It shows no or at best only the most minuscule traces of the style that would make them well-known later, and therefore frequently meets with a refusal and lack of affection. Justly so?
In a master stroke Gabriel enters this song as if it has already started, and we the listeners are arriving late during his performance. The whole piece is full of repressed sexuality and violence and Gabriel toys with the lyrics with fastidious fascination. The most simple lines about 'Old King Cole', are rendered chilling, and phrases like "and the nurse will tell you lies", leap out from a numery room drama that builds up in tidal waves of manic energy. Although Tony Banks would later state that this album was similar to 'Trespass', the presence of the two newcomers is immediately obvious. Phil Collins brings a whole new dimension with his dynamic percussive playing, pushing the band with relentless drive and rock solid sense of time. Even during the quiet passages, you can hear his sticks rattling off closed hi-hat patterns that are far slicker than anything his predecessors could manage. Peter brings astonishing sensuality to his pronouncement of the keyword "flesh" before embarking on an orgy of shouting from the rooftops, "Why don't you touch me, now, now, NOW!" The band returns, with Steve Hackett's guitar well to the foreground, providing the first real competition for the keyboards. Together they create a power in the ranks unimaginable only a few months before. The guitar whips up manic sounds and Phil flies as they reach a crescendo and staccato coda that must have left them all amazed and breathless. It might still make you want to stand up and cheer this track, 25 years after its creation.
THE MUSICAL BOX
While Henry Hamilton-Smythe minor (8) was playing croquet with Cynthia Jane De Blaise-William (9), sweet-smiling Cynthia raised her mallet high and gracefully removed Henry's head. Two weeks later, in Henry's nursery, she discovered his treasured musical box. Eagerly she opened it and as "Old King Cole" began to play, a small spirit- figure appeared. Henry had returned - but not for long, for as he stood in the room his body began ageing rapidly, leaving a child's mind inside. A lifetime's desires surged through him. Unfortunately the attempt to persuade Cynthia Jane to fulfill his romantic desire
led his nurse to the nursery to investigate the noise. Instinctively Nanny hurled the musical box at the bearded child, destroying both.
Lyrics
Play me Old King Cole
That I may join with you,
All your hearts now seem so far from me
It hardly seems to matter now.
And the nurse will tell you lies
Of a kingdom beyond the skies.
But I am lost within this half-world,
It hardly seems to matter now.
Play me my song.
Here it comes again.
Play me my song.
Here it comes again.
Just a little bit,
Just a little bit more time,
Time left to live out my life.
Play me my song.
Here it comes again.
Play me my song.
Here it comes again.
Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he.
So he called for his pipe,
And he called for his bowl,
And he called for his fiddlers three.
But the clock, tick-tock,
On the mantlepiece -
And I want, and I feel, and I know, and I touch,
Her warmth...
She's a lady, she's got time,
Brush back your hair, and let me get to know your face.
She's a lady, she is mine.
Brush back your hair, and let me get to know your flesh.
I've been waiting here for so long
And all this time has passed me by
It doesn't seem to matter now
You stand there with your fixed expression
Casting doubt on all I have to say.
Why don't you touch me, touch me,
Why don't you touch me, touch me,
Touch me now, now, now, now, now...
