[As alluded to above, this song's lyrics were not written by Peter Gabriel. It was written by Tony and Mike. After a long time studying the Lamb, the phrasing in this song and the imagery will make it stick out more and more. For example "yesteryear" seems somewhat out of place, since Rael came from modern NYC to a reconstruction of modern NYC.]
As he walks along the gorge's edge,
He meets a sense of yesteryear.
A window in the bank above his head Reveals his home amidst the streets.
Through it he can see the green grass of home, well not exactly; he can see Broadway.
Subway sounds, the sounds of complaint
The smell of acid on his gun of paint.
As it carves out anger in a blood-red band,
Destroyed tomorrow by an unknown hand; --
My home. Is this the way out from this endless scene?
Or just an entrance to another dream?
And the light dies down on Broadway.
His heart, now a little bristly, is shaken by a surge of joy and he starts to run, arms wide open, to the way out. At this precise point in time his ears pick up a voice screaming for help. 
Someone is struggling in the rapids below. It's John.
Peter Gabriel:"And that isn't all, 'cause in the ravine, I see a huge plastic bubble saying 'Your brother is drowning here.' Oh dear!"
But as the skylight beckons him to leave,
He hears a scream from far below.
Within the raging water, writhes the form Of brother John, he cries for help.
He pauses for a moment remembering how his brother had abandoned him. Then the window begins to fade -- it's time for action.
The gate is fading now, but open wide,
But John is drowning, I must decide Between the freedom I had in the rat-race,
Or to stay forever in this forsaken place;
Hey John! He makes for the river and the gate is gone,
Back to the void where it came from.
And the light dies down on Broadway.
[Conjecture: had Rael decided to exit through the sky-light and return back to New York City, he would have simply reappeared right where and when he was when he started, and the whole thing would have begun again. By making this final correct spiritual decision to save his brother, in spite of the many times John had refused him aid, he allows himself to leave this purgatory into the true afterlife. Seeing his own face from the outside may represent his spirit being reborn into another body.]
He rushes to the cliff and scrambles down the rocks. It takes him a long time to get down to the water, trying to keep up with the current at the same time. As he nears the water's edge he sees John losing strength.
