Return Of The Giant Hogweed - 40 Years Later Life Imitates Art

The Return Of The Giant Hogweed is a song based on the Victorian introduction of a giant Hogweed plant (Heracleum mantegazzianum) after it was "captured" in Russia and brought to England by a Victorian explorer.

This plant has bizarre characteristics. The toxins are reactive to the UV rays of sunlight. It can create severe burns on the skin of humans. It is an extremely difficult plant to kill as it seems the roots are entirely resistant to herbicides. Haz Mat teams in special suits have to remove the plant as it is so dangerous.

What makes this song so unique is that the spread of the Hogweed has become a global issue. In the United States for example, the Hogweed has recently spread and caused harm to humans. There are similar non-toxic species that can confuse someone into believing that the plant is harmless.

Genesis, and most likely Peter Gabriel may have been inspired by the story "The Day Of The Triffids." It is a post apocalyptic story of an invasive plant species bioengineered in what was then present day USSR and managed to escape to wreak havoc on the world.

40 years after the release, it would seem that the song has a second life due to the continual spread of Hogweed in non indigenous areas. Just remember:

Waste no time!
They are approaching.
Hurry now, we must protect ourselves and find some shelter
Strike by night!
They are defenceless.
They all need the sun to photosensitize their venom.

 

Watcher Of The Skies - Genesis Meets Arthur C. Clarke

• Watcher of the Skies" was written by Rutherford and Banks.  During a tour in Italy, he two had been staring out over the landscape at the back of a hotel in Naples. Banks talked about it in an interview: "Early one morning, it was totally deserted. It was incredible. We had the idea of an alien coming down to the planet and seeing this world where obviously there had once been life and yet there was not one human being to be seen." The title is borrowed from John Keats' 1817 poem "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer": "Then felt I like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken."

 

If you ever wondered what role the Charterhouse School possibly played in Genesis, it is the musical connections to literature of the day. Surely, a formal education allowed the band members to make connections to songs that few bands could achieve. Mike and Tony made connections to literature often throughout their career with Genesis.

 

A great example is Watcher of the Skies. Loosely based on Clarke's "Childhood's End", which is about mankind evolving to leave Earth and their bodies behind and to join a cosmic consciousness called the "Overmind"

An alien (played live by Peter Gabriel in his Batwing headgear and inverse mohawk) comes to Earth, only to find it deserted. It begs the question - is it deserted because the creatures here destroyed themselves ("has life again destroyed life") or because they have left Mother Earth behind to go elsewhere (do they play elsewhere). Whatever the cause, like a primitive lizard leaving it's tail behind it, humanity as a whole has gone beyond it's union with the mother planet.
This alien is old, and has traveled a vast amount of space. Perhaps it is huge, or is organically grown into a massive ship, for we are told that the alien is a world unto itself, and that no world he passes is his.  After observing conditions on the planet, the alien imparts a bit of it's age-old wisdom to the vanished inhabitants, saying: "From life alone to life as one, Think not your journey's done For though your ship be sturdy, no Mercy has the sea, Will you survive on the ocean of being?"
(Mention of the Ocean of Being here is important symbolism.) Then, sad because it is still alone, the Watcher turns and heads back to the stars.

Often times, Rod Serling would use this kind of imagery in his writing the Twilight Zone. He felt that in order to understand our own being, we should travel to a different dimension. Similarly, Genesis would write songs for listeners to travel to another dimension. Watcher of the Skies was one of the best examples of connecting music to literature. One of the many unique features of Genesis.