@ALBUM: nursery.cryme GENESIS -- Nursery Cryme (1971) Tony Banks: organ, mellotron, piano, electric piano, 12 string guitar, voices. Michael Rutherford: bass, bass pedals, 12 string guitar, voices. Peter Gabriel: lead voice, flute, bass drum, tambourine. Steve Hacket: electric guitar, 12 string guitar. Phil Collins: drums, voices, percussion. Produced by John Anthony Engineered by David Hentschel Recorded at Trident studios, London @SONG: The Musical Box Play me Old King Cole That I may join with you, All your hearts now seem so far from me It hardly seems to matter now. And the nurse will tell you lies Of a kingdom beyond the skies. But I am lost within this half-world. It hardly seems to matter now. Play me my song. Here it comes again. Play me my song. Here it comes again. Just a little bit, Just a little bit more time, Time left to live out my life. Play me my song. Here it comes again. Play me my song. Here it comes again. She's a lady, she's got time, Brush back your hair, and let me get to know your face. She's a lady, she is mine. Brush back your hair, and let me get to know your flesh. I've been waiting here for so long And all this time has passed me by. It doesn't seem to matter now You stand there with your fixed expression Casting doubt on all I have to say. Why don't you touch me, touch me, Why don't you touch me, touch me, Touch me now, now, now, now, now. Now, now, now, now, now. @SONG: For Absent Friends Sunday at six when they close both the gates, a widowed pair, Still sitting there, Wonder if they're late for church And it's cold, so they fasten their coats and cross the grass. They're always last. Passing by the padlocked swings, The roundabout still turning, Ahead they see a small girl On her way home with a pram. Inside the archway, the priest greets them with a courteous nod. He's close to God. Looking back at days of four Instead of two...Years seem so few. Heads bent in prayer For friends not there. Leaving twopence on the plate, They hurry down the path and out the gate And wait to board the bus That ambles down the street. @SONG: The Return of the Giant Hogweed Turn and run! Nothing can stop them! Around every river and canal their power is growing. Stamp them out! We must destroy them! They infiltrate each city with their thick dark warning odour. They are invincible. They are immune to all our herbicidal battering. Long ago in the Russian hills, A Victorian explorer found the regal Hogweed by a marsh. He captured it and brought it home. Botanical creature stirs, seeking revenge. Royal beast did not forget. He came home to London And made a present of the Hogweed to the Royal Gardens at Kew. Waste no time! They are approaching! Hurry now, we must protect ourselves and find some shelter. Strike by night! They are defenseless! They all need the sun to photosensitize their venom. Still they're invincible. Still they're immune to all our herbicidal battering. Fashionable country gentlemen had some cultivated wild gardens In which they innocently planted the Giant Hogweed throughout the land. Botanical creature stirs, Seeking revenge. Royal beast did not forget. Soon they escaped, spreading their seed, preparing for an onslaught, Threatening the human race. (THE DANCE OF THE GIANT HOGWEED) Mighty Hogweed is avenged. Human bodies soon will know our anger. Kill them with your Hogweed hairs. HERACLEUM MANTEGAZZIANI. Giant Hogweed lives. @SONG: Seven Stones I heard the old man tell his tale: Tinker, alone within a storm, And losing hope he clears the leaves beneath a tree. Seven stones lay on the ground, Within the seventh house a friend was found, And the changes of no consequence will pick up the reins from nowhere. Sailors, in peril on the sea, Amongst the waves a rock looms nearer, not yet seen. They see a gull flying by, The Captain turns the boat and he asks not why, And the changes of no consequence will pick up the reins from nowhere. Despair that tires the world brings the old man laughter. The laughter of the world only grieves him. Believe him. The old man's guide is chance. I heard the old man tell his tale: Farmer, who knows not when to sow Consults the old man clutching money in his hand. And with a shrug, the old man smiled, Took the money, left the farmer wild, And the changes of no consequence will pick up the reins from nowhere. Despair that tires the world brings the old man laughter. The laughter of the world only grieves him. Believe him. The old man's guide is chance. @SONG: Harold the Barrel NEWS: A well-known Bognor restaurant-owner disappeared early this morning. Last seen in a mouse-brown overcoat, Suitably camouflaged, They saw him catch a train. MAN-IN-THE-STREET: Father of three, it's disgusting! Such a horrible thing to do. (Harold the Barrel cut off his toes and he served them all for tea.) He can't go far. He can't go far -- hasn't got a leg to stand on. He can't go far. MAN-ON-THE-SPOT: I'm standing in a doorway on the main square; tension is mounting. There's a restless crowd of angry people. MAN-ON-THE-COUNCIL: More than we've ever seen. -- Had to tighten up security. MAN-ON-THE-SPOT: Over to the scene at the town hall, The Lord Mayor's ready to speak: *LORD MAYOR*: Man of suspicion, you an't last long, The British Public is on our side. BRITISH PUBLIC: You can't last long. You can't last long. "Said you couldn't trust him; his brother was just the same." You can't last long. HAROLD: If I was many miles from here, I'd be sailing in an open boat on the sea. Instead I'm on this window ledge, With the whole world below. Up at the window. Look at the window... Mr.Plod: We can help you. Plod's Chorus: "We can help you." Mr. Plod: We're all your friends, if you come on down and talk to us, son. HAROLD: You must be joking. Take a running jump. The crowd was getting stronger and our Harold getting weaker. Forwards, backwards, swaying side to side. Fearing the very worst, They called his mother to the sight. Up on the ledge beside him, His mother made a last request. 67-YEAR OLD MRS. BARREL: Come off the ledge! If your father were alive he'd be very, very, very upset. You just can't jump. You just can't jump -- your shirt's all dirty, and there's a man here from the BBC! You just can't jump! Mr. Plod: We can help you. Plod's Chorus: "We can help you. Mr. Plod: We're all your friends, if you come on down and talk to us, Harry. HAROLD: You must be joking. Take a running jump...... @SONG: Harlequin Came the night a mist dissolved the trees. And in the broken light, colours fly, fading by. Pale and cold as figures fill the glade. Grey is the web they spin, on and on, and on and on. Through the flame still summer lingers on Though her pictures soon shatter. All, always the same. But there appears in the shades of dawning Though your eyes are dim All of the pieces in the sky. There was once a harvest in this land. Reap from the turquoise sky, harlequin, harlequin. Dancing 'round, three children fill the glade. Theirs was the laughter in the winding stream, and in between. All, always the same. But there appears in the shades of dawning, Though your eyes are dim, All of the pieces in the sky. All, all is not lost And light appears in the shades of dawning When your eyes can see. Order the pieces, put them back, put them back. @SONG: The Fountain of Salmacis >From a dense forest of tall dark pinewood Mount Ida rises like an island. Within a hidden cave, nymphs had kept a child: Hermaphroditus, son of gods, so afraid of their love. As the dawn creeps up the sky, The hunter caught sight of a doe. In desire for conquest, He found himself within a glade he'd not beheld before. HERMAPHRODITUS: NARRATOR: Where are you, my father? Then he could go no farther. Give wisdom Now lost, the boy was guided to your son. by the sun. And as his strength began to fail, He saw a shimmering lake. a shadow in the dark green depths Disturbed the strange tranquility. SALMACIS: NARRATOR: The waters are disturbed. The waters are disturbed. Some creature has been stirred. The naiad queen Salmacis has been stirred. As he rushed to quench his thirst, A fountain spring appeared before him. And as his heated breath brushed through the cool mist A liquid voice called, "Son of gods, drink from my spring." The water tasted strangely sweet. Behind him the voice called again. He turned and saw her, in a cloak of mist alone, And as he gazed, her eyes were filled with the darkness of the lake. SALMACIS: NARRATOR: We shall be one. She wanted them as one. We shall be joined as one. Yet he had no desire to be one. HERMAPHRODITUS: Away from me, cold-blooded woman. Your thirst is not mine. SALMACIS: Nothing will cause us to part. Hear me, O Gods! Unearthly calm ascended from the sky And then their flesh and bones were strangely merged. Forever to be joined as one. The creature crawled into the lake. A fading voice was heard: "And I beg, that all who touch this spring May share my fate." SALMACIS: NARRATOR: We are the one. The two are now made one. We are the one. Demi-god and nymph are now made one. Both had given everything they had. A lover's dream had been fulfilled at last. Forever still beneath the lake.