Released: February 1, 1976
Songwriter: Tony Banks
Producer: David Hentschel
Bored of the life
In the city of gold
He'd left and let nobody know
Gone were the towers
He had known from a child
Along with a dream of a life
He traveled the wide open road
The blinkered arcade
In search of another to share in his life
Nowhere, everyone looked so strange to him
They got no horns and they got no tail
They don't even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in the city of gold
That lies in the deep distance?
He cried and wept
As they led him away to a cage
"Beast that can talk," read the sign
The creatures, they pushed
And they prodded his frame
And questioned his story again
But soon they grew bored of their prey
The beast that can talk?
More like a freak or publicity stunt
Oh, oh, no, oh
They got no horns and they got no tail
They don't even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in the city of gold
That lies in the deep distance?
He cried and broke down the door
Of the cage and marched on out
He grabbed a creature
By the scruff of his neck, pointing out
"There, beyond the bounds
Of your weak imagination
Lie the noble towers
Of my city, bright and gold
Let me take you there
Show you a living story
Let me show you others such as me
Why did I ever leave?"
They got no horns and they got no tail
They don't even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in the city of gold
That lies in the deep distance?
He cried and wept
And so we set out
With the beast and his horns
And his crazy description of home
After many days journey
We came to a peak
Where the beast gazed abroad and cried out
We followed his gaze and we thought
That maybe we saw
A spire of gold? No, a trick of the eye, that's all
But the beast was gone and a voice was heard
"They got no horns and they got no tail
They don't even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in the city of gold
That lies in the deep distance?"
(Hello friend, welcome home)
In the city of gold
He'd left and let nobody know
Gone were the towers
He had known from a child
Along with a dream of a life
He traveled the wide open road
The blinkered arcade
In search of another to share in his life
Nowhere, everyone looked so strange to him
They got no horns and they got no tail
They don't even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in the city of gold
That lies in the deep distance?
He cried and wept
As they led him away to a cage
"Beast that can talk," read the sign
The creatures, they pushed
And they prodded his frame
And questioned his story again
But soon they grew bored of their prey
The beast that can talk?
More like a freak or publicity stunt
Oh, oh, no, oh
They got no horns and they got no tail
They don't even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in the city of gold
That lies in the deep distance?
He cried and broke down the door
Of the cage and marched on out
He grabbed a creature
By the scruff of his neck, pointing out
"There, beyond the bounds
Of your weak imagination
Lie the noble towers
Of my city, bright and gold
Let me take you there
Show you a living story
Let me show you others such as me
Why did I ever leave?"
They got no horns and they got no tail
They don't even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in the city of gold
That lies in the deep distance?
He cried and wept
And so we set out
With the beast and his horns
And his crazy description of home
After many days journey
We came to a peak
Where the beast gazed abroad and cried out
We followed his gaze and we thought
That maybe we saw
A spire of gold? No, a trick of the eye, that's all
But the beast was gone and a voice was heard
"They got no horns and they got no tail
They don't even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in the city of gold
That lies in the deep distance?"
(Hello friend, welcome home)
more tracks from the album
From the album
- A Trick of the Tail (1976)
Genesis popular songs
- That’s All
- Land of Confusion
- Supper’s Ready
- Dancing with the Moonlit Knight
- I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
- Mama
- Invisible Touch
- I Can’t Dance
- The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
- Carpet Crawlers
- Jesus He Knows Me
- Firth of Fifth
- In Too Deep
- Follow You Follow Me
- The Cinema Show
- In the Cage
- The Battle of Epping Forest
- Fly on a Windshield
- The Musical Box
- Ripples
- Watcher of the Skies
- No Son of Mine
- A Trick of the Tail
- Back in N.Y.C.