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.
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.
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