About the band: Genesis are a British rock band formed in 1967, whose output in the period 1970-1976 (the Gabriel and/or Hackett years) is among the very best of prog rock. After the departure of first Gabriel, and then Hackett, the remaining three members (Collins, Rutherford, Banks) opted for a more commercial rock sound that was highly successful for about 12 years. The band released 15 studio albums. One of my favourite bands for their prog years, even though I also appreciate some songs that came later. Genesis currently have nine songs in my list of about 200 best pop/rock songs of all time.
About the song: Most tracks on Trick of the tail, the first Genesis album without Peter Gabriel, continued the style of the previous albums, but there were also some tracks which presented a more direct, less fanciful direction. The best example of this is Ripples, an epic ballad about the perceived threat of growing old. The lyrics alternate verses that mourn the passing of beauty which comes with getting older ("The face that launched a thousand ships is sinking fast - that happens, you know") with a chorus that uses the image of ripples disappearing across a pond for the aging process itself ("Sail away, away - ripples never come back"). The music maintains the low-key mood of the lyrics: its gentle melody with verses that drift high and low with a yearning chorus that floats off into the ether. Run time 8:05.
