Verhaal achter de platenhoes - The Lamb Lies down on Broadway (1974) - Genesis
Step out of your own frame more often and look at your dreams from the outside. Be aware of the subconscious. There you will find your demons. If you overcome these, you will really achieve what you want to make from your life. This was the message that Genesis singer Peter Gabriel conveyed to his audience. Design agency Hipgnosis further developed the idea and that resulted in this brilliant cover. The main character has stepped out of a picture and is looking at images from his dreams.
It was 1974. Peter Gabriel, 24, was under immense pressure. The success of Genesis was overwhelming. The group toured the world, while the boys were also busy building families. It was grueling. The pressure from the record company was enormous, everything had to be bigger and better. Film producer William Friedkin, who had just had a great deal of success with "The Exorcist," also tried to get Peter Gabriel's attention; he had seen him perform in his costumes and saw a movie star in him. But Gabriel's wife Jill had just given birth to a daughter, Anna. It had been a very difficult delivery. She finally saw the light of day half dead. The doctors fought for her life. She finally made it. After that, Peter Gabriel really wanted nothing more than to lie on the couch with her and pamper her. "Just keep yourself busy with the lyrics, then we'll make the music for the new album," the band members decided. That's how Gabriel managed to get some rest. He conceived the story of protagonist Rael for a concept album entitled "The lamb lies down on Broadway."
Concept albums were popular in the 1970s among prog rock audience. So the idea wasn't that crazy. It turned out to be a beautiful, bizarrely surreal story, with only one problem: Peter Gabriel was one of the few who got it. Under pressure from the record company, Gabriel adjusted his lyrics slightly and the other group members did the same with the music. This is how music and story came together. It did cause a crack in the concrete of the Genesis band. The live shows were mainly Peter's party with extravagant costumes. The other musicians threatened to fade into the background, while the music was phenomenal. And Gabriel's dilemma hadn't gone away either, because he just wanted to be home with his family. During the tour of "The Lamb" he decided to leave the band. The other band members, guitarist Steve Hackett, drummer Phil Collins, keyboardist Tony Banks and bassist Michael Rutherford, were actually relieved. Now they could go their own way. Gabriel did what main character Rael from "The Lamb" also did. He went in therapy and found out what was bothering him and what he really wanted with his life. Step out of your own picture. Just mark time. Don't shy away from confronting the past.
In retrospect it sounds simple, but as a 24-year-old Gabriel probably had no idea what was going on in his head and subconscious. The result was an inimitable story, the story of Rael. Design agency Hipgnosis couldn't handle it either. Or maybe they could. In any case, I have no idea whether the six photo collages are about songs from this album; the lyrics are too complicated for me. Hipgnosis has brilliantly captured the essence: the main character who steps out of his own picture. The images of dreams that are very recognizable. The feeling of wanting to break through a glass wall. That everyone wants to lecture you, while you yourself have the idea that you are being silenced. That you want to save your best friend (or your brother) with all your might, while he is in danger of drowning. On the internet Genesis' fans speculate to their heart's content about the meaning of both the lyrics and the images. I'll just leave it be for a while. Perhaps others are better at explaining.
In any case, this album remains one of the best LPs of all time for me. Because apart from Gabriel's vocals, the music rises above everything else with songs like 'In the cage' and 'Carpet Crawl'. Peter Gabriel regained his balance with a solo career and became a loving father to his children. I remember his 'Growing Up' tour in 2003 in which his second daughter Melanie had a prominent role. You could see him enjoy every bit of it when they sang a duet.
By Gerrit-Jan Vrielink
Translation Alex Driessen
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