Get out of the way fat man you got something to do
Go fill up your hands till they're shining back up at you
Well you gotta get out while there's gold in the air
It's falling like water, always coming down from those hills, no, no, no

Go West young man
Earn a dollar a day that's what your family said
And you're rollin' the days right on into the night
At the head of the line always goin' way, way, way, way, way out of sight
Go West young man, like your family said

All along the wagons, all along the dusty trail
Seventeen years not over a day like children in the wild
Your mama's milk still wet on your face
And no one wants to pray for your safe journey home

Out beyond the desert, across the mountains by the fall
Servants who leave their masters house all are walking all the way
The golden fields that beckoned you, you
They're darkened by the years, years

Go West young man, like your family said
Go West young man
Ah well if you knew then, just what you know today
Yes you'd be back where you started a happier man
And leave all the glory to all of those who have remained

So go West young man
Go West young man, like your family said, oh no

Go West young man
Go West young man, like your family said, oh no


Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by janeaparis1

Deep In The Motherlode song meanings
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    My Interpretation

    With 40 years as a Genesis fan I sense 3 (and then there were three?) crucial moments in the band's career; this track can be sensed as an early American "Gold Rush" story... but, what a beautiful song it is ! Personal feeling says it´s the album´s most significant track, telling us not only the band´s passage through time... but ours as well: "The golden fields that beckoned you, are darkened by the years". After Second World War the planet´s political path changed totally, so our living paradigm (You gotta get out while there's gold in the air). The song is a nostalgic requiem to lost ideals, warning us how empty we can be as we lose our authentic values...

    af2on February 17, 2018   Link

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