The warming sun, the cooling rain
The snowflake drifting on the breath of the breeze
The lightning bolt that frees the sky for you
Yet only eagles seem to pass on through
The words of love, the cries of hate
And the man in the moon who seduced you
Then finally loosed you
You climbed upon a burning rope to escape the mob below
But you had put the flaming out so that others could now follow
To be out of the bounds and the barks of those who do not wish you well
You must blaze a trail of your own, unknown, alone
But keep in mind
Don’t live to-day for tomorrow like you were immortal
The only survivors on this world of ours are…
The warming sun, the cooling rain
The snowflake drifting on the breath of the breeze
The lightning bolt that frees the sky for you
Yet only eagles seem to pass on through
The words of love, the cries of hate
And the man in the moon who seduced you
Then finally loosed you
You’re old
And disillusioned now as you realise at last that
All you have accomplished here will 've soon all turn’d to dust
You dream of a future afterlife, well that’s maybe I don’t know
But you can’t take what you left behind, you’re all alone
So keep in mind
Don’t live to-day for tomorrow like you were immortal
The only survivors on this world of ours are…
The warming sun, the cooling rain
The snowflake drifting on the breath of the breeze
The lightning bolt that frees the sky for you
Yet only eagles seem to pass on through
The words of love, the cries of hate
And the man in the moon who seduced you
Then finally loosed you
Ive maintained for many, many years that this is probably the finest most musically perfect album of ever. Its simply a master piece. With Burning Rope as the Tony Banks flag ship track.
Drove around college in 1974 Pontiac Catalina that was huge and listening to this on my tape player. Windows open, spring coming, and graduation in a few weeks. Those are memories.
I fell asleep listening to Burning Rope on a Pendolino from Glasgow to Carlisle a few years back. I got yelled at by the guard for singing along at the top of my lungs in my sleep. Also ended up in Lancaster instead of Carlisle.
I appreciate all Genesis music, I love both Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins Genesis, I even love We Can't Dance, so shut up all you Phil Collins haters...
I rarely like almost all the songs on one album. ...and then there were three... is one of those exceptions. I don't believe Follow Me, Follow You belongs on this album (it's not sweeping and grand like all of the other songs), but maybe it's a good thing it made the cut since it was the hit that got some people to check out the rest of the album. At any rate, this album shows that you don't always need all the players to make incredible music. Sorry, Peter!
A favorite. This one really shows how Genesis could paint with a sonic palette of many colors. The last refrain makes the hairs on my neck stand up. And that is some kind of powerful guitar in the bridge.
When I was pretending to be Tony Banks in a Genesis tribute band years ago, this was always one of the most challenging songs to play because there's just so much going on!
What more proof does anyone need than this track that Genesis didn't lose their songwriting craft or musicianship when Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett had gone??
OK: I admittedly have zero clue as to where this band were emotionally, philosophically or creatively at this time, since Peter moved on, but this is simply magnificent. It encapsulated the pronounced, majestic and exultant quality that Tony Banks brings to bear to so many Genesis songs. It imparts a powerful message of transcendence, and it builds to a monumental crescendo.
Or in other words:
I fucking LOVE this!
Favorite song of the album. Felt like this shouldve been used on a soundtrack to a drama/action/thriller tv show or movie. Especially a movie. So hypnotic and mysterious it sends you to another world.