Je associeert de voormalige leadzanger van Genesis misschien niet meteen met ‘pop’, maar Solsbury Hill is een bijna perfecte popsong. Alleen de wat ongebruikelijke 7/4 maat verwijst nog naar Gabriel’s verleden als progrocker.
Gabriel schreef de song kort na zijn vertrek uit Genesis, nadat hij gemediteerd had op Little Solsbury Hill in Somerset – wat dan misschien wél weer wat pretentieus is. Gabriel had het idee met Genesis op een doodlopende weg te zijn beland: “Because when I left Genesis, I just wanted to be out of the music business. I felt like I was just in the machinery. We knew what we were going to be doing in 18 months or two years ahead. I just did not enjoy that”. De beslissing was niet eenvoudig: de relatie met de andere leden van de band was naar verluid prima en Genesis stond naast Yes en EL&P aan de top van de progrockpiramide. Solsbury Hill is Gabriel’s poging in het reine te komen met de beslissing Genesis te verlaten: To keep in silence I resigned/My friends would think I was a nut/Turning water into wine/Open doors would soon be shut/So I went from day to day/Though my life was in a rut/’Til I thought of what I’d say/Which connection I should cut.
Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night
He was something to observe
Came in close, I heard a voice
Standing stretching every nerve
Had to listen, had no choice
[Chorus 1]
I did not believe the information
I just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom boom boom
“Son,” he said
“Grab your things, I’ve come to take you home”
[Verse 2]
To keep in silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Though my life was in a rut
‘Til I thought of what I’d say
Which connection I should cut
[Chorus 2]
I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom boom boom
“Hey,” he said
“Grab your things, I’ve come to take you home”
Ay, back home
[Verse 3]
When illusion spin her net
I’m never where I want to be
And liberty she pirouette
When I think that I am free
Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes but still can see
No one taught them etiquette
I will show another me
[Chorus 3]
Today I don’t need a replacement
I’ll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom boom boom
“Hey” I said
“You can keep my things, they’ve come to take me home”
Uitgelichte afbeelding: Solsbury Hill – By Iain Macaulay, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9312652
