Stumbled across a Genesis influence
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Topic: Stumbled across a Genesis influence
Posted By: WanderingLogician
Subject: Stumbled across a Genesis influence
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 06:42
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I was on Wikipedia and noticed that John Keats wrote a poem called Lamia. Uses a lot of the same imagery Peter Gabriel uses so I guess it definitely influenced the writing of the song. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2490/2490-h/2490-h.htm That's one of my favorite songs on The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, so it was pretty interesting and I thought I'd share it.  ------------- 
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Replies:
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 07:44
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Well the Lamia are not a Gabriel invention. But neither are any of the Genesis tracks using mythology. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 10:12
| I think a little known book called The Bible also had some influence on them |
Posted By: Ajay
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 10:52
Well-spotted! I studied Keats years ago and never made the connection. Yes, now that you mention it, Gabriel's image of the lamia does seem to borrow from Keats. The Lamia is one of my favourite songs from The Lamb, too.  |
WanderingLogician wrote:Posted By: Gerinski
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 11:20
| That's alright but the sources of inspiration for the Lamia theme go so far into ancient Greek mythology that the connection to Keat's poems becomes circumstantial. |
Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 13:08
Quick. Alert the atheist thread!  ------------- Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
Posted By: jude111
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 13:55
Did Gabriel do that much research before writing that tune? Now that's taking the pop songwriting craft pretty pretty far. I highly doubt it, though. Not unless he studied ancient Greek and did a PhD in between changing costumes. Seems very plausible - make that highly probable - that a Keats poem was the primary source. But then what do I know... I've been studying medieval Arabic for 30 years so I can read the complete works of al-Abu Swahib in the original text, so that I can write a 4 minute pop tune. My musical career has been temporarily placed on hold (since the age of 13) till I'm ready to write that song. (After that, for my second song, I'm thinking of basing it on Bakhtin's theories of language, ideology and power. But first I'll have to learn Russian.) |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 16:15
| Also that 'I wandered lonely as a cloud' bit came from someone else (I don't recall who....)........ |
Posted By: iluvmarillion
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 16:25
Think that's Wordsworth.
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Posted By: ProgBob
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 16:42
Peter Gabriel was educated at an exclusive public (i.e. private) school and so almost certainly would have been well versed in classical languages and literature. ------------- Bob |
Posted By: WanderingLogician
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 16:45
I consider myself fairly well educated, but I had never heard of Lamia before so I assumed they were a Gabriel creation. Which is why I found the Keats thing so interesting. Also, I just found out that squonks aren't original to Genesis either. This is completely wrecking my faith in Genesis' creativity. They might as well have been lip syncing!  -------------
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Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 16:49
Fascinating. I just looked it up. I never new Squonk wasn't made up by Genesis either!  ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 18:43
True or False ?? 
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Posted By: SquonkHunter
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 19:48
Absolutely true! 
------------- "You never had the things you thought you should have had and you'll not get them now..." |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 19:54
| now you know how Hawkwind fans felt when they realized "quark" is a real word too |
Posted By: The Willow Farmer
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 20:02
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Wait, is the the hogweed original to Genesis?
------------- Recent Music Acquisitions: Johnny Marr-"The Messenger" Steven Wilson-"The Raven that Refused to Sing" Fish-"Sunsets on Empire" Riverside-"Shrine of New Generation Slaves" |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 20:05
| ^ no-- it really was a rampant weed in England |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 22:20
I'm sure that this stuff was the inspiration for many of the Brit rock lyricists in the 70's! Freddie Mercury's "Fairy Feller's Master Stroke" for example: He's a fairy feller Ah ah the fairy folk have gathered Round the new moon's shine To see the feller crack a nut At night's noon time To swing his axe he swears As he climbs he dares To deliver the master stroke Ploughman wagoner will' and types Politician with senatorial pipe He's a dilly dally oh Pedagogue squinting wears a frown And a satyr peers under lady's gown He's a dirty fellow What a dirty laddie-oh etc. etc.
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Posted By: Ajay
Date Posted: February 23 2013 at 23:39
Yes, the lamia predates Keats. Keats's image of the lamia, though, differs from the traditional while showing similarities to Gabriel's. |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: February 24 2013 at 02:25
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Posted By: Jim Garten
Date Posted: February 25 2013 at 07:08
Correction - is rampant in England - very common around rivers & canals . The sap increases sensitivity to the sun's rays, causing severe burns (I wont post pictures, but google images on hogweed burns). Problem is, they have hollow stems like a similar plant called cow parsley - kids used to use the stems of cow parsley as pea-shooters, but if they mis-identified the plant, they'd end up with hogweed sap on their lips  ------------- 
Jon Lord 1941 - 2012 |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: February 25 2013 at 07:56
Thought most people knew that before the album came out. Well maybe not. I knew and my friends did at least. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: mwood
Date Posted: February 25 2013 at 09:26
| If you grew up playing Dungeons & Dragons (late 70s/early 80s), you might be more likely to know the lamia. Not to mention the manticore (ELP), the hellhound (Zep), and the gryphon (Gryphon), and probably many other creatures that were referenced in classic prog tunes. |
Posted By: Jim Garten
Date Posted: February 25 2013 at 10:42
Not to mention the greater spotted (spotty?) prog rock geek -------------
Jon Lord 1941 - 2012 |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: February 25 2013 at 19:29
the real Day of the Triffids ? |
Posted By: mwood
Date Posted: February 25 2013 at 20:37
Yeah, can't deny that. Shrug.
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Posted By: Icarium
Date Posted: February 26 2013 at 02:39
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqSkv1ZTGW0" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqSkv1ZTGW0  but in which mythology do we find the mighty Gnidrolog -------------  
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Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: February 26 2013 at 08:45
Amazing! They even have their own Wikipedia page, that says amongst other things that Steely Dan mentioned the squonk as well, even two years before Genesis
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