The Cinema Show
Encyclopedia
"The Cinema Show" is an epic rock song by British progressive rock band Genesis
from their 1973 album, Selling England by the Pound
.
Musically, the song is divided into two main sections: The first section is a gentle 12-string guitar-based piece, featuring vocal harmonies between Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins as well as a short flute solo
. Afterward, the song segues into a four-and-a-half minute keyboard solo by Tony Banks, with Mike Rutherford and Collins laying down the rhythm in a 7/8 time signature
(this solo has frequently been integrated into the "In the Cage
" medley that appeared in later years). The song ends by switching back to 4/4 time and seguing into the following song, "Aisle of Plenty." When performed live, however, "Aisle of Plenty" was not performed; instead, a new ending was added at the end of the 7/8 section, as heard on live album Seconds Out
.
The lyrics, written by Banks and Rutherford, draw much of their inspiration from the T. S. Eliot
poem The Waste Land
. They refer to two characters, Romeo and Juliet (after the famous Romeo Montague
and Juliet Capulet
), each readying oneself for their date
at a cinema
show (with Romeo entertaining high hopes for a sexual encounter with Juliet afterward). The chorus
makes reference to Tiresias
, a character from Greek mythology who lived as both a man and a woman, and who concluded that women derive more pleasure from sex than men do.
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
from their 1973 album, Selling England by the Pound
Selling England by the Pound
- Sound and live performance :The piano introduction to "Firth of Fifth" has not been included in a performance since 1974, in a Drury Lane Theatre concert, when Banks misplayed and Collins covered by starting the song from after the intro...
.
Musically, the song is divided into two main sections: The first section is a gentle 12-string guitar-based piece, featuring vocal harmonies between Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins as well as a short flute solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
. Afterward, the song segues into a four-and-a-half minute keyboard solo by Tony Banks, with Mike Rutherford and Collins laying down the rhythm in a 7/8 time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
(this solo has frequently been integrated into the "In the Cage
In the Cage (song)
"In the Cage" is a song by progressive rock band Genesis on their 1974 double-album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Along with the title track and "The Carpet Crawlers," it is one of the few songs from the album to remain in Genesis's live repertoire after the Lamb tour.The lyrics describe the...
" medley that appeared in later years). The song ends by switching back to 4/4 time and seguing into the following song, "Aisle of Plenty." When performed live, however, "Aisle of Plenty" was not performed; instead, a new ending was added at the end of the 7/8 section, as heard on live album Seconds Out
Seconds Out
Seconds Out is a live double album by Genesis, released in October 1977. It reached No.4 in the UK, remaining in the charts for 17 weeks. The performances were recorded in Paris in 1976 and 1977 on their tours in support of A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering...
.
The lyrics, written by Banks and Rutherford, draw much of their inspiration from the T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
poem The Waste Land
The Waste Land
The Waste Land[A] is a 434-line[B] modernist poem by T. S. Eliot published in 1922. It has been called "one of the most important poems of the 20th century." Despite the poem's obscurity—its shifts between satire and prophecy, its abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location and time, its...
. They refer to two characters, Romeo and Juliet (after the famous Romeo Montague
Romeo Montague
Romeo is one of the fictional protagonists in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Romeo is the son of old Montague and his wife, who secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet...
and Juliet Capulet
Juliet Capulet
Juliet is one of the title characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the other being Romeo. She is the daughter of old Capulet, head of the house of Capulet. The story has a long history that precedes Shakespeare himself....
), each readying oneself for their date
Dating (activity)
Dating is a form of courtship consisting of social activities done by two persons with the aim of each assessing the other's suitability as a partner in an intimate relationship or as a spouse...
at a cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
show (with Romeo entertaining high hopes for a sexual encounter with Juliet afterward). The chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
makes reference to Tiresias
Tiresias
In Greek mythology, Tiresias was a blind prophet of Thebes, famous for clairvoyance and for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo; Tiresias participated fully in seven generations at Thebes, beginning as advisor to Cadmus...
, a character from Greek mythology who lived as both a man and a woman, and who concluded that women derive more pleasure from sex than men do.
Line-up
- Peter Gabriel: vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
, bass drumBass drumBass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all.... - Steve Hackett: electricElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
and acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
s - Mike Rutherford: bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and acoustic guitar, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Tony Banks: ARP Pro SoloistARP Pro SoloistThe ARP Pro Soloist was one of the first commercially successful preset electronic music synthesizers. Introduced by ARP Instruments, Inc. in 1972, it replaced the similar ARP Soloist in the company's lineup of portable performance instruments.-History:...
, MellotronMellotronThe Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
, Hammond organHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
, Hohner PianetPianetthumb|Hohner Pianet TThe Pianet was a series of electric pianos built by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany from the 1960s to the 1970s. The designer of the early Pianet models was Ernst Zacharias, basing the mechanism closely on a 1920s design by Lloyd Loar...
, backing vocals - Phil Collins: DrumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s, triangleTriangle (instrument)The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
and backing vocals