Mad Man Moon

Absolutely gorgeous tune; an underrated one in Genesis' discography. Looking over the lyrics, I have a faint sense of what it's about, but nothing too specific. Does anyone have an ideas or insights about the story? Is it based on something, perhaps?

Ozark Soundscape wrote: Absolutely gorgeous tune; an underrated one in Genesis' discography.

        


Edited by SquonkHunter - December 23 2014 at 20:17

chopper wrote: Perhaps "the grass is greener" explanation is the best?

It's pretty obvious that this song is a criticism of atheism:

Edited by brainstormer - December 25 2014 at 04:30

Michael678 wrote: chopper wrote: To quote Viv Stanshall "Buggered if I know" but this might give you some ideas.   http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/1730/   Perhaps "the grass is greener" explanation is the best? 1. the link doesn't show the song's meaning.

No it shows what people think might be the meaning. Only Tony Banks (presumably) knows the correct meaning.

prog4evr wrote: Stellar keyboard work on this song.  Banks says it is his favorite on the album.  I like it for its variety in music "moods" from beginning to end...

Yeah -so I am "quoting" on my own comment (okay -so that's weird):  I think 'Mad Man Moon' is only the third best song on the album.  The first is without a doubt "Ripples" (IMO), and the second is "Entangled"...

brainstormer wrote: It's pretty obvious that this song is a criticism of atheism: If this desert's all there will ever be then tell me what becomes of me? a fall of rain? And IMHO, it seems even moreso a criticism of a certain philosopher, which some of you will know, that a certain prog rocker took  an interest in around the time of this album:  that must of been another of your dreams, a dream of mad man moon. Sorry to be enigmantic.  The philosopher was Gurdjieff who took a misanthropic view of humanity, saying that most of it was a type of energy vitamin for a lower level of existence after death that would take place on the moon (hence, "Mad Man Moon).   A nice fire and brimstone analogy.  That prog rocker mentioned above  was Robert Fripp.

Only 'obvious' to some one who came to it with preconceived ideas looking for that explanation - it just goes to show how the lyrics can be interpreted in several ways, which is part of their strength.
And since it was written several years before TOTT I think your second theory is rather weakened, yes?

It's one of Genesis' most dreamy songs, a dream in itself where I wouldn't search for real logical content.

I`m no lyric freak, really. In fact many times I don`t get the meaning of the lyrics, specially if they are too metaphorical. Strange enough, that one seemed quite clear since the first time I got the album. It`s all about the natural human tendency to understimate what we have and idealize what we don`t. The grass is always greener on the other side. You might have a life, love someone but you feel that happiness lies somewhere else so one day you decide to leave all behind and go "behind the final crest" until you sadly discover that this life you dreamed about was only a mirage, and it`s too late to go back now (all the horses are made of sand). If you lived all your life in a muddy rainy place you might think that "heaven is where the sun shines". But once you get there, you find that it`s a desert and you long for what you left. Of course, that`s my interpretatinon and I might be totally wrong but in any case I consider it to be one of the best Genesis songs, which for me means one of the best songs ever written. And that piano....