This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
And the lamb lies down on Broadway.
Early morning Manhattan,
Ocean winds blow on the land.
Movie-Palaces now undone,
The all-night watchmen have had their fun.
Sleeping cheaply on the 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.
Nightime's flyers feel their pains.
Drugstore takes down the chains.
Metal motion comes in bursts,
But the gas station can quench that thirst.
Suspension cracked on unmade road
The trucker's eyes read 'Overload'
And out on the subway,
Rael Imperial Aerosol Kid
Exits into daylight, 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 its 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 coat 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 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.
Early morning Manhattan,
Ocean winds blow on the land.
Movie-Palaces now undone,
The all-night watchmen have had their fun.
Sleeping cheaply on the 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.
Nightime's flyers feel their pains.
Drugstore takes down the chains.
Metal motion comes in bursts,
But the gas station can quench that thirst.
Suspension cracked on unmade road
The trucker's eyes read 'Overload'
And out on the subway,
Rael Imperial Aerosol Kid
Exits into daylight, 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 its 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 coat 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 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.
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by GordianPiusIII, tman2nd
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Now here's a weird one for y'all: around the same time this song was released, a French race car driver started referring to himself as "Raël", stating that he'd been visited by aliens, etc.
More info here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raelians
Now, Raël has stated he was first visited on Dec 13, 1973 (oddly enough, 25 days before I was born ^_^). Sometime in 1974 he was on French TV, and he'd talked to the French media before that.
So, which came first? Genesis' Raël, or Raël the French cult founder? Who influenced who?
An excellent opening to the album I hope will get me into Genesis.
Check out their albums before The Lamb if you want to get into Genesis. Enjoy!!!!!!
Nifty thing I just noticed: Some of the repetitions of "On Broadway" sound not unlike the old Drifters' hit of the same name, and the last two lines ("They say the lights..." to "...magic in the air") are quotations from that old tune.
Yeah, I heard that was intentional...
pt. one of the prog opera of the same name. we are introduced to our hero, Rael, a street tough who has a preference for graffiti.
In depth analysis of "The Lamb" lyrics and possible meanings at:
rawbw.com/~marka/music/lamb.html
i heard that they got the name 'rael' from the last part of peter gabriel's last name, not a french race car driver
Third line, first verse..."Movie fetishes now undone" are the correct lyrics.
I think the lamb that lies down on Broadway is supposed to symbolise innocence.
I was hooked by the opening piano line, haunting and sparse. It so impacted me that I was immediately convinced that I was going to love this album. I was right.
a great song from a great album definetly the best genesis album out there although not too fond of the 2nd side
@haloroundyourneck The second disk doesn't have the catch tunes that the first one does, but it sure is a creative way to finish the story. I usually just listen to the first 45 minutes which is so solid, any album would pale in comparison... including the second disk of the same album.