The Carpet Crawlers lyrics by Genesis

Peter says in a 1980 interview that he was totally juiced on LSD,laying on his back on a blanket on the floor in a room adjacent to the room the rest of the band was rehearsing in.He felt the floor wriggling beneath him,much like the worms that he spoke of wriggling all over the boys naked body in the grass during the pouring rain,in the opening to "Suppers Ready"which is what the birds thought of the worms covering the ground AND the boy.He could hear the keyboards playing,and began scribbling the lyrics to "Carpet Crawl" it's original name,with the lyrics literally pouring from his mind onto the paper.When Tony stopped playing,Pete jumped to his feet,and presented Tony a collage of the lyrics to his playing.They then worked out the tune to the product on LLDOB.
LLDOB was the first and last effort by Genesis where Petee acted alone with the lyrics,only getting contributions when needed.
This made Rutherford and Banks unhappy.Their next effort without Peter showed that they had a point.Peter should have come back and sang,the band would have excepted him back.They were afraid they would sink without him.But his ego wouldn't let him.
If there is any band that should get together before it's too late,that's definitely Genesis.
There's just the matter of a drummer who now thinks that his weak lame music is as big as Genesis material.And he thinks Pete was a bit of a bully.And he thinks Pete's to blame.
He's wrong,and he should be at a point in his life now that he gets past it all,and get back to the original Genesis,get the boys together,and do it once for dignity.That could be the thing that puts them on top of all the great bands of that era,and of all time.
Could you imagine listening to a new Genesis CD for the first time?On my "peter meter" I'd give it a solid gold boner!

This song is very complex but very good, that shows the mark of a good song and a good singer/band.

Deutsche Übersetzung:
*
Die Teppich-Kriecher
*
Ich fühle Lammwolle unter meinen nackten Füßen.
Die Wolle ist weich und warm,
strahlt eine Art Hitze aus.
Ein Salamander huscht in die Flammen und verbrennt. (23)
Auf Zelluloid festgehalten, gehen eingebildete Geschöpfe in die Falle der Geburt.(24)
Flöhe klammern sich ans goldene Vlies (25)
darauf hoffend, Frieden zu finden.
Jeder Gedanke, jede Geste ist auf Zelluloid gebannt.
In meinem Denken gibt es kein Versteck,
keinen Ort, an den ich weichen kann.
*
*
Die Wände sind ockerrot bemalt und mit sonderbaren Zeichen bedeckt: manche sehen wie ein Ochsenauge aus, andere wie Vögel und Schiffe. Weiter hinten im Gang kann er einige Leute erkennen: alle sind auf den Knien. Mit gedrückten Seufzern und Gemurmel kämpfen sie, um in ihrer langsamen Bewegungsart vorwärtszukommen, hin zu einer Holztür am Ende des Korridors. Rael hatte vorher nur die unbeweglichen Gestalten der Großen Parade der Leblosen Verpackung gesehen, deshalb läuft er zu ihnen, um mit ihnen zu sprechen.
*
*
Die Kriecher bedecken den Boden in dem ockerroten Korridor.
Auf den zweiten Blick erscheinen sie etwas lebendiger als zuvor.
Sie bewegen sich auf eine schwere hölzerne Tür zu.
Dort lockt ein Nadelöhr, die Armen aussperrend.
Die Kriecher aber hören den Ruf:
„Wir müssen hinein, um heraus zu kommen.
Wie müssen hinein, um heraus zu kommen.“
*
*
"Was ist hier los?", ruft er einem murmelnden Mönch zu, der sich ein Gähnen verkneift und antwortet: "Es ist noch lange hin bis zum Sonnenaufgang." Ein sphynxhafter Kriecher ruft seinen Namen und sagt: "Frag nicht ihn, der Mönch ist betrunken. Wir alle versuchen, die obersten Stufen zu erreichen, denn dort wartet ein Ausgang auf uns."
Unser Held fragt nicht, warum er sich frei bewegen kann, und durchschreitet kühn die Tür. Hinter einem mit Speisen beladenen Tisch findet er eine Wendeltreppe, die in die Decke hineinführt.
*
*
In ihren Gesichtern sehe ich nur ein Ziel:
Sie blicken hinauf zur Decke; dort sollen die Kammern sein.
Wie ein Wald, der um das Sonnenlicht kämpft, das sich in jedem Baum verwurzelt,
werden sie wie von einem Magneten angezogen – daran glaubend, frei zu sein.
Die Kriecher folgen ihrem Ruf:
„Wir müssen hinein, um heraus zu kommen.
Wir müssen hinein, um heraus zu kommen.“
*
Lenorweiche Supermänner, gehalten in Kryptonit. (26)
Und die weisen, törichten Jungfrauen kichern; ihre Körper strahlend hell.
Durch die Tür wird die Ernte, eine reich gedeckte Tafel von Kerzenlicht erleuchtet.
Wie das untere Ende einer Treppe, die sich in einer Spirale verliert.
Die Kriecher folgen ihrem Ruf:
„Wir müssen hinein, um heraus zu kommen.
Wir müssen hinein, um heraus zu kommen.“
*
Die zerbrechliche Schaufensterpuppe, bereits sichtlich gezeichnet, befürchtet einen Angriff. (27a)
Die gierige Meute hebt ihre Krüge (27b) – sie enthalten alles, woran es ihnen fehlt.
Die Flüssigkeit ist geronnen, die durch den Riss getropft war,
*
Und der Kitzler nimmt seinen Stichling auf. (27c)
Die Kriecher folgen ihrem Ruf:
„Wir müssen hinein, um heraus zu kommen.
Wir müssen hinein, um heraus zu kommen.“
*
*
Anmerkungen:
*
Carpet Crawl ist das zentrale Stück des Konzepts und bezieht seinen Sinn aus dem Gesamtwerk heraus. Die Aussage ist derart verdichtet, dass durch Anmerkungen nur ein oberflächlicher Einblick vermittelt werden kann.
*
(23) Salamander
Zu deutsch auch Feuersalamander.
Auszug aus Wikipedia: In den zurückliegenden Jahrhunderten glaubte man, dass die Hautsekrete des Salamanders nicht nur todbringend giftig seien, sondern auch imstande wären, Brände zu löschen. Entsprechend reagierten die Menschen und warfen die Tiere ins Feuer; darauf geht auch der Name zurück. (Ende)
Der antiken Mytologie zufolge, verkörpert der Salamander das Element Feuer (neben Wasser, Erde, Luft) und kann somit das Feuer unbeschadet durchschreiten. In Carpet crawl verbrennt er jedoch. The lamb lies down on Broadway bedient sich einer großen Anzahl an Tiermethaphern, angefangen beim Schmetterling, das Lamm, das Stachelschwein, bis hin zum Raben und noch einiger anderer. Nur hier wird die Methapher entmystifiziert.
*
(24) Imaginary creatures are trapped in birth on celluloid.
Stellt einen verschachtelten (Doppel)Satz dar:
creatures are trapped in birth
Imaginary creatures are trapped on celluloid
*
Lebewesen in der Falle der Geburt
Erfundene Lebewesen eingefangen auf Zelluloid
*
Die Vermengung dieser beiden Sätze drückt eine aufeinander prallen von Wirklichkeit und Scheinwelt aus, im weiteren Sinne von biologischer Festlegung (genetischer Code) und der kulturellen (konstruierten) „Wirklichkeit“ der Gesellschaft.
*
*
Each thought and gesture are caught on celluloid.
*
Jeder Gedanke, jede Geste gefangen auf Zelluloid.
*
Mit „gefangen auf Zelluloid“ ist die Prägung gemeint, die jeder Mensch von seiner unmittelbaren Umgebung und der Gesellschaft erhält, die Einbindung in die Kultur. In den modernen westlichen, insbesondere der amerikanischen Kultur ist die Film- und Unterhaltungsindustrie ein wesentlicher prägender Faktor.
*
*
There´s no hiding in my memory. No room to void. (avoid)
*
In meinem Denken gibt es kein Versteck, keinen Ort, der geleert (gelöscht) werden kann (an den ich ausweichen kann).
*
Einmal erworben, bilden Prägungen einen eben so festen Bestandteil der Persönlichkeit wie die angeborenen Instinkte.
*
*
(25) Fleas cling to the golden vlies
*
Flöhe klammern sich ans goldene Vlies
*
Wiki: Goldenes Vlies (Mythos), Auszug:
Hintergrund des Mythos dürfte sein, dass im goldreichen Kolchis, dem späteren Georgien am Kaukasus, Schaffelle verwendet wurden (und werden), um Gold aus den Flüssen zu waschen.
*
Der „Flöhe-Satz“ hat eine große Anzahl von Bezügen und Bedeutungen.
*
*
(26) Mild mannerd Supermen are held in kryptonite
*
Mild mannered (sanft benehmender) reporter ist die übliche Bezeichnung für das Auftreten Supermans als sein alter Ego, den zurückhaltenden Clark Kent, wobei „mild mannered“ eine Verformung des Begriffs well-mannered (gesittet) im Rahmen der Superman-Saga darstellt.
*
Superman ist der erste, 1933 erfundene Superheld.
*
Kryptonit: Stellt ein imaginäres Element dar, dass auf Krypton, dem Heimatplaneten Supermans vorkommt und alle Kryptoner schwächt bzw. bis hin zum Tod für sie schädlich ist.
*
*
(27a) The porcelain mannekin with shattered skin fears attack
*
Die Schaufensterpuppe aus Porzellan mit zerschlagener Oberfläche fürchtet einen Angriff
*
Die Schaufensterpuppe ist so weiß, wie die Jungfrauen hell leuchten.
Oberfläche ist eine bereits abstrahierte Bedeutung für das Wort skin = Haut.
*
*
(27b) Pitcher
Neben Krüge könnte hier auch „Werfer“ (Baseball) eingesetzt werden, je nachdem, welche Bedeutung der Einzelne dieser Stophe zumißt. Beide Begriffe würden passen.
*
(27c) The tickler takes his stickleback.
Dieser Satz ergibt in der deutschen Übersetzung (zufälliger Weise) mehr oder einen eindeutigeren Sinn als das englische Original.
Das Wort tickler hatte 1974 keine offizielle Bedeutung, heute heißt es Notizbuch. Es handelt sich um die Substantivierung des Verbs to tickle = kitzeln und erlangt so in der deutschen Übersetzung einen Sinn, den es im Original vom normalen Sprrachgebrauch her nicht besitzt. Das gleiche gilt für stickleback, den Stichling, eine Fischart. Es hat im Deutschen neben der Bezeichnug des Fisches eine zweite Bedeutung. Ein Werkzeug, den Stichling, der auch als Bohrsäge, im englischen aber als keyholesaw bezeichnet wird.
*
Umgangssprachliche Deutungen:
Tickler: HEUTE wird (nicht im gesamten englischen Sprachraum bzw. allen Bevölkerungsschichten) der Partner, der mit den erogenen Zonen des anderen vertraut ist, als „tickler“ bezeichnet und sei es, um ihm/ ihr eine angenehme Fussmassage zu bescheren.
*
#Stickleback: Im „annotated lamb“ (Net) ist nachzulesen, dass in manchen Textversionen statt „stickleback“ „tickleback“ abgedruckt wurde. Dort wird vermutet, dass es sich um einen Druckfehler handelt. Unter den gleichen Einschränkungen wie oben erwähnt, bezeichnet „tickleback“ zumindest heutzutage eine Sexualpraxis. Es mag, wie anscheinend so vieles in der Lamb, Zufall sein, aber diese beiden Sätze würden sie beschreiben: „(They) move in a series of caresses that glide up and down my spine.“ (in The Lamia) und: It is the hope for the dope, who rides the horse without a hoof.” (in It) Das Pferd ohne Hufe ist eben kein Pferd.
*
Eine komlette Übersetzung mit Erläuterungen des Albums findet Ihr hier:
*
http://freenet-homepage.de/lillywhitelillith/temp/index.h tml
(geht nur über kopieren!)

For me the story of “The Lamb” makes very much sense. Because of its complexity I like to add an essay just for one song: The Carpet crawl(ers). In that single song you can find a short version of the whole Lamb-lies-down-on-Broadway-story.
First: “Carpet Crawl(ers)” (further: CC) is just a small piece of a bigger context and you can´t get through it by isolating it from the rest of the lyrics. There are a lot of relations to other parts of the album.
In fact it marks a centre, the focus to the whole narration. Imagine “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway”-Story as a double funnel. CC builds the connection between the two single-funnels. It sucks the stuff from one (out)side, the material world, through the “needle´s eye” to the other (in)side, your inner private world, where you have to deal with it and produce reflection and a reaction back to the world. These are principles of orientation and communication.
To collect and select the matters of importance for your own unique sphere and to let them really in, deep in your mind gives you the opportunity to reflect yourself back to the world in a process of interaction. You are impressed and you will express yourself at the same time in an ongoing circle.
The opposite of the double-funnel is the corridor. It is narrowed by (various) filters that brings you to handle the input in a prefabricated way.
The carpet crawlers “just” heed their callers. They just crawling on the surface incapable to reflect or react, just following blind, led by moral, ideology, economy or whatever. They see a door: their goal to achieve in expectation of a gratification: acceptance, fame, richness, blessedness. But they are not able to see the tiny needle´s eye that is just open for ideas and interaction [and “closing on the poor” (in mind or spirit)] which leads you to an independent state of existence.
“get in to get out” is an expression of universal meaning and can filled up with nearly everything. Between in and out you will find any content. “It´s over to you.” The content between birth (in) and death (out) should be life. But it seems to be that the crawlers bring just their bodies in and out.
Also CC is a compendium of the whole lyrics. All themes the whole album deals with are compressed here in the center as if you watch a whole cosmos contracted in just one point like a singularity.
It is the question about reality. What is really real? It is the question about to tell genes from conditioning. To tell truth from fabrication.
Gabriel begins with a simple impression:
“The wool is soft and warm.” (The clearest sentence of the whole story!) Something he can sense with his body.
Then: The salamander scurries into flame to be destroyed. You can proof that with your eyes.
But: In ancient times (say just 150 y. ago some places) people thought, salamanders are creatures of the fire and can´t destroyed by heat (so they throw them into flames ´cos they thought they were the cause of all kinds of burnings).
So you have to be alert. Who gives you the guarantee everything you see or you were told of is true? And by the way, why should a salamander scurries into flame at all?
Next step is to mix it up:
“Imaginary creatures are trapped in birth on celluloid” is a mixture of reality and fabrication or construction, the cultural reality we live in.
You can divide it in:
“Imaginary creatures are trapped on celluloid” and
(real) “creatures are trapped in birth”.
Trapped on celluloid means: it is burned in your brain by conditioning.
“Each thought and gesture are caught on celluloid. There´s no hiding in my memory. No room to void” (avoid).
You will not be able to wipe it off. It became a part of your reality. (If you “burned” as an Englishman you can´t be a German or more strange for example: Chinese; if you were 25 years old in 1600 you are not able to survive in 2008-society). As an adult, your conditioning became as real to you as your genetic code.
“The fleas cling to the golden fleece, hoping they´ll find peace”:
1. “The fleas cling to a fleece” of course! That´s the thing you can watch, the real thing. The fleas follow their instincts to survive, a natural mechanism. To add . “hoping they´ll find peace” makes the whole thing absurd (or leads you to take “fleas” as a symbol and create a association). Fleas doesn´t “hope” anything at all, it´s an only human ability. But you will find more sentences in this song that are constructed the same way like: “pulled up by a magnet believing they´re free” or “A mannikin fears attack”. To compare the flea-sentence with the magnet-sentence shows you that humans follow mechanisms as well but here these mechanisms are not always natural, most of them are constructions of society the people not aware of (= believing they´re free). But as a human being there is a chance to break these mechanisms by awareness and then you got the ability to choose (leads to chamber of 32 doors) personal freedom.
2. Reminds to the struggle of sperms to enter the ovum. Why? Maybe just because “hoping they´ll find peace” describes a human aim of sexual motivation, that leads you here to a powerful imagination. [An example how our instincts are connected to our emotions and how strong they really are and it also shows you how easy it can be to “manipulate” people by using (or abusing) their instincts.]
3. The “golden fleece” is something like an artefact of an old Greek myth. (Look for it in Wiki) In ancient times people in east Europe used the fleece of sheep to wash gold out of the rivers. So in Greek culture the lamb have had another spiritual meaning as in Jewish or Christian cultures. So believe it: “This lamb has nothing whatsoever to do with Rael, or any other lamb - it just lies down on Broadway.” (find it in LLDOB-Song; liner notes). Means: LLDOB´s got nothing to do with religion in particular. Related to the Greek myth, the lamb is a symbol of wealth, making money. Members of Christian culture tend to overpower the biblical theme (due to their conditioning!) according the numerous mystical symbols Peter Gabriel brings up here.
The lower verse beginning with: “Mild mannered supermen.” dealing with a special aspect of our condition. The gender role and the relationship between genders.
Superman is an idealised “person”, an imagination of being a man at all. It contains the double character of manhood: the strong, wild “version” fits to rule the world and the soft one (Clark Kent), the civilized (mild mannered), also fits to gain a woman. The double character is very hard to achieve and a cause for (self-)destruction (held in kryptonite = in the Superman-Saga a dangerous element of the planet Krypton which nullifies the strength of its inhabitants).
Remember: this was written in 1974, just short time after the sexual revolution of the 60s.
The virgins are wise and foolish at once. They are wise to accept the rituals and rules of their times to achieve their reachable goals but if you see it in the light of awareness of their situation as a depressed part of society they act foolish at the same time to accept their role.
“Through a door a harvest feast is lit by candlelight;”. there is another door to achieve. By following the rules of the gender roles it is promised a fulfilled and rich future to come.
“It’s the bottom of a staircase that spirals out of sight.” .At first the division of gender roles was a necessity to survive in archaic culture. To get rid off strong determined behaviour and instincts gives flexibility to adapt to chancing environments quickly. But it also means the newborns need more protection, care and time for learning (now they have to be conditioned to compensate the lack of genetic determination.) The necessity of teaching the young leads to a division of responsibilities between men and women and the hunter(men) -gatherer(women)-society. The cause of the division never comes to awareness to humanity for a long time, it was forgotten (spirals out of the genetic code and out of sight/ remembrance!). So the relationship between genders get out of balance with the increase of power of men caused by their part of responsibilities.
“The porcelain manikin with shattered skin” is a “fallen virgin”. With the “shattered skin” she lost most of the influence in her own faith in society. She altered from a “hollowed imagination” (“their bodies glowing bright” another idealistic vision) to a puppet, reduced to an “object” without prevention of society (fears attack). Today that seems ridiculous, but once it was a real matter of society and in 1974 there where still enough traces left in the minds of most of the people.
Following this thoughts “The eager pack lift up their pitchers, they carry all they lack.” (associate pitchers with Baseball!) reminds to the fact that the content of the “pitchers” is pure and clean and so there is a chance to alter society rules and rites (or culture) in a very short time compared to alter the genetic code. “The eager pack” lacks of the right conditioning and so every time the “liquid” congeales, (which has seeped out through the crack) in the same old fashioned way as long as everybody arranges himself with the results.
“The tickler* takes his stickleback#” could express two things:
Tickler is male: go on this way and you will be lost in masturbation. Similar meaning as: Erogenous zones I question you- Without you, what would a poor boy do? Without you, mankind handkinds thru’ the blues.
Tickler is female: Be aware of your power and choose (take) the “stickleback” who is willing to liberate gender relationships to influence and alter society and bring it to a balance between the sexes.
Over the whole album one of Gabriels aim is to connect the male and (cut off or subconscious) female aspects of his personality to get out as a whole and complete person. To be able to act from an intact inner center instead to be (de)formed by outside influences.
Leonad Cohen describes a similar dilemma in his song “Suzanne”. But while Suzanne is still an “outside” person (The reason of the melancholy in the song is the knowledge to miss something of yourself in her absence.) and you have to met her to get the feeling of wholeness, Gabriel finds his Suzanne inside himself in the figure of “Lilith”. The name Suzanne (Hebrew: Shoshana) means lily. The first time Lilith shows Rael/ Gabriel the meaning of wholeness [two golden globes (= closed spheres), (just) together producing a blinding white light (a symbol of their combined power)] he was shocked of its intensity and refused it on the first try. Later he overcomes his fear by jumping in the wild waters to rescue his own personality, his former very masculin periphery to the world named John. He rejoins with John but now something has changed. His connection to the world had altered marked by the yellow outline of their bodys (in expressionism yellow is the colour of female as blue is the colour of male - the lamia!). The former cut connection to his inner soul is restored.
You will find the theme in many later Gabriel-Songs again like “Blood Of Eden” or “Rythm Of The Heat” (you find that right after “It” as a demonstration of the new found power), Darkness and many more.
So long