This was posted on the Genesis mailing list, Paperlate, on August 5, 1996.
{play}http://acrosscom.net/genesis/images/music/Lamb/CD2/06 - Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats.mp3{/play} Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats
The story starts off with the narrator explaining his relationship to Rael. He describes "the one in question", Rael, is "all fully biodegradable material." He mentions how he's "putting one down to watch him break up, decompose and feed another sort of life." This sounds like death to me. When you are buried, you do decompose and feed another sort of life like insects. He also mentions how he likes Rael, but Rael hates him. And the most interesting line of the opening paragraph is that"you won't see me directly anymore - he hates me being around."
Who is the narrator? Think about the title of the story, The LAMB Lies Down On Broadway. The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, is the narrator of the story. From the description, Rael obviously has lost faith during his plight.
Rael's story starts during the early morning hours in New York. People are filing out of an all night movie theater. (The Times Square area is infamous for their all night porno theaters although the folks from Disney are changing that. Makes you think about the all night watchmen having their fun, doesn't it?) Rael is coming from the subway, where he has spraypainted his name on the wall alongside the stairs of the subway entrance. This is part of making a name for himself. This is the only way he knows how. He know of no other means. He's walking along on the street and the lamb enters the picture. "Meanwhile from out of the steam a lamb lies down. This lamb has nothing to do whatsoever to do with Rael or any other lamb - it just lies down on Broadway." Why is the lamb there. Maybe He has to be present in someway during physical death. It's a symbolic gesture.
Notice this lamb has nothing to do with Rael. This goes back to the opening paragraph when the narrator says Rael hates him being around. Therefore, he has nothing to do with Rael because Rael won't let him even be around. This lamb is also distinguished from other lambs. It has nothing to do with any other lamb. This lamb is far more significant.
Notice the timing of this event. Right after the lamb enters the picture, the wall of death begins to form in Times Square. Rael only sees this. "The unsuspecting New Yorkers are apparently blind to what is going on." "No one seems to care. They carry on as if nothing was there." The reason for this is obvious. This is Rael's death. No one else will die. It is his experience only. The wall forms and closes in on Rael as he becomes "A sitting duck." Keep in mind that this is Rael's PHYSICAL DEATH.
At the point of impact, which is the first burst of the Broadway Melody of 1974 on the album, his "final second is prolonged in a world of echoes as if the concrete and clay of Broadway itself was reliving memories." This brings about the surrealistic scene that ensues. The people and places are symbols of their era. They will live on for eternity. They have made a name for themselves as Rael wanted to do. They represent a world that can no longer exist. A dead world, if you like.
At this point Rael blacks out. He awakens to find himself in a cocoon. It's dark and dank. This is purgatory. He feels secure, but he is in denial. "Don't tell me this is dying, 'cos I ain't changed that much." The traumatic experience of death leaves him in disbelief of what has happened. This begins his soul's journey. He is in purgatory because of his acts on earth and yet he's not in hell because of the circumstances that surrounded what he did. During this journey, Rael will visit hell, go back home, and go through a series of tests to determine if he ends up in heaven or hell.
