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The Colony of Slippermen: The Arrival/A Visit to the Doktor/The Raven Lyrics
I. The Arrival
Rael:
I wandered lonely as a cloud,
Till I came upon this dirty street.
I've never seen a stranger crowd;
Slubberdegullions on squeaky feet,
Continually pacing,
With nonchalant embracing,
Each orifice disgracing
And one facing me moves to say "hellay".
His skin's all covered in slimy lumps.
With lips that slide across each chin.
His twisted limbs like rubber stumps
Are waved in welcome say 'Please join in.'
My grip must be flipping,
Cos his handshake keeps slipping,
My hopes keep on dipping
And his lips keep on smiling all the time.
Slipperman:
"We, like you, have tasted love.
Don't be alarmed at what you see,
You yourself are just the same
As what you see in me."
Rael:
Me, like you? like that!
Slipperman:
"You better watch it son, your sentence has only just begun
You better run and join your brother John."
II. A Visit to the Doktor
Slipperman:
"You're in the colony of slippermen.
There's no who? why? what? or when?
You get out if you've got the gripe
To see, Doktor Dyper, reformed sniper - he'll whip off your windscreenwiper"
Rael:
John and I are able
To face the Doktor and his marble table.
The Doktor:
Understand Rael, that's the end of your tail.
Rael:
"Don't delay, dock the dick!"
I watch his countdown timer tick....
III. The Raven
He places the number into a tube,
It's a yellow plastic "shoobedoobe".
It says: "Though your fingers may tickle
You'll be safe in our pickle."
Suddenly, black cloud come down from the sky.
It's a supersized black bird that sure can fly...
The raven brings on darkness and night
He flies right down, gives me one hell of a fright.
He take the tube right out of my hands
Man, I've got to find out where that black bird lands.
"Look here John, I've got to run
I need you now, you going to come?"
He says to me:
John:
"Now can't you see
Where the raven flies there's jeopardy.
We've been cured on the couch
Now you're sick with your grouch.
I'll not risk my honey pouch
Which my slouch will wear slung very low."
Rael:
He walks away and leaves me once again.
Even though I never learn,
I'd hoped he'd show just some concern.
I'm in the agony of Slipperpain
I pray my undercarriage will sustain.
The chase is on, the pace is hot
But I'm running so very hard with everything that I've got.
He leads me down an underpass
Though it narrows, he still flies very fast,
When the tunnel stops
Catch sight of the tube, just as it drops.
I'm on top of a bank too steep to climb
I see it hit the water just in time
to watch it float away...
I wandered lonely as a cloud,
Till I came upon this dirty street.
I've never seen a stranger crowd;
Slubberdegullions on squeaky feet,
With nonchalant embracing,
Each orifice disgracing
And one facing me moves to say "hellay".
With lips that slide across each chin.
His twisted limbs like rubber stumps
Are waved in welcome say 'Please join in.'
Cos his handshake keeps slipping,
My hopes keep on dipping
And his lips keep on smiling all the time.
"We, like you, have tasted love.
Don't be alarmed at what you see,
You yourself are just the same
As what you see in me."
Me, like you? like that!
"You better watch it son, your sentence has only just begun
You better run and join your brother John."
"You're in the colony of slippermen.
There's no who? why? what? or when?
You get out if you've got the gripe
To see, Doktor Dyper, reformed sniper - he'll whip off your windscreenwiper"
John and I are able
To face the Doktor and his marble table.
Understand Rael, that's the end of your tail.
"Don't delay, dock the dick!"
I watch his countdown timer tick....
It's a yellow plastic "shoobedoobe".
It says: "Though your fingers may tickle
You'll be safe in our pickle."
Suddenly, black cloud come down from the sky.
It's a supersized black bird that sure can fly...
He flies right down, gives me one hell of a fright.
He take the tube right out of my hands
Man, I've got to find out where that black bird lands.
I need you now, you going to come?"
"Now can't you see
Where the raven flies there's jeopardy.
Now you're sick with your grouch.
I'll not risk my honey pouch
Which my slouch will wear slung very low."
He walks away and leaves me once again.
Even though I never learn,
I'd hoped he'd show just some concern.
I pray my undercarriage will sustain.
The chase is on, the pace is hot
But I'm running so very hard with everything that I've got.
He leads me down an underpass
Though it narrows, he still flies very fast,
When the tunnel stops
Catch sight of the tube, just as it drops.
I'm on top of a bank too steep to climb
I see it hit the water just in time
to watch it float away...
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How could no one have commented thus far? Well this song is very important in furthering the storyline of "Lamb". After eating the flesh of the Lamia, Rael turns into a Slipperman, but doesn't realise until others tell him they are as hideous as him. He meets his brother John (himself) again and they discuss the predicament. He is informed that the only way to free himself from serving as a 'sense satisfier' is to be castrated by Doctor Dyper, reformed Sniper... when all seems to be uncomfortable, yet looking up for the pair, a raven swoops through, picks up the remains of Rael's package, ironically packaged up and he tells John they should follow it to get it back. Poor Rael. He expects John to happily follow him along (after being deserted by him before he wouldn't think it would happen again) but just his luck, his brother doesn't want to endanger himself, so Rael is on his own. He follows the raven through the caverns and finally sees the outside for the first time since 'Fly on a Windshield'/'Broadway Melody of 1974'. The raven drops the package into a ravine and he prepares to go down to retrieve it.
But what does all this mean? well... This song prepares Rael for his biggest challenge, forgiving John in the rapids further after deserting him in this song. It shows Rael's desperation through his instant decision to escape Slippermanitis through castration and also for a taste of social interaction: along the journey, which didn't even take a day (but seems forever, in a amazingly good way), he only saw the Carpet Crawlers, Seer, Lamia and Slippermen, putting aside John. His isolation is prevailent in all the other pieces (especially the instrumentals which capture this alienation well) and his immediate urge to talk to the Slippermen reveals how out of place he is. It is also the start of Rael understanding his split personality and appreciating life. Some of the imagery is a little disturbing. It is my most disliked track on the album because of the forced rhyming, but musically the tune captures the mood Gabriel tries to communicate well... exceptionally.
It really is captivating stuff. Anyway, (excuse the pun) this song really is for furthering the plot and was a centrepiece of live performances with G dressing up as a Slipperman himself, giving a barely audible performance, but nonetheless... the creativity was immense and although the band didn't have much room to vent their musical spleens throughout the rest of the album, the have the opportunity numerously in this piece.
70% rating for the song. 95% rating for the album :-) Thanks. Arial XK.
Rael meets a colony of slippermen, which are like naked disfigured men, and Rael falls into there trap and turns into one. The only way to become human is to be castrated by Doctor Dyper. After being castrated, Rael's "number" is stolen by a large raven. Rael wants to go after it but John say not to
Not really much to expand on from Arial's comment. This is one of my favourite Genesis songs though, I love the imagery throughout the song, and it's the point at which I completely think what a ffffff... that John is!
Tronnit pretty much summed up the entire thing.
''I watch his countdown timer tick....'' the snapping sound after this particular line makes me wince every time.