There are three bands named Genesis.

1. Genesis formed in 1967 in Go… Read Full Bio ↴There are three bands named Genesis.

1. Genesis formed in 1967 in Godalming, Surrey (United Kingdom) and was one of the most popular progressive rock bands in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. During the 1970s, Peter Gabriel was the lead singer until his departure, when drummer Phil Collins stepped up to the mic and replaced him.

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

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 Génesis also exists. If you are scrobbling songs by that group and have ended up on this page, please fix your tags to Génesis with the first "e" accented.

Back In NYC
Genesis Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I see faces and traces of home
Back in New York City

So you think I'm a tough kid?
Is that what you heard?
Yeah, well, I like to see some action
And it gets into my blood
The call me the trail blazer, Rael electric razor

I'm the pitcher in a chain gang, we don't believe in pain
'Cause we're only as strong, yes, we're only as strong
As the weakest link in the chain
Let me out of Pontiac when I was just seventeen
I had to get it out of me, if you know what I mean, what I mean

You say I must be crazy
'Cause I don't care who I hit, who I hit
But I know it's me that's hitting out
And I'm, I'm not full of shit
I don't care who I hurt, I don't care who I do wrong
This is your mess I'm stuck in, I really don't belong
When I take out my bottle, filled up high with gasoline
You can tell by the night fires where Rael has been, has been

As I cuddled the porcupine
He said I had none to blame, but me
Held my heart, deep in hair
Time to shave, shave it off, it off

No time for romantic escape
When your fluffy heart is ready for rape, no
No time for romantic escape
When your fluffy heart is ready for rape, no
No time for romantic escape
When your fluffy heart is ready for rape, oh
Off we go
Off we go
Off we go
Off we go

You're sitting in your comfort you don't believe I'm real
You cannot buy protection from the way that I feel
Your progressive hypocrites hand out their trash
But it was mine in the first place, so I'll burn it to ash
And I've tasted all the strongest meats
And laid them down in colored sheets
Laid them down in colored sheets
Who needs illusion
Of love and affection
When you're out walking in the streets
With your mainline connection? Connection

As I cuddled the porcupine
He said I had none to blame, but me
Held my heart, deep in hair
Time to shave, shave it off, it off

No time for romantic escape
When your fluffy heart is ready for rape, no
No time for romantic escape
When your fluffy heart is ready for rape, no

No time for romantic escape
When your fluffy heart is ready for rape, no time

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Genesis's song Back in N.Y.C are deeply complex, plunging the listener directly into a gritty and visceral world of urban chaos. The song is an extended metaphor for the power struggles, both personal and political, that define life in a city. From the opening lines, "I see faces and traces of home, back in New York City", the listener is transported to a place of familiarity and discomfort, where the characters are tough, the language is brash, and the emotions are raw.

The central persona is a character named Rael, who describes himself as a "trail blazer" and an "electric razor". He is part of a chain gang, where pain is not acknowledged or allowed, and weakness is not tolerated. Rael tells the story of his escape from a place called Pontiac, where he had to escape from something he needed to get out of his system.

The song is also a comment on the politics of the time. The lyrics reference "progressive hypocrites" who hand out their trash, while Rael is burning his own to ash. The song seems to be taking a stance against liberalism and complacency, suggesting that action is necessary to effect real change.

Overall, Back in N.Y.C is a complex and multi-layered song that discusses issues of power, politics, and personal struggle. The lyrics are evocative and visceral, plunging the listener into a world of grit and chaos.

Line by Line Meaning

I see faces and traces of home Back in New York City
The singer sees familiar things that remind him of his hometown of New York City.

So you think I'm a tough kid? Is that what you heard? Yeah, well, I like to see some action And it gets into my blood The call me the trail blazer, Rael electric razor I'm the pitcher in a chain gang, we don't believe in pain 'Cause we're only as strong, yes, we're only as strong As the weakest link in the chain Let me out of Pontiac when I was just seventeen I had to get it out of me, if you know what I mean, what I mean
The singer is tough and likes to be involved in action. He compares himself to a trailblazer and pitcher in a chain gang, where the weakest member determines the strength of the group. He left Pontiac at a young age because he needed to release something from within himself.

You say I must be crazy 'Cause I don't care who I hit, who I hit But I know it's me that's hitting out And I'm, I'm not full of shit I don't care who I hurt, I don't care who I do wrong This is your mess I'm stuck in, I really don't belong When I take out my bottle, filled up high with gasoline You can tell by the night fires where Rael has been, has been
The singer is aware that people think he's crazy for being violent, but he believes he's hurting others because he's hurt, rather than doing it for no reason. He feels stuck in a bad situation that's not his fault and uses gasoline to set fires as a signal of his presence.

As I cuddled the porcupine He said I had none to blame, but me Held my heart, deep in hair Time to shave, shave it off, it off No time for romantic escape When your fluffy heart is ready for rape, no No time for romantic escape When your fluffy heart is ready for rape, no No time for romantic escape When your fluffy heart is ready for rape, oh
The singer talks to a porcupine who tells him he's responsible for his problems. He wants to get rid of his emotional attachment and shave his heart. There's no time for romantic escape when he's ready to face hard truths about himself.

You're sitting in your comfort you don't believe I'm real You cannot buy protection from the way that I feel Your progressive hypocrites hand out their trash But it was mine in the first place, so I'll burn it to ash And I've tasted all the strongest meats And laid them down in colored sheets Laid them down in colored sheets Who needs illusion Of love and affection When you're out walking in the streets With your mainline connection? Connection
People who are comfortable don't believe in the singer's struggles and can't purchase protection from his emotions. Hypocritical people try to give him their problems, but he knows they were his problems to begin with, so he deals with them himself. He's experienced life to the fullest and doesn't need the illusion of love when he has drugs to numb himself on the streets.

No time for romantic escape When your fluffy heart is ready for rape, no No time for romantic escape When your fluffy heart is ready for rape, no No time for romantic escape When your fluffy heart is ready for rape, no time
The singer has no time for romanticizing when he's ready to confront his deepest, most vulnerable self.

Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Anthony George Banks, Phillip David Charles Collins, Peter Brian Gabriel, Stephen Richard Hackett, Michael Rutherford

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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