Blog

In the Rapids is the fifth track on side four of the album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway

This is part of a series where we examine the relationship between the lyrics and the story Peter Gabriel wrote in the inner gatefold of the album.

TRACK - In the Rapids

He fights for his brothers life only to find it's himself that he's saved

He dives down into the cold water. At first he is thrown onto the rocks, and pulled under the water by a fast moving channel, which takes him right past John, down river.

Moving down the water
John is drifting out of sight,
Its only at the turning point
That you find out how you fight.

In the cold, feel the cold
all around
And the rush of crashing water
Surrounds me with its sound.

Rael manages to grab a rock, pull himself to the surface and catch his breath. As John is carried past, Rael throws himself in again and catches hold of his arm. He knocks John unconscious and then locking themselves together, he rides the rapids into the slow running water, where he can swim to safety.

Striking out to reach you
I can't get through to the other side,
When you're racing in the rapids
There's only one way, thats to ride.

Taken down, taken down
by the undertow
I'm spiralled down the river bed,
My fire is burning low.
Catching hold of a rock that's firm,
I'm waiting for John to be carried past.
We hold together, hold together and shoot the rapids fast.

And when the waters slow down
The dark and the deep
have no-one, no-one, no-one, no-one
no-one left to keep.
Hang on John! We're out of this at last.

But as he hauls his brother's limp body onto the bank he lies him out and looks hopefully into his eyes for a sign of life. He staggers back in recoil, for staring at him with eyes wide open is not John's face - but his own.

Somethings changed, that's not your face. It's mine - it's mine!

Rael cannot look away from those eyes, mesmerized by his own image. In a quick movement, his consciousness darts from one face to the other, then back again, until his presence is no longer solidly contained in one or the other. In this fluid state he observes both bodies outlined in yellow and the surrounding scenery melting into a purple haze. With a sudden rush of energy up both spinal columns, their bodies, as well, finally dissolve into the haze.

Join Us On The ProgAxia YouTube Channel