Get 'em Out by Friday is the third song on the 1972 album Foxtrot.
We are treated once again to the "play" format of Peter's lyric writing used previously on Nursey Cryme's "Harold the Barrel." and slightly differently in "The Fountain of Salmacis". A format which works perfectly when the moniker of "rock theatre" is applied to it by the press.
The song takes the form of a futuristic play set initially in the present but ending in 2012. If we are following continuity, we have been brought from the far future of an empty planet Earth, to an exploration of the distant past bringing us up to the present and - at the end of this song - to the near future. (2012, by the way, is a special year according to the Mayan Calendar...but I digress) The song uses elements of reality and science fiction as a means of social criticism on the corporate greed and oppression of the UK's council housing system in the 1970s as commented by woolymore. Social commentary was an evident theme throughout Genesis's early work, especially in their following album, Selling England by the Pound.
(edited from several sources including wikipedia)
Plot
The play contains three main characters:
John Pebble: A business man of Styx Enterprises. Near the end of the song, he has been knighted and works for United Blacksprings International.
Mark Hall (also known as "The Winkler"): A man who works for Styx Enterprises and has the task of evicting tenants.
Mrs Barrow: a tenant in a house in Harlow, purchased by Pebble. (and either her friend Mary, or an exclamation to the catholc Mary)
The song starts with a fast-paced refrain of Pebble ordering Hall to "Get 'em out by Friday". In the following verse, the Winkler tells a disbelieving Mrs Barrow that a firm of men has purchased her property and that she has been evicted. She refuses to leave, so Pebble raises the rent on the property. In lieu of this, the Winkler offers £400 for Mrs Barrow to move; she does, albeit grudgingly. However, shortly after Mrs Barrow moves in, Pebble again raises the rent.
A slow instrumental indicates a passage of time, taking the story to the year 2012. At this time, Genetic Control has announced that they are restricting the height of all humans to four feet. (Dial-a-Program was literally a service that was set up in Britain when fiber-optics were first coming into use, and invented by Peter Gabriel’s father, Ralph Gabriel, who was the head television engineer for Rediffusion televison, who amongst other things made “At Last the 1948 Show” and “Do Not Adjust Your Set”, the Monty Python precursors.) This piece of news is then discussed in a “puborama” by a man named "Joe Everybody," who reveals the reason behind the restriction: so that Genetic Control, who has recently bought some properties, will be able to accommodate twice as many people in the same tower block.
The penultimate verse is that of Pebble, now knighted, repeating the process for another set of properties. The last verse is a
"Memo from Satin Peter
With land in your hand, you'll be happy on earth, then invest in the Church for your heaven.”
Satin, being a wordplay on Satan, would make this line most ironic - implying a conspiracy between business and the church? Also, if Peter is portraying a Satan-like character for this song, (most likely a comment on the attributes of those business figures behind these housing issues) then compare him portraying the Fox with the red dress on from the cover who in the libretto to Supper’s Ready “keeps throwing sixes.”
Michael Rutherford commented that the lyrics were the best that Gabriel had written while Allmusic.com has cited the song as "the truest sign Genesis had grown muscle without abandoning the whimsy.” Peter Gabriel in the recent reissue interviews has gone on to say that with genetic science progressing, that we may just want to “go shorter” in the future if the need is there!
I know of a couple of probable threads in the story behind using Harlow New Town as the exemplar in the Genesis song, Get Em Out By Friday.
I know of a couple of probable threads in the story behind using Harlow New Town as the exemplar in the Genesis song, Get Em Out By Friday.
The first is to do with Harlow New Town, as was, now simply called Harlow.
The first is to do with Harlow New Town, as was, now simply called Harlow.
The ancient parish of Harlow, one of the four that were absorbed in the development of Harlow New Town, is now called Old Harlow.
The ancient parish of Harlow, one of the four that were absorbed in the development of Harlow New Town, is now called Old Harlow.
Harlow New Town was a post WW2 development, north east of London, conceived as part of the urgent national need for social housing.
Harlow New Town was a post WW2 development, north east of London, conceived as part of the urgent national need for social housing.
Harlow's master architect, Sir Frederick Gibberd, designed the UK's first...
Harlow's master architect, Sir Frederick Gibberd, designed the UK's first residential tower block known as The Lawn.
The song's lyrcis reflect some aspects of the actual wheeling and dealing that was known about, in the scramble for the best accomodation on offer in this brand new urban paradise called Harlow New Town.
Folk migrating from east and north London bombed out slums were being given brand new homes in the countryside with central heating, internal bathrooms and toilets, gardens, fields, schools. The whole package.
Oh and by agreeing to move to Harlow, you'd get a guaranteed job and a new home.
One of the actual problems ion the early days of Harlow was the scandal that aroused the interest of politicians and the press over the issue of rents.
As ever, the promise of a new life in this gleaming new planned, new town, came with a price tag. The trouble began, when, as ever, that price kept on climbing, which caused all the fuss.
Also, although I don't have anecdotal evidence for this, one can only imagine what went on in the scramble for the new life for the prospective new tenants coming from east and north London.
So, the parallels with what happend in real life in the early days of Harlow New Town and what happened to Mrs Barrow in the lyrics of the song are obvious.
Added to that is the very obvious motif of the Lawn Tower Block built on First Avenue at The Stow in Harlow, the first tower block in the UK in 1951.
Also, the Lawn Tower Block is in the area just down the road from the area known as Mark Hall, which gets it's name from the mostly long gone estate and manor house where Elizabeth I once stayed. In the song, Mark Hall is also knwon as, The Winkler.
I do know that Genesis played at The Birdcage in Harlow in 1971 iirc.
The song and Harlow are mentioned in this thesis paper here:
A leading article in The Times (24th January 1992) upon the 25th anniversary of Milton Keynes wrote of an “eagerness to force large number of people out of city centres” before comparing the New Towns programme to the policies of an autocratic government. The consequences for those moved were described as catastrophic. Many were “...moved compulsorily and callously, [and found] themselves in single-class towns with poor services and a lack of communal continuity vital to a humane neighbourhood (quoted in Ward 1993 p9/10).
Page 134
The same conception of the New Towns programme as the forceful movement of people into anomic environments is repeated in the lyrics of 'Get 'em Out By Friday', a Progressive Rock track by Genesis recorded in 1972. In this rather surreal piece, Peter Gabriel, the band's lead singer and principle lyricist, theatrically voices the part of 'Mark Hall' (a.k.a 'The Winkler'), who connives to move Mrs Barrow and her family from their existing home to create space for urban redevelopment. Initially reluctant to leave, the Barrow's accept a cash bribe from The Winkler and so move to a new 'block' in Harlow New Town „with central heating‟. Upon arrival, however, The Winkler informs the Barrows that, unfortunately, he has had to raise their rent “Just a little Bit”. The track becomes more nightmarishly surreal when the narrative moves into the future. Now representatives of 'Genetic Control' announce plans to limit the height of people to four feet. This, we learn, is an experiment in an 'economy of scale' to fit more people into already existing buildings. Harlow is chosen as the site to begin.
I hear the directors of Genetic Control have been buying all the properties that have recently been sold, taking risks oh so bold. It's said now that people will be shorter in height, they can fit twice as many in the same building site. (They say it's alright). Beginning with the tenants of the town of Harlow in the interest of humanity, they've been told they must go, told they must go-go-go-go. 25
25 From track 'Get 'em Out By Friday' by Genesis on 'Foxtrot' released 1972
============================
The second thread that may have fed into the conception of the song is that it maybe partly influenced by short story. I have the book somewhere but can't remember it's title. I was referred to the short story by someone who answered my question "what is the song about ?" on a Genesis forum, many years ago.
Until I come up with the name of the short story that's all I've got for now.
The Genesis song Get Em Out By Friday was based on a short story by Howard Fast called "The Vision of Milty Boil" which is a short story in his book, "The General Zapped an Angel"
The Genesis song Get Em Out By Friday was based on a short story by Howard Fast called "The Vision of Milty Boil" which is a short story in his book, "The General Zapped an Angel"
It is mentioned here:
It is mentioned here:
The Vision of Milty Boil
The Vision of Milty Boil
start="1970">
in: Howard Fast, The General Zapped an Angel. Wm. Morrow & Co. New York.*
editions
start="1970">
in: Howard Fast, The General Zapped an Angel. Wm. Morrow & Co. New York.*
editions
Genesis (Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Phil Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford). Get 'em Out by Friday song by the British rock group based on "The Vision of Milty Boil" on their "Foxtrot" album. Virgin Records Ltd....
i>
Genesis (Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Phil Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford). Get 'em Out by Friday song by the British rock group based on "The Vision of Milty Boil" on their "Foxtrot" album. Virgin Records Ltd.
i>
in: Howard Fast, Time and the Riddle. Ward Ritchie. Pasadena, CA. *
The Vision of Milty Boil source for the song is also mentioned here:
The Vision of Milty Boil source for the song is also mentioned here:
Howard Fast: The Vision of Milty Boil
Howard Fast: The Vision of Milty Boil
Genesis' ‘Get 'em Out by Friday' (from ‘Foxtrot') is a retelling of Howard Fast's ‘The Vision of Milty Boil' from the collection ‘The General Zapped an Angel' (1970), which is part fantasy, part vicious satire on marketing.
Genesis' ‘Get 'em Out by Friday' (from ‘Foxtrot') is a retelling of Howard Fast's ‘The Vision of Milty Boil' from the collection ‘The General Zapped an Angel' (1970), which is part fantasy, part vicious satire on marketing.
@Madprophet "corporate greed and oppression of the UK's council housing system in the 1970s as commented by woolymore". Private rented housing, not council, as I say under Woollymore's comment.
@Madprophet "corporate greed and oppression of the UK's council housing system in the 1970s as commented by woolymore". Private rented housing, not council, as I say under Woollymore's comment.
If the Howard Fast short story is an inspiration (presumably for the SF idea), I can't find any source that explains this, just a personal site linking the two.
If the Howard Fast short story is an inspiration (presumably for the SF idea), I can't find any source that explains this, just a personal site linking the two.
@Madprophet Satin Peter is also an anagram of Saint Peter. It may also be intended to sound like Satan but of course it’s self-referential of Peter in his 70s satin trousers
@Madprophet Satin Peter is also an anagram of Saint Peter. It may also be intended to sound like Satan but of course it’s self-referential of Peter in his 70s satin trousers
Get 'em Out by Friday is the third song on the 1972 album Foxtrot.
We are treated once again to the "play" format of Peter's lyric writing used previously on Nursey Cryme's "Harold the Barrel." and slightly differently in "The Fountain of Salmacis". A format which works perfectly when the moniker of "rock theatre" is applied to it by the press.
The song takes the form of a futuristic play set initially in the present but ending in 2012. If we are following continuity, we have been brought from the far future of an empty planet Earth, to an exploration of the distant past bringing us up to the present and - at the end of this song - to the near future. (2012, by the way, is a special year according to the Mayan Calendar...but I digress) The song uses elements of reality and science fiction as a means of social criticism on the corporate greed and oppression of the UK's council housing system in the 1970s as commented by woolymore. Social commentary was an evident theme throughout Genesis's early work, especially in their following album, Selling England by the Pound.
(edited from several sources including wikipedia)
Plot
The play contains three main characters:
John Pebble: A business man of Styx Enterprises. Near the end of the song, he has been knighted and works for United Blacksprings International.
Mark Hall (also known as "The Winkler"): A man who works for Styx Enterprises and has the task of evicting tenants.
Mrs Barrow: a tenant in a house in Harlow, purchased by Pebble. (and either her friend Mary, or an exclamation to the catholc Mary)
The song starts with a fast-paced refrain of Pebble ordering Hall to "Get 'em out by Friday". In the following verse, the Winkler tells a disbelieving Mrs Barrow that a firm of men has purchased her property and that she has been evicted. She refuses to leave, so Pebble raises the rent on the property. In lieu of this, the Winkler offers £400 for Mrs Barrow to move; she does, albeit grudgingly. However, shortly after Mrs Barrow moves in, Pebble again raises the rent.
A slow instrumental indicates a passage of time, taking the story to the year 2012. At this time, Genetic Control has announced that they are restricting the height of all humans to four feet. (Dial-a-Program was literally a service that was set up in Britain when fiber-optics were first coming into use, and invented by Peter Gabriel’s father, Ralph Gabriel, who was the head television engineer for Rediffusion televison, who amongst other things made “At Last the 1948 Show” and “Do Not Adjust Your Set”, the Monty Python precursors.) This piece of news is then discussed in a “puborama” by a man named "Joe Everybody," who reveals the reason behind the restriction: so that Genetic Control, who has recently bought some properties, will be able to accommodate twice as many people in the same tower block.
The penultimate verse is that of Pebble, now knighted, repeating the process for another set of properties. The last verse is a
"Memo from Satin Peter
With land in your hand, you'll be happy on earth, then invest in the Church for your heaven.”
Satin, being a wordplay on Satan, would make this line most ironic - implying a conspiracy between business and the church? Also, if Peter is portraying a Satan-like character for this song, (most likely a comment on the attributes of those business figures behind these housing issues) then compare him portraying the Fox with the red dress on from the cover who in the libretto to Supper’s Ready “keeps throwing sixes.”
Michael Rutherford commented that the lyrics were the best that Gabriel had written while Allmusic.com has cited the song as "the truest sign Genesis had grown muscle without abandoning the whimsy.” Peter Gabriel in the recent reissue interviews has gone on to say that with genetic science progressing, that we may just want to “go shorter” in the future if the need is there!
I know of a couple of probable threads in the story behind using Harlow New Town as the exemplar in the Genesis song, Get Em Out By Friday.
I know of a couple of probable threads in the story behind using Harlow New Town as the exemplar in the Genesis song, Get Em Out By Friday.
The first is to do with Harlow New Town, as was, now simply called Harlow.
The first is to do with Harlow New Town, as was, now simply called Harlow.
The ancient parish of Harlow, one of the four that were absorbed in the development of Harlow New Town, is now called Old Harlow.
The ancient parish of Harlow, one of the four that were absorbed in the development of Harlow New Town, is now called Old Harlow.
Harlow New Town was a post WW2 development, north east of London, conceived as part of the urgent national need for social housing.
Harlow New Town was a post WW2 development, north east of London, conceived as part of the urgent national need for social housing.
Harlow's master architect, Sir Frederick Gibberd, designed the UK's first...
Harlow's master architect, Sir Frederick Gibberd, designed the UK's first residential tower block known as The Lawn.
The song's lyrcis reflect some aspects of the actual wheeling and dealing that was known about, in the scramble for the best accomodation on offer in this brand new urban paradise called Harlow New Town.
Folk migrating from east and north London bombed out slums were being given brand new homes in the countryside with central heating, internal bathrooms and toilets, gardens, fields, schools. The whole package.
Oh and by agreeing to move to Harlow, you'd get a guaranteed job and a new home.
One of the actual problems ion the early days of Harlow was the scandal that aroused the interest of politicians and the press over the issue of rents.
As ever, the promise of a new life in this gleaming new planned, new town, came with a price tag. The trouble began, when, as ever, that price kept on climbing, which caused all the fuss.
Also, although I don't have anecdotal evidence for this, one can only imagine what went on in the scramble for the new life for the prospective new tenants coming from east and north London.
So, the parallels with what happend in real life in the early days of Harlow New Town and what happened to Mrs Barrow in the lyrics of the song are obvious.
Added to that is the very obvious motif of the Lawn Tower Block built on First Avenue at The Stow in Harlow, the first tower block in the UK in 1951.
Also, the Lawn Tower Block is in the area just down the road from the area known as Mark Hall, which gets it's name from the mostly long gone estate and manor house where Elizabeth I once stayed. In the song, Mark Hall is also knwon as, The Winkler.
I do know that Genesis played at The Birdcage in Harlow in 1971 iirc.
The song and Harlow are mentioned in this thesis paper here:
http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/6256/1/Sothcott-PHD.pdf
Page 133
A leading article in The Times (24th January 1992) upon the 25th anniversary of Milton Keynes wrote of an “eagerness to force large number of people out of city centres” before comparing the New Towns programme to the policies of an autocratic government. The consequences for those moved were described as catastrophic. Many were “...moved compulsorily and callously, [and found] themselves in single-class towns with poor services and a lack of communal continuity vital to a humane neighbourhood (quoted in Ward 1993 p9/10).
Page 134
The same conception of the New Towns programme as the forceful movement of people into anomic environments is repeated in the lyrics of 'Get 'em Out By Friday', a Progressive Rock track by Genesis recorded in 1972. In this rather surreal piece, Peter Gabriel, the band's lead singer and principle lyricist, theatrically voices the part of 'Mark Hall' (a.k.a 'The Winkler'), who connives to move Mrs Barrow and her family from their existing home to create space for urban redevelopment. Initially reluctant to leave, the Barrow's accept a cash bribe from The Winkler and so move to a new 'block' in Harlow New Town „with central heating‟. Upon arrival, however, The Winkler informs the Barrows that, unfortunately, he has had to raise their rent “Just a little Bit”. The track becomes more nightmarishly surreal when the narrative moves into the future. Now representatives of 'Genetic Control' announce plans to limit the height of people to four feet. This, we learn, is an experiment in an 'economy of scale' to fit more people into already existing buildings. Harlow is chosen as the site to begin.
I hear the directors of Genetic Control have been buying all the properties that have recently been sold, taking risks oh so bold. It's said now that people will be shorter in height, they can fit twice as many in the same building site. (They say it's alright). Beginning with the tenants of the town of Harlow in the interest of humanity, they've been told they must go, told they must go-go-go-go. 25
25 From track 'Get 'em Out By Friday' by Genesis on 'Foxtrot' released 1972
============================
The second thread that may have fed into the conception of the song is that it maybe partly influenced by short story. I have the book somewhere but can't remember it's title. I was referred to the short story by someone who answered my question "what is the song about ?" on a Genesis forum, many years ago.
Until I come up with the name of the short story that's all I've got for now.
Excellent research! Thanks for reading and adding the info here! :)
Excellent research! Thanks for reading and adding the info here! :)
The Genesis song Get Em Out By Friday was based on a short story by Howard Fast called "The Vision of Milty Boil" which is a short story in his book, "The General Zapped an Angel"
The Genesis song Get Em Out By Friday was based on a short story by Howard Fast called "The Vision of Milty Boil" which is a short story in his book, "The General Zapped an Angel"
It is mentioned here:
It is mentioned here:
The Vision of Milty Boil
The Vision of Milty Boil
start="1970">
in: Howard Fast, The General Zapped an Angel. Wm. Morrow & Co. New York.* editions
start="1970">
in: Howard Fast, The General Zapped an Angel. Wm. Morrow & Co. New York.* editions
Genesis (Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Phil Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford). Get 'em Out by Friday song by the British rock group based on "The Vision of Milty Boil" on their "Foxtrot" album. Virgin Records Ltd....
i>
Genesis (Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Phil Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford). Get 'em Out by Friday song by the British rock group based on "The Vision of Milty Boil" on their "Foxtrot" album. Virgin Records Ltd.
i>
in: Howard Fast, Time and the Riddle. Ward Ritchie. Pasadena, CA. *
i>
Source: http://www.trussel.com/hf/editions/edit306.htm
Regards
Mark Gobell
The Vision of Milty Boil source for the song is also mentioned here:
The Vision of Milty Boil source for the song is also mentioned here:
Howard Fast: The Vision of Milty Boil
Howard Fast: The Vision of Milty Boil
Genesis' ‘Get 'em Out by Friday' (from ‘Foxtrot') is a retelling of Howard Fast's ‘The Vision of Milty Boil' from the collection ‘The General Zapped an Angel' (1970), which is part fantasy, part vicious satire on marketing.
Genesis' ‘Get 'em Out by Friday' (from ‘Foxtrot') is a retelling of Howard Fast's ‘The Vision of Milty Boil' from the collection ‘The General Zapped an Angel' (1970), which is part fantasy, part vicious satire on marketing.
Source: http://www.progbibliography.de/inspbooks.htm
Source: http://www.progbibliography.de/inspbooks.htm
@Madprophet "corporate greed and oppression of the UK's council housing system in the 1970s as commented by woolymore". Private rented housing, not council, as I say under Woollymore's comment.
@Madprophet "corporate greed and oppression of the UK's council housing system in the 1970s as commented by woolymore". Private rented housing, not council, as I say under Woollymore's comment.
If the Howard Fast short story is an inspiration (presumably for the SF idea), I can't find any source that explains this, just a personal site linking the two.
If the Howard Fast short story is an inspiration (presumably for the SF idea), I can't find any source that explains this, just a personal site linking the two.
@Madprophet Satin Peter is also an anagram of Saint Peter. It may also be intended to sound like Satan but of course it’s self-referential of Peter in his 70s satin trousers
@Madprophet Satin Peter is also an anagram of Saint Peter. It may also be intended to sound like Satan but of course it’s self-referential of Peter in his 70s satin trousers