"Visions of Angels" song meaning

So, to cut it short, what do you make of "Visions of Angels"? What is the song about? Who is "she" ("Why she's never there I just don't understand")? Is she God or a woman? What vengeance is the songwriter talking about in the line "In vengeance to a god no-one can reach"?

There's a definite deforestation theme in this song suggesting even a world-wide loss of plant-life and an incipient ice-age.  As I recall at least one other song on Trespass has a post-apocalyptic setting.  Gabriel's lyrics were pretty bleak.  On top of that there is a calling out to God or a spiritual realm that has allowed this to happen (even though, ironically, one would assume that this occurred at the hands of the plaintant).  You could associate this to a masculinized Christianity that supposedly looks down on nature or you could see this as the feminine divine Nature herself who has allowed herself to be removed from the face of the Earth...forever good-bye.  After listening to this song you can go watch Silent Running or even Avatar.

Vompatti wrote: It's about the distance between the perceptible (material) world and the one beyond it. But I don't know who "she" is either.

Alyssa Milano?

I've always found that one and Stagnation to be two of the more moving songs on the album.  Both have an interesting end of the world kind of theme to the lyrics that I found quite mature for a group that young.


Edited by Slartibartfast - January 12 2010 at 12:17

I believe the book was Inside & Out which discussed who wrote most of the lyrics to Genesis' songs, as well as other things of course.  For this particular song too, Ant Phillips described it as his song on the Reissues Interview which came with the 1970-75 box set.   

I clearly recall reading that it was Phillips' song as well.

Slartibartfast is absolutely right about how mature is sounds coming from a bunch, as they were, of teenage English public school boys. I still find it incredibly haunting, and have always related it to a sense of utter loneliness and fragility. Of course, Phillips left soon after following breakdowns on stage, so I don't think they are unrelated.

meurglys0 wrote: Thanks for sharing your opinion.   So "god no-one can reach" means "God canot be found anywhere"??? And that's the reason for the vengeance?

God cannot be found in this world, or it's near impossible to reach him, so we cling to the physical world instead. To me the line about vengeance points to the possibility that the material world is evil, as does the line at the end, "God gave up this world its people long ago".

I distinctly remember reading somewhere that the "why she's never there.." line was Ant's expression of frustration at the failure of blossoming romance between himself and 'Jill', who later married Peter Gabriel..
Can't now remember where I read this but it was years ago, possibly in one of those now out-of-print Genesis bios. Anyway I love Visions/Trespass and the original gatefold vinyl is a beautiful package in that the music and artwork complement and evoke each other so well. Such a powerful wintry vibe.