“Entangled”, the second track from Genesis’s 1976 album A Trick of the Tail, is one of the band’s most quietly haunting and delicately beautiful compositions. Nestled within an album that marked a pivotal transition - Phil Collins stepping up as lead vocalist following Peter Gabriel’s departure - “Entangled” stands out as a luminous moment of pastoral serenity tinged with unsettling undertones.
Co-written by guitarist Steve Hackett and keyboardist Tony Banks, the song unfolds slowly, almost dreamlike. It opens with layers of 12-string acoustic guitars that recall the band's earlier pastoral sound from albums like Selling England by the Pound and Trespass. There’s an ethereal quality to the arrangement, with gentle melodies and soft vocal harmonies that evoke an atmosphere of calm, almost lullaby-like in tone.
Phil Collins’s vocal performance is subtle and restrained, perfectly capturing the song’s sense of uneasy tranquility. His voice floats gently over the instrumentation, narrating a surreal scenario that hints at psychological unraveling, sleep therapy, or possibly sedation and control. The lyrics - “When you're asleep they may show you / Aerial views of the ground” - are poetic and ambiguous, suggesting themes of disassociation, manipulation, and fragile consciousness.
As the song progresses, Tony Banks introduces a haunting Mellotron passage that slowly builds into a spectral climax. It’s one of the most breathtaking moments on the album: an instrumental coda that swells and hovers like a ghostly choir, simultaneously beautiful and ominous. The contrast between the delicate folk-like beginning and the darkly majestic ending reveals the emotional depth and sonic sophistication that Genesis had refined during their progressive peak.
While the song may lack the theatrical flair of earlier Gabriel-era pieces, its power lies in its restraint and mood. It's a perfect combination of dynamics and atmosphere, weaving light and shadow with quiet intensity. The track never explodes into overt drama but leaves a lingering unease - like waking from a dream you can’t fully explain.
“Entangled” is a subtle gem in Genesis’s catalog: haunting, melancholic, and intricately layered. It showcases the band’s ability to shift from pastoral elegance to ethereal darkness with effortless grace. As both a highlight of A Trick of the Tail and a testament to the band’s post-Gabriel evolution, “Entangled” proves that Genesis didn’t lose their soul - they simply discovered a new, quieter voice.
Co-written by guitarist Steve Hackett and keyboardist Tony Banks, the song unfolds slowly, almost dreamlike. It opens with layers of 12-string acoustic guitars that recall the band's earlier pastoral sound from albums like Selling England by the Pound and Trespass. There’s an ethereal quality to the arrangement, with gentle melodies and soft vocal harmonies that evoke an atmosphere of calm, almost lullaby-like in tone.
Phil Collins’s vocal performance is subtle and restrained, perfectly capturing the song’s sense of uneasy tranquility. His voice floats gently over the instrumentation, narrating a surreal scenario that hints at psychological unraveling, sleep therapy, or possibly sedation and control. The lyrics - “When you're asleep they may show you / Aerial views of the ground” - are poetic and ambiguous, suggesting themes of disassociation, manipulation, and fragile consciousness.
As the song progresses, Tony Banks introduces a haunting Mellotron passage that slowly builds into a spectral climax. It’s one of the most breathtaking moments on the album: an instrumental coda that swells and hovers like a ghostly choir, simultaneously beautiful and ominous. The contrast between the delicate folk-like beginning and the darkly majestic ending reveals the emotional depth and sonic sophistication that Genesis had refined during their progressive peak.
While the song may lack the theatrical flair of earlier Gabriel-era pieces, its power lies in its restraint and mood. It's a perfect combination of dynamics and atmosphere, weaving light and shadow with quiet intensity. The track never explodes into overt drama but leaves a lingering unease - like waking from a dream you can’t fully explain.
“Entangled” is a subtle gem in Genesis’s catalog: haunting, melancholic, and intricately layered. It showcases the band’s ability to shift from pastoral elegance to ethereal darkness with effortless grace. As both a highlight of A Trick of the Tail and a testament to the band’s post-Gabriel evolution, “Entangled” proves that Genesis didn’t lose their soul - they simply discovered a new, quieter voice.