The signature Van der Graaf Generator sound in the 1970s was a combination of Peter Hammill's distinctive and dynamic voice and David Jackson's electronically-treated saxophones, generally playing over thick chordal keyboard parts (such as Hammond organ and/or clavinet). Van der Graaf Generator albums tended to be darker in atmosphere than many of their prog-rock peers (a trait they shared with King Crimson, whose guitarist Robert Fripp guested on two of their albums), and guitar solos were the exception rather than the rule.
Hammill is the primary songwriter for the band, and the line between music written for his solo career and for the band is often blurred.
The band first formed in 1967 while its members were studying at Manchester University. The three-piece was comprised of Peter Hammill (guitar and vocals), Nick Pearne (organ) and Chris Judge Smith (drums and wind instruments). The group was named after a piece of electric equipment designed to produce static electricity, the Van de Graaff generator. The name was suggested by early member, Chris Judge Smith (the misspellings are accidental). On the basis of a demo, this blues- and jazz-influenced first incarnation were offered a recording contract with Mercury Records.
In 1968, Pearne was replaced by Hugh Banton. The band were able to secure Tony Stratton-Smith as a full-time manager. Through him, the band acquired a bass guitar player, Keith Ian Ellis. Drummer Guy Evans joined not too long afterward. This line-up recorded a series of demos for Mercury, before releasing a single ("People You Were Going To" b/w "Firebrand") on Polydor Records. The single was withdrawn under pressure from Mercury, since it violated the contract band members Hammill and Smith signed the previous year. Judge Smith left the band, amicably, shortly after the recording of the single.
Although the band performed on BBC Radio 1's Top Gear radio show in November, and was touring successfully, it broke up in June 1969. Pressures leading to this included financial difficulties, the theft of the band's gear and transport in London, combined with Mercury's refusal to let the band record and Stratton-Smith's refusal to let the other members of the band sign to Mercury too (only Hammill remained now of the original three who had signed with Mercury).
In July 1969, Hammill went to record his first solo album at Trident Studios. Banton, Evans, and Ellis joined him as session musicians. Through a deal worked out by their manager, Hammill's intended solo album, The Aerosol Grey Machine, was released by Mercury under the band's name in return for releasing the band from their contract. The album was initially only released in the United States with hardly any promotion at all, so sales were minimal.
Ellis left (eventually joining Juicy Lucy and a very brief incarnation of Iron Butterfly among others) and was replaced by Nic Potter, and David Jackson (saxophones and flutes) was added to the line-up. Tony Stratton-Smith formed Charisma Records and signed the band as his first act. Before recording their second album, The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other.
A new sound was established, leaving behind the psychedelic influence of The Aerosol Grey Machine in favour of darker textures influenced by jazz and classical music. The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other was well received, and was swiftly followed by H to He, Who Am the Only One. Potter left mid-way through that recording, and the band decided to carry on without a bass guitarist, with Banton on hand and feet bass pedals. Robert Fripp of King Crimson contributed guitar on the song, "The Emperor in His War-Room".
The Hammill/Banton/Jackson/Evans quartet that resulted from H to He, Who Am the Only One is now considered the 'classic' line-up, and went on to record Pawn Hearts. The album contains just three tracks, "Lemmings", "Man-Erg" and the twenty-three-minute concept piece "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". Fripp again provided a cameo appearance on guitar. The album proved highly successful in Italy, topping the chart there for twelve weeks. The single "Theme One" was a success in Italy too, an instrumental piece, originally written by the Beatles producer George Martin as a fanfare for the BBC radio station Radio 1, later to appear on U.S. pressings of Pawn Hearts. They toured Italy for a while, but the shows were plagued by different extremist organizations from Red Brigade to neo-fascists. The band toured extensively from 1970 to 1972, but a lack of support from the record company and also financial difficulties caused the band to implode, and Hammill left to pursue a solo career.
The three remaining members recorded an instrumental album with Nic Potter, Ced Curtis, and Piero Messina, under the name The Long Hello. Their self-titled album (The Long Hello) was released in 1974.
Hammill's split with the group was amicable, and Banton, Jackson and Evans, among others, all contributed to his solo work at various times. By 1975, the members of the band were ready to work with each other again, and they recorded three new albums in just twelve months. The sessions were produced by the band themselves (all previous Van der Graaf Generator albums had been produced by John Anthony at Trident Studios), and displayed a somewhat tauter, more streamlined sound. Godbluff in particular saw Hammill making significant use of the Hohner clavinet keyboard. Still Life followed within the same year.
At the end of 1976, following World Record, first Banton and then Jackson departed in 1977. Nic Potter returned to replace Banton, and in a typically eccentric move Jackson was replaced by a violinist, Graham Smith (formerly of Charisma folk-rock band String Driven Thing). This line-up produced the album The Quiet Zone / The Pleasure Dome. The band also shortened its name to Van der Graaf. Charles Dickie then joined the band on cello, documented on the live double-album Vital. By the time Vital was released, in the summer of 1978, the band had already split, because of lack of record company support in the United States and financial difficulties.
In 1982 a collection of out-takes and rehearsal recordings from the period 1972-1975 was released (initially on cassette only), called Time Vaults. These are not studio-quality recordings.
Banton, Jackson and Evans all made occasional appearances on Hammill's solo albums following the 1978 split, and the classic line-up also played occasionally together. In 1996, the quartet appeared on stage during a concert by Hammill and Evans at the Union Chapel in London to perform "Lemmings" (the whole recording was released as The Union Chapel Concert in March 1997). In 2003, Banton, Jackson, and Evans joined with Hammill to perform the song "Still Life" at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Both of these appearances were unannounced to the audience in advance.
Following the Queen Elizabeth Hall performance, discussions between the band members led to writing and rehearsal of new material in mid-2004. A double CD, Present, containing this material was released in April 2005. A reunion concert took place at the Royal Festival Hall, London, on the 6th May 2005, followed by several European dates in the summer and autumn of 2005. The concert in Leverkusen, Germany on the 5th November 2005 was filmed for a TV show ("Rockpalast") and was broadcast on the 15th January 2006. A DVD from that concert had been announced on Hammill's website in 2006. However, so far only one track thereof, "Wondering", has been officially released (on a DVD that came with the Rockpalast anniversary edition of the German magazine Eclipsed in June 2007).
Hammill stated in a December 2005 newsletter that there were no plans for further recordings or performances by the classic Van der Graaf Generator line-up. In September 2006, Hammill announced that the band would be continuing as a trio, for live and studio work, without Jackson.
A live album, Real Time, was released on the 5th March 2007 on Hammill's label, Fie! Records. It contains the entirety of the band's 2005 concert at the Royal Festival Hall.
In April and July 2007 the band played as a trio in different places in Europe. A concert on the14th April 2007 in the Melkweg in Amsterdam was recorded and streamed on the FabChannel website.
The first trio recording, Trisector, was released on the 17th March 2008. Live concerts were played in Europe in March and April, and in Japan in June, among them, one at the Gouveia Art Rock Festival. There were further concerts in January 2009 in Europe, and it was announced that the band would play several concerts in Canada and the United States in 2009, among them one at NEARfest in 2009. It was the first time Van der Graaf Generator had visited the United States since 1976.
Arrow
Van der Graaf Generator Lyrics
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Against the horizon
Fickle promises of treaty, fatal harbingers of war,
Futile horizons
Swirl as one in this flight, this mad chase,
This surge across the marshy mud landscape
Until the meaning is forgotten.
Hood masks the eager face, skin stretched
Headlong into the chilling night, as swift
As any arrow.
Feet against the flagstones, fingers scrabbling
At the lock,
Craving protection.
'Sanctuary!' croaks a voice,
Half-strangled by the shock
Of its rejection.
Shot the bolt in the wall, rusted the key;
Now the echoes of all frightfull memory
Intrude in the silence.
What a crawl against the slope
Dark loom the gallows
One touch to the chapel door,
How swiftly comes the arrow.
"Compassion" you plead, as though
They kept it in a box
That's long since been empty.
I'd like to help you somehow,
But I'm in the self-same spot:
My condition exempts me.
We are all on the run on our knees;
The sundial draws a line upon eternity
Across every number.
How long the time seems, how dark the shadow,
How straight the eagle flies,
How straight towards his arrow.
How long the night is
Why is this passage so narrow?
How strange my body feels,
Impaled upon the arrow.
The lyrics of Van Der Graaf Generator's song "Arrow" speak of a sense of hopelessness and despair, as the world around the singer is filled with violence and uncertainty. The imagery of the "stub towers in the distance" and "riders the blasted moor" suggest a desolate, post-apocalyptic landscape, while the "fickle promises of treaty" and "fatal harbingers of war" hint at a world on the brink of destruction. The singer is depicted as being caught up in this chaos, as he races across the "marshy mud landscape" with a sense of urgency and desperation, driven by a fear that is never fully explained or understood. As he runs, his "hood masks the eager face" and his "skin is stretched and sallow," suggesting a sense of physical and emotional exhaustion.
The second stanza shifts focus to a more specific narrative, as the singer seeks sanctuary in a church or chapel, only to be turned away. The language here is vivid and unsettling, as the singer's voice is described as being "half-strangled" by shock and the memories of past trauma intrude upon the silence. The use of the word "crawl" to describe his movement up the slope and the looming presence of the gallows suggest that he is a criminal or a fugitive from justice, adding an air of danger and suspense to the narrative. The final stanza ties these two sections together, as the singer reflects on the universality of his plight and the sense of impotence that he feels in the face of the forces that are working against him. He longs for "compassion" but recognizes the futility of asking for it in a world where "we are all on the run on our knees" and time seems to stretch infinitely ahead of him. The metaphor of the arrow, which appears in both the first and last stanzas, provides a sense of continuity throughout the song, suggesting that the singer is caught in a cycle of unending struggle and uncertainty.
Line by Line Meaning
Stub towers in the distance, riders the blasted moor
The landscape is barren, with only ruined towers and riders navigating it.
Against the horizon, Fickle promises of treaty, fatal harbingers of war, Futile horizons
The horizon signifies a false sense of security, with promises of peace being false, leading to war with no hope of resolution.
Swirl as one in this flight, this mad chase, This surge across the marshy mud landscape Until the meaning is forgotten.
The journey towards resolution is fraught with chaos, confusion, and misdirection, leading to a loss of purpose and understanding.
Hood masks the eager face, skin stretched And sallow, Headlong into the chilling night, as swift As any arrow.
The artist charges forward, determined but also fearing what's ahead, with a coat over their face to provide some anonymity and protection, heading straight towards their goal.
Feet against the flagstones, fingers scrabbling At the lock, Craving protection.
The artist is attempting to protect themselves from harm by locking themselves in, but it's unclear if the protection is physical, emotional, or both.
'Sanctuary!' croaks a voice, Half-strangled by the shock Of its rejection.
Someone is seeking sanctuary from harm but is denied, causing them distress.
Shot the bolt in the wall, rusted the key; Now the echoes of all frightfull memory Intrude in the silence.
The singer has locked themselves in to keep out their fears but instead becomes more consumed by them in the quiet.
What a crawl against the slope Dark loom the gallows One touch to the chapel door, How swiftly comes the arrow.
The journey is challenging, including facing the looming idea of death but the ultimate goal is within reach.
'Compassion' you plead, as though They kept it in a box That's long since been empty.
Someone is asking for compassion as if it could be easily given, but in reality no one is able or willing to offer it.
I'd like to help you somehow, But I'm in the self-same spot: My condition exempts me.
The artist would like to help, but their own struggles prevent them from being able to do so.
We are all on the run on our knees; The sundial draws a line upon eternity Across every number.
Everyone is enduring some form of suffering and the passage of time is relentless and unyielding.
How long the time seems, how dark the shadow, How straight the eagle flies, How straight towards his arrow.
Time drags on painfully, with fears and doubts following us closely, like a predator hunting its prey.
How long the night is Why is this passage so narrow? How strange my body feels, Impaled upon the arrow.
The journey is treacherous, and it feels like it will never end, with the singer feeling physically and emotionally wounded by the experience.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JAMES GERARD MCDERMOTT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind