Moonlight, eccentricity and experimental obscurity have very much been the direction of SOTD recently, and so it's time to unashamedly progressively rock on to Peter Gabriel's old band at their finest – when he still led it. Theatrical, atmospheric, and full of clever wordplay, not merely in the title ("Knights of the Green Shield stamp and shout") this is the opener from the 1973 album Selling England By The Pound, a mythological-fused depiction of a past country, of Wimpey dreams, falling into a ruinous state. Sounds familiar?
What stands out is not just Gabriel's beautiful singing voice, delivery and flute playing, but also the other musicians' work, particularly Steve Hackett's tender and brilliantly dramatic prog guitar playing and the various keyboards by Tony Banks. The genre's indulgence at its very finest.
"Can you tell me where my country lies?"
Said the unifaun to his true love's eyes.
"It lies with me!" cried the Queen of Maybe –
For her merchandise, he traded in his prize
"Paper late!" cried a voice in the crowd
"Old man dies!"
The note he left was signed 'Old Father Thames'
– it seems he's drowned
Selling England by the pound.
Citizens of Hope & Glory
Time goes by - it's "the time of your life"
Easy now, sit you down
Chewing through your Wimpey dreams
They eat without a sound;
Digesting England by the pound.
Young man says "you are what you eat" - eat well
Old man says "you are what you wear" - wear well
You know what you are, you don't give a damn;
Bursting your belt that is your homemade sham
The Captain leads his dance right on through the night
- join the dance...
Follow on! Till the Grail sun sets in the mould
Follow on! Till the gold is cold
Dancing out with the moonlit knight
Knights of the Green Shield stamp and shout.
There's a fat old lady outside the saloon;
Laying out the credit cards she plays Fortune
The deck is uneven right from the start;
And all of their hands are playing apart
The Captain leads his dance right on through the night
- join the dance...
Follow on! A Round Table-talking down we go
You're the show!
Off we go with - You play the hobbyhorse
I'll play the fool
We'll tease the bull
Ringing round diddle loud, loud diddle round
Follow on! With a twist of the world we go
Follow on! Till the gold is cold
Dancing out with the moonlit knight
Knights of the Green Shield stamp and shout.
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