Starting as an amalgam of two bands formed by schoolboys attending Charterhouse School in Godalming, England, the original lineup consisted of Peter Gabriel, Anthony Phillips, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, and Chris Stewart, though Stewart was soon replaced as drummer by John Silver and then John Mayhew. By the end of 1970, Phillips and Mayhew had left the band, with Collins joining as drummer, and by early 1971, guitarist Steve Hackett had filled the gap left by Phillips. The lineup of Gabriel, Banks, Hackett, Rutherford, and Collins remained in place until Gabriel's departure in 1975.
During the period of 1970-1975, the band produced some of the most widely-acclaimed albums of the progressive rock era, including "Nursery Cryme", "Foxtrot" (featuring the side-long epic "Supper's Ready") and the seminal album "Selling England by the Pound", which generated Genesis' first foray into the charts with "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)". This lineup culminated with the band's magnum opus "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" in 1974. Following the tour promoting the album, frontman Peter Gabriel left the group in mid 1975.
Genesis decided to continue on as a four-piece, producing two albums, "A Trick of the Tail" and "Wind & Wuthering", which found the band proving to themselves and to the world that they could move on after Gabriel's departure. Collins stepped up to fill the role of lead vocalist after countless auditions for a new singer proved fruitless by the completion of recording for "A Trick of the Tail". Hackett quietly departed after the "Wind & Wuthering" tour in 1977, feeling that his creative input for the band was being repressed.
In 1978, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford contributed music to a British movie called "The Shout" based on a short story by Robert Graves, directed by Jerzy Skomilowski and produced by Jeremy Thomas. (More credits and info here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078259/combined)
Genesis then became a trio which began to move away from the dying embers of progressive rock. They established themselves as a more commercially-friendly outfit with the release of their 1978 album "...And Then There Were Three...", finding their first US hit with the single "Follow You Follow Me".
Banks, Rutherford, and Collins became more adept at writing radio-friendly songs in the 1980s. This reached a peak with the release of 1986's "Invisible Touch", in which more than half of the album's eight songs made it to the singles chart, including the title track, "Land of Confusion" and "In Too Deep". All three band members produced solo albums during Genesis' downtime in the 80s and 90s - most notably Collins' increasingly successful solo work, and Rutherford's sideline group "Mike and the Mechanics" which found moderate success - with evolving styles reflected both when going solo and when recording together as Genesis.
Collins left the group in 1996, and was replaced vocally by Ray Wilson, the former lead singer of Scottish band "Stiltskin". Israeli born drummer Nir Zidkyahu and "Spock's Beard" drummer Nick D'Virgilio stepped in to fill the drumming role. Their 1997 album "Calling All Stations" was unable to find worldwide success, and despite scoring a minor U.K. hit with "Congo", the group slowly faded out of public consciousness. In 1998, after the "Calling All Stations" tour (the US leg of which was cut short due to poor album sales), Wilson was released from the band, and Zidkyahu and D'Virgilio, having never been "official" band members, went their separate ways. The band, now down to only Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford, took a break from performing and recording.
In 1999 Banks, Rutherford, Collins, Gabriel, and Hackett collaborated to re-record "The Carpet Crawlers" for greatest hits compilation "Turn It on Again: The Hits".
During the latter part of 2005, rumors spread that the band would reform again in its most famous five-man configuration. Genesis management stated that there were no current plans at that time, and that nothing would change in the following twelve months. Phil Collins then said in a radio interview in April 2006 that the classic Genesis line-up was considering a new live-staging of "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", but it was not to be. On 7th November 2006, Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford announced they would be doing a twenty-date tour of Europe in the summer of 2007, with a North American tour to follow.
A Live DVD of the final European concert in Rome, where the band performed free for 500,000 fans, was released May 26th 2008: "When In Rome - Live 2007".
In April of 2011, Phil Collins, after completing a reunion tour with Genesis, said in a newspaper interview that he has no plans to tour or make another album, effectively retiring after over 40 years in the music business.
Official website: www.genesis-music.com
There are other bands with the same name:
2. In 1967-8, there was an American band that was also named Genesis. It was a psychedelic rock group based in Los Angeles which released one album In the Beginning in 1968. The name conflict was known to the record label of UK Genesis, which is why their debut album From Genesis to Revelation coyly omitted the band's name except in the album title. While both bands suffered poor sales for their debuts, the US band broke up in late 1968 not long after one of their members was drafted into the army. This more or less ended any significant confusion except in situations like Last.fm or lazy Googling.
3. A Colombian group called GΓ©nesis also exists. If you are scrobbling songs by that group and have ended up on this page, please fix your tags to GΓ©nesis with the first "e" accented.
I Can't Dance
Genesis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Burning my feet just walking around
Hot sun makin' me sweat
Gators getting close, hasn't got me yet
I can't dance
I can't talk
Only thing about me is the way I walk
I can't dance
I can't sing
I'm just standing here selling everything
Blue jeans sittin' on the beach
Her dog's talking to me, but she's out of reach
Mhm, she's got a body under that shirt
But all she wants to do is rub my face in the dirt
'Cause I can't dance
I can't talk
Only thing about me is the way I walk
I can't dance
I can't sing
I'm just standing here sellin'
Oh, and checking everything is in place
You never know who's lookin' on
Young punk spillin' beer on my shoes
Fat guy's talkin' to me, tryin' to steal my blues
Thick smoke, see her smiling through
I never thought so much could happen just shootin' pool
But I can't dance
I can't talk
The only thing about me is the way that I walk
I can't dance
I can't sing
I'm just standing here sellin'
Oh, and checking everything is in place
You never know who's looking on
A perfect body with a perfect face
Mhm
No, I can't dance
I can't talk
The only thing about me is the way I walk
No, I can't dance
I can't sing
I'm just standing here sellin' everything
No, I can't walk
No, I can't dance
No, no, no, I can't dance
No, I said, I can't sing
The song "I Can't Dance" by Genesis tells the story of a man who's at a beach party but isn't really enjoying himself. The hot sun is making him uncomfortable, and he's worried about getting too close to the gators in the area. The man's lack of dancing and singing ability serves as a metaphor for his awkwardness in social situations. He's only got one thing going for him, and that's the way he walks. Through the song, he encounters various people at the party who he struggles to connect with. A woman catches his eye, but she seems uninterested in him. He also deals with irritating people, including a young man who spills beer on his shoes and a "fat guy" who tries to "steal [his] blues." Despite all of this, the man continues to stand around and "sell everything," perhaps implying that he is trying to present himself in the most positive light possible, even if the reality is different.
The song is a critique of the superficiality of social interactions at parties and the expectations placed on people to perform certain behaviors, such as dancing or singing. The singer is uncomfortable with these expectations and feels insecure about his inability to meet them. However, despite this, he still puts on a front and tries to sell himself to others, showing the pressure that people can feel to present themselves in a certain way.
Line by Line Meaning
Hot sun beating down
The sun is shining very bright
Burning my feet just walking around
His feet are getting hot just from walking around
Hot sun makin' me sweat
The heat is making him sweat
Gators getting close, hasn't got me yet
Alligators are nearby but have not attacked him yet
I can't dance
He is unable to dance
I can't talk
He is unable to talk
Only thing about me is the way I walk
The only noteworthy thing about him is his walking style
I can't sing
He is unable to sing
I'm just standing here selling everything
He is standing and selling everything he can
Blue jeans sittin' on the beach
A person in blue jeans is sitting on the beach
Her dog's talking to me, but she's out of reach
The woman's dog is making noise but she is too far away to hear
Mhm, she's got a body under that shirt
The woman has an attractive body
But all she wants to do is rub my face in the dirt
The woman is being mean to him
Oh and checking everything is in place
He is checking that everything is in order
You never know who's lookin' on
He is aware that others might be watching him
Young punk spillin' beer on my shoes
A young person accidentally spilled beer on his shoes
Fat guy's talkin' to me tryin' to steal my blues
An overweight person is talking to him and trying to bring him down
Thick smoke, see her smiling through
There is thick smoke and she can still be seen smiling
I never thought so much could happen just shootin' pool
He is surprised so much can happen while playing pool
No, I can't walk
He cannot walk very well
No, no, no, I can't dance
He really cannot dance
No, I said, I can't sing
He repeated that he cannot sing
Lyrics Β© CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: Anthony Banks, Michael Rutherford, Phil Collins
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Rogerio Nuno Correia
on Ripplesβ¦
dont u think it as got to do with Peter Gabriel getting out of the Band? im 56.... just a thought...