The Lamia (track) by Genesis

From Squonk007 05/03/2021 14:51

Not my favourite on the album. There's a nice piano and when Pete sings it's very musical. The guitar is excellent.

I've never been as crazy about this one as other Genesis fans seem to be. Don't get me wrong, Banks lays down some gorgeous piano, Gabriel delivers a steady vocal as always, and Hackett's guitar solo in the final minute is genuinely awesome. But this one has never stuck with me like other "highlights" on The Lamb do. I think it's partially in part of the strange, slightly repulsive lyrics, but more so because the melody never really stays in one place for long enough for me to settle in. And on top of that, I don't care for the melodies that are used nearly as much as those found in the title track, In the Cage, The Carpet Crawlers, and others. Still, you can't deny its beauty nor the importance it has on Rael's story, and it deserves a strong rating. I just don't think it's as great as the majority does.

the track has really grown on me over the years. Currently in the top 3 if not my favorite.

From paladisiac 01/05/2012 21:29

This is probably my favorite song on the album. It's dark, lyrically-imaginative and dense, musically full and varying and a cool story as well. This is a tale of love and desperation and losing one's way. (Oh, and it features vampires!) Our hero is seduced by the lamia, first noticing them with the verse "thinking he is quite alone, he enters the room as if it were his own / but ripples on the sweet pink water reveal some company unthought of". A lot of great lyrics in this one too, very descriptive, as if you were reading a lamia short story. "Rael stands astonished doubting his sight, struck by beauty, gripped in fright" Gabriel varies his delivery well from third-person narrative to the cooing lamia exalting in the warmth they have to offer. The piano tickles lightly as Gabriel voices the trembling protagonist, singing "with their tongues, they test, taste and judge all that is mine. They move in a series of caresses that glide up and down my spine." But Rael's (pure) blood kills the lamia leaving this picture -- possibly my favorite lyric of the song: "each empty snakelike body floats, silent sorrow in empty boats". For Rael, "it is the scent of garlic that lingers on my chocolate fingers". Hackett and Phil lead the way dimming the lights on the song with Gabriel's flute to close.