keats' 1817 poem "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer": Then felt I like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken;[2] The song was frequently used to open the group's live performances and features as the first track on their 1973 live album Genesis Live. The song opens with a Mellotron intro. According to Tony Banks, the introductory section was intended to take advantage of idiosyncrasies in the tuning of the Mellotron model he was using at the time: It was intentionally melodramatic to conjure up an impression of incredible size. It was an extraordinary sound. On the old Mellotron Mark 2 there were these two chords that sounded really good on that instrument. There are some chords you can't play on that instrument because they'd be so out of tune. These chords created an incredible atmosphere. That's why it's just an incredible intro number. It never sounded so good on the later Mellotron.[3] The two chords in question are Bmaj7/F# and C#/F#.[4] The long keyboard introduction crossfades into the main ensemble section, which features a prominent single-note staccato pattern in a 6/4 time signature (reminiscent of the 5/4 rhythmic pattern from "Mars" in Gustav Holst's The Planets suite)[citation needed] played over a pattern of sustained organ chords. Following the vocal sections of the song, there is an unusual polyrhythm part, where the staccato riff changes to 8/4 time, played against a Mellotron/organ chord part in 6/4. The lyrics were written by Banks and Mike Rutherford during a soundcheck for a gig in Naples. While they were surveying the deserted landscape of the airfield where they were rehearsing, they wondered what an empty Earth would look like in this state if surveyed by an alien visitor. The lyrics were influenced by the Arthur C. Clarke 1953 science fiction novel Childhood's End (as were Pink Floyd's 1972 "Childhood's End" and Van der Graaf Generator's 1976 "Childlike Faith in Childhood's End"). It opened the band's shows during 1972–74 and (in abridged form) remained a staple in the band's live set into the 1980s. In later years, it has been played in a medley following the track "It" (from 1974 The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway), as can be heard on Three Sides Live (1982). The song was never performed with lyrics after Peter Gabriel's departure. "Watcher of the Skies", Gabriel in Toronto, 1974 During performances, Peter Gabriel wore bat wings on the side of his head, glowing UV make-up around his eyes, and a multicoloured cape. The song was re-recorded in 1972 in a radically altered and shortened single version. This version was re-released in 1998 as part of the Genesis Archive 1967–75 box set. The song title was used in naming of the tribute album Watcher of the Skies: Genesis Revisited (1996) by ex-Genesis member Steve Hackett. On the album, the lead vocal was provided by John Wetton. In the liner notes to the album, Steve Hackett wrote: I remember pushing the band to acquire a Mellotron back in the '70s and, luckily, King Crimson had one to spare at the time – the 'Black Bitch' I think they called it on account of it always breaking down ... This song alone was a strong reason for re-approaching the early material – from Phil's inventive morse code rhythm to Tony's momentous introduction which always sounded best in Italy's Palasports – an aircraft hangar type of rumble ideally suited to spacecraft impersonation. The song was played live during the Foxtrot, Selling England by the Pound, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, A Trick of the Tail, and Three Sides Live encore tours. The song was performed live by Phish at the 2010 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on 15 March 2010 at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City. The band also performed "No Reply at All" after Trey Anastasio's induction speech. ----------------------------------------------------------------- This track does have a reasonably lengthy mellotron intro, but I don't feel it detracts at all. When you don't know what is coming, it breeds a certain anticipation, when you do know what is coming, I think it does even more so. Then we have a nice section where an almost telegraph or morse code like rhythm kicks in and the vocal kicks in beautifully. Apparently there were some concerns about the lyrics being clumsy ... I don't feel that. I think whether by Gabriel's phrasing, or just by the fact that there really is no issue, it works perfectly to me. Also we can't underestimate the fact that when you are working on a song as a band, you get to see the development of a song, and sometimes developmental issues can be left as a hangover on opinion. The songs does go through some dynamic changes, but in reality this is a much more straight forward song in structure than most of the tracks on the previous album. We enter a nice Keyboard chord break, that weaves its way back to a variation on the opening theme and then drops us off to the last chord beautifully. I have loved this song from the first time I heard it. I guess it touched the more straight forward rocker home base that I came from.
The b-side to Watcher of the Skies was Willow Farm, which either was or became one of the later sections of Supper's Ready. Does Anybody know what the story is behind that one?
For me, Foxtrot was the point of entry into the world of Genesis. I was a teen, and I borrowed the LP from someone who had been curious enough to buy it (second hand), had immediately found it to be too weird. The intro to Watcher was the most mysterious & inviting sound I had ever heard! The bulk of the album was, for me, too dense to penetrate at first, but I was drawn too the archaic vibe & couldn't resist. One by one, I gradually widened the circle of "my songs" on Foxtrot. A few weeks in & I was up to the first half of Supper's Ready. The second half seemed so daunting! It took me a longer while to let the full song sink-in. Looking back, so much of what I learned about music arrangement & about what is possible within the constraints of "pop" or "rock" music was formed that summer, trying to digest this peculiar album. The sound of this record has always been "stodgy" to me, which perhaps added to it's otherwordly charm at first, but now I hear as an impediment. I know the band switch product teams a few times during these sessions... I still have to wonder if we're getting the whole story & whether there are any outtakes from the various sessions. I must add that I love the single version of Watcher! And sonically, I seem to remember it sounding better than most if the LP (was it recorded by Potter?). For those who haven't heard it, it's a completely different recording/arrangement of the song & worth hearing.
A very few people must have noticed it at the time, but in 1974 a Charisma compilation was released only in Italy: Various - The Famous Charisma Label 5th Anniversary It was just like an additional half-side of a Genesis album, since it included Happy The Man, Twilight Alehouse and the single version of Watcher Of The Skies. Van Der Graaf Generator were featured as well on that nice compilation with both sides of their last first-generation incarnation single: Theme One / W
Happy the Man is a very ordinary song that starts out sounding as if it will be brilliant. The singing is definitely not Peter's greatest vocal moment.
About Willow Farm... I thought it was a stand-alone thing that they inserted to change the mood of supper’s ready for a bit. Wikipedia seems to agree: “Willow Farm" was originally a stand-alone song, with music and lyrics by Gabriel. At one point, while "Supper's Ready" was being written and assembled, Banks or Gabriel had the idea of including "Willow Farm" in the middle of it. Banks commented that this jarring, fast-paced piece prevented "Supper's Ready" from seeming too much like a repeat of their earlier epic "Stagnation".[7]
Interesting, as a young Genesis fan in the late 80s I struggled to find a way to hear Happy The Man - in the end I got hold of a UK Charisma compilation called One More Chance that included a number of non-album singles by Charisma acts, that had it on, while the European compilation Rock Theatre had the Watcher remake I believe. As a slightly older Genesis fan now I have the original single, but without the picture sleeve unfortunately..!
for some reason I remembered it being about Jackson Pollock I read that story too but... didn't we say White Mountain uses a Mellotron already? I can't imagine Tony trying that out and not thinking about getting one. Anyone? Willow Farm: the only thing I know is that the music is Gabriel's and predating Supper's Ready. He wanted to do something sounding old traditionally brit (again). EDIT: I missed Joe's post above.
"Foxtrot": A very good record. However, I feel that the "sonics" (as someone put it in a previous comment") were not quite there yet. It was only in "Selling England..." that the whole thing came together, with complex pieces whose individual instrumental parts still sound clear and distinct. The drumning is good, both in "Cryme" and "Foxtrot" but it would get even better in future records. "Watcher of the Skies": I love the whole instrumental intro and build up, but do not enjoy the vocal sections as much. I have a soft spot for the instrumental only version the band played during their first tour without Gabriel, which is featured in "Three Sides Live". Back to "Foxtrot". "Watcher" and "Time Table" combine beautifully to open the album. "Get 'em out by Friday" is one of my least favorite Genesis tracks. "Can-Utility" is my favorite here. A beautiful, under-rated song.
