Wiki
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Length
25:06
The song's writing is credited to the whole band (Banks/Collins/Gabriel/Hackett/Rutherford). Nearly 23 minutes in length, the song is divided into seven sections:
I. Lover's Leap (0:00 - 3:47)
In which two lovers are lost in each other's eyes, and found again transformed in the bodies of another male and female
II. The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man (3:48 - 5:44)
The lovers come across a town dominated by two characters; one a benevolent farmer and the other the head of a highly disciplined scientific religion. The latter likes to be known as "The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man" and claims to contain a secret new ingredient capable of fighting fire. This is a falsehood, an untruth, a whopper and a taradiddle, or to put it in clearer terms; a lie.
III. Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men (5:44 - 9:42)
Who the lovers see clad in greys and purples, awaiting to be summoned out of the ground. At the G.E.S.M's command they put forth from the bowels of the earth, to attack all those without an up-to-date "Eternal Life Licence", which were obtainable at the head office of the G.E.S.M.'s religion.
IV. How Dare I Be So Beautiful? (9:43 - 11:05)
In which our intrepid heroes invesitigate the aftermath of the battle and discover a solitary figure, obsessed by his own image. They witness an unusual transmutation, and are pulled into their own reflections in the water.
V. Willow Farm (11:05 - 15:39)
Climbing out of the pool, they are once again in a different existence. They're right in the middle of a myriad of bright colours, filled with all manner of objects, plants, animals and humans. Life flows freely and everything is mindlessly busy. At random, a whistle blows and every single thing is instantly changed into another.
VI. Apocalypse in 9/8 (Co-starring the delicious talents of Gabble Ratchet) (15:40 - 20:11)
At one whistle the lovers become seeds in the soil, where they recognise other seeds to be people from the world in which they had originated. While they wait for Spring, they are returned to their old world to see Apocalypse of St John in full progress. The seven trumpeteers cause a sensation, the fox keeps throwing sixes, and Pythagoras (a Greek extra) is deliriously happy as he manages to put exactly the right amount of milk and honey on his corn flakes.
VII. As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet) (20:11 - 23:05)
Above all else an egg is an egg
'And did those feet …………' making ends meet.
Jerusalem= place of peace.
In various interviews, Banks mentioned that he composed several of the musical progressions whilst still a university student; Gabriel authored most or all of the lyrical content, as well as the "Willow Farm" section; Collins apparently contributed much to the arrangements and segues from one section to another. In Olivier Lecart's book 'Genesis', Mike Rutherford hints that he was the responsible for the strange rhythm of Apocalypse in 9/8 (and so may be the composer of this piece).
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