Sunday 16 September 2012

Afterglow

This is a simple proposition. 99% of readers of this web site will disagree, and I don't care.

The song "Afterglow" by Genesis is the best short piece of music that was ever written.

The chords aren't  just "nice".  That descending sequence puts a feeling of the most profound melancholy straight into your soul. And the lyrics create an ache in your soul that never goes away:

"Oh but I would search everywhere
Just to hear, hear your call
And walk upon stranger roads than this one
In a world I used to know before 
- I miss you more."

And just the title itself resonates. "Afterglow". The arc of light left in the sky after the sun has already set. A metaphor for where we live, with respect to the high-point of modern culture. We watch the pinking-in of the sky every evening at "Filling up of Beakers", and we realise the truth of this. Every day, just after sunset - there's the realisation that there is a time that is too late. A time when the sun has gone. No more direct light; no more warmth. Just an Afterglow. And that's when we feel that yearning. A yearning for something that's lost. Even if we don't know what it is.

As I say, I'm sure everyone will disagree with me. I don't care.

4 comments :

  1. Dunno about the best, but it's a darn fine thing they did there. "The ways and holes that used to give me shelter / They're all as one to me now.." Yes! (Not to mention Mike Rutherford's bass tone, which is good enough to eat...)

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  2. Saw Genesis perform this on the tour to promote Wind and Wuthering. It is a much underrated album and the song is beautiful. My only reservation is that I would like to hear it sung by Gabriel who has a richer tone and range than Collins, who sometimes sounds as if he is shouting rather than singing.

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    Replies
    1. If Peter Gabriel had sung it, there would be a danger it would sound slightly "knowing" and ironic. I think Collins gives it the earnestness this most lovely of love songs deserves.

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  3. Just listened to the Seconds Out live version of Afterglow and Collins sounds much better on that.

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