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A Trick Of The Tail Lyrics
Bored of the life on the city of gold
He'd left and let nobody know.
Gone were the towers he had known from a child,
Alone with the dream of a life
He traveled the wide open road,
The blinkered arcade,
In search of another to share in his life.
Nowhere.
Everyone looked so strange to him.
They've got no horns and they've got no tail
They don't even know of our existence.
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried
And wept as they led him away to a cage
Beast that can talk, read the sign.
The creatures they pushed and they prodded his frame
And questioned his story again.
But soon they grew bored of their prey
Beast that can talk?
More like a freak or publicity stunt.
Oh
No.
They've got no horns and they've got no tail
They don't even know of our existence.
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried
And broke down the door of the cage and marched on out.
He grabbed a creature by the scruff of his neck, pointing out:
There, beyond the bounds of you weak imagination
Lie the noble towers of my city, bright and gold.
Let me take you there, show you a living story
Let me show you others such as me
Why did I ever leave?
They've got no horns and they've got no tail
They don't even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried
And wept.
And so we set out with the beast and his horns
And his crazy description of home.
After many days journey we came to a peak
Where the beast gazed abroad and cried out.
We followed his gaze and we thought that maybe we saw
A spire of gold - no, a trick of the eye that's all,
But the beast was gone and a voice was heard:
They've got no horns and they've got no tail
They don't even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance
Hello friend, welcome home.
It's a wonderful rendition of the oft-told story of alienation ... the misfit ... the outsider. Does the beast truly have a "home", or is it just the desparate fantasy of a place of belonging? A true poet, Banks tells this trajic tale in characteristic Genesis fashion. Beautiful. As a whole, the album could be seen a series of views of Peter leaving, but that would be pure speculation.
I see this as a story of a creature who leaves home in search of something new, but ends up getting captured by humans. He's put on display as a 'freak' but eventually ends up escaping. He then goes back home, promising the humans to show them his home: the city of gold. Howver he manages to escape them and return home without his city being discovered.
One of my favourite Genesis-songs, with great narrative and very descriptive lyrics.
Everytime I listen to it, I immediately picture the beast and his city and his journey. For me, this song is made to remind us there is more between heaven and earth than we know or dare to imagine.
I also see it as an homage to man's phantasy and imagination. I think even grown-ups in this modern, reason-based world, as we are, need phantasy and the pictures or stories that it creates. If we keep our mind open and our imagination alive, we may one day be rewarded by being shown "a living story". ; )
PS: What do you think the beast looks like? I know it says "horns", but I can't help thinking of a beautiful unicorn. I think it's the melody, it sounds like a trot or canter.
I would like to hear what Tony Banks has to say about this song. My interpretation has always been a basic one. Boy had a loving family, left to see the world, jaded by the world, relies on the memories of the love once had, and finds it as an adult-welcome home. After all these years, it is still fresh and sincere to me. Wonderful!
This song has nothing to do with Peter Gabriel.
It is a story of alienation turned on it's head. Rutherford said the song is exactly what the lyrics say it is.
Tony had been working on this song since 1972, so it couldn't have been about Gabriel leaving.
FWIW, I think this is the best "pop" song Genesis ever did.
Don't believe this song has anything to do with the departure of Gabriel and the lyrics can be taken literally - a fairy tale of a creature from some parallel civilisation. Although they almost certainly didn't realise it at the time, the multiple universe theory fits this song perfectly - somewhere there is a world like ours on which there is a city of gold that contains intelligent horned creatures.
I have cut and paste this from 'songfacts.com':
'This song was written by keyboard player Tony Banks. His lyrics were based on William Golding's 1955 novel, The Inheritors. He recalled: "It's about a race who were on earth before man and it's the story of the last survivor of this race. The very last chapter deals with our reaction to him whereas the rest of the story is his reaction to us. It's about an alien with horns and a tail who appears in a modern city and how people react to him."
However, we as listeners will perceive our own allegoric translations within the song. One of the many reasons that I love this type of music, especially where Genesis is concerned.
How extreme is this - about Peter Gabriel leaving? "He left & let nobody know". Leaving the cage. "Set out with the beast & his horns" Touring America with the Lamb & Gabriel being pissed off? I said it was extreme!!
Sorry, nag, not just "extreme" but ultimately, wrong. Everyone knew Peter was leaving. In fact, Gabriel was given the edict, "You're either with us or you leave." To which Gabriel responded, "Right, well then I've left." You can see it here: youtube.com/watch