The curtains are drawn
Now the fire warms the room
Meanwhile outside
Wind from the north-east chills the air
It will soon be snowing out there
And some there are
Cold, they prepare for a sleepless night
Maybe this will be their last fight
But we’re safe in each other’s embrace
All fears go as I look on your face-
Better think awhile
Or I may never think again
If this were the last day of your life, my friend
Tell me, what do you think you would do then?
Stand up to the blow that fate has struck upon you
Make the most of all you still have coming to you, or Lay down on the ground and let the tears run from you
Crying to the grass and trees and heaven finally on your knees
Let me live again, let life come find me wanting
Spring must strike again against the shield of winter
Let me feel once more the arms of love surround me Telling me the danger’s past, I need not fear the icy blast again
Laughter, music and perfume linger here
And there, and there
Wine flows from flask to glass and mouth
As it soothes, confusing our doubts
And soon we feel
Why do a single thing to-day
There’s tomorrow sure as I’m here
So the days they turn into years
And still no tomorrow appears
Better think awhile etc
I had this on my list of songs to be played at my funeral after i found out that i had Cancer. Luckily i beat it though and still love this song to this day.
I have said this a million times, but if you listen to things like this or Duke and still think that the band ended after Hackett left then it's YOUR problem.
This was first introduced to me when I was 11 in a music class. The album had just come out, and my music teacher, a fairly traditional teacher (he actually taught us to read and write music, and was heavily into Classical music and Opera), bounded into the class, put this track on at FULL VOLUME (so loud some pupils were actually in tears), then went on to dissect it musically. It was fantastic. Mr Stephens, you probably died a while back, but that'snot going to stop me from thanking you for teaching music properly, and giving me a lifelong love of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven etc, of Verdi, Rossini, Wagner etc, and of Genesis, Simon and Garfunkel and ELP (Yes, ELP). He took a lot of risks along the way, but boy did he achieve results. He wouldn't be able to hold his job down in today's teaching environment, he would basically have been too spontaneous, too forward thinking and too rigorous, essentially too good.
The last really good Genesis album, became too single orientated after this, they did some nice work, but i prefer the more complex stuff,,old prog rocker you see.
What a track, what a band. They were so sophisticated musically, and lyrically I personally think this is one of Phil's best. When you think of all this band have given us, as a whole and as solo acts, it's incredible. From Trespass all the way to We can't dance, the variety, quantity, originality and the sheer quality of the music, it really is mind boggling. Phil and Peter's epic solo careers, Tony's great orchestral work, Mike and the Mechanics, Steve's solo career, it goes on and on. There was a special thread running through this band. They all contributed to and benefited from it. There have been many, many great bands out there, but there's nothing like Genesis.
Just realized that I've known these songs by heart for almost 40 years now. By heart, litterally. No wonder it feels like coming home every time I listen.
I cannot express in words what this song does to me. I feel like that about many Genesis songs but this one in particular is just so perfect in every way. It's clever, different, melodic and full of feeling and drama. I'm so happy others feel the same way because there are so many who write Genesis off as either pretentious prog rock or 'Phil Collins inspired pop'. They clearly either have not listened to this or just don't get it.
My Mother used to play this album when my Sister and i were little. At first maybe I didn't focus on what we were listening but someday I did... and now I finally comprehended why my mother played these prog albums when we came back from school. Thanks mom for opened my ears to prog