"The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" is the first song from Genesis's 1974 album of the same name. The song was released as a single in the US but failed to chart. However, FM rock stations in the US would play this frequently.
Like other songs on the album, the music and lyrics in "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" are partially derived from 1960s soul songs. The end of the song features the words "They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway. They say there's always magic in the air" from The Drifters' song "On Broadway". The studio recording features a variation on the former lyric ("They say the lights are always bright on Broadway"), but subsequent live recordings feature the original.
The bass-playing on the song by Mike Rutherford has been described as having "connotations of aggressive energy" that fits in well with the concept album's angry and defiant character Rael.
After Gabriel's departure, the Phil Collins-fronted incarnation of the band performed the song often during their first few tours, usually segueing into the closing section of "The Musical Box". A live version appears on Seconds Out from 1977 as well as part of the "Old Medley" on The Way We Walk, Volume Two: The Longs from 1993. The song was also played in full during the 1998 Calling All Stations tour, with Ray Wilson on vocals.
Peter Gabriel also performed the song during his 1978 performances as an encore.
Progressive rock band The Flower Kings covered the song on their first live album Alive on Planet Earth. Rock guitarist Paul Gilbert covered the song on his 2003 solo album Gilbert Hotel.
Famous quotes containing the words lamb, lies and/or broadway:
“gone before
To that unknown and silent shore,”
—Charles Lamb (1775–1834)
“Someone who always has to lie discovers that every one of his lies is true.”
—Elias Canetti (b. 1905)
“Too many Broadway actors in motion pictures lost their grip on success—had a feeling that none of it had ever happened on that sun-drenched coast, that the coast itself did not exist, there was no California. It had dropped away like a hasty dream and nothing could ever have been like the things they thought they remembered.”
—Mae West (1892–1980)