Paykar

The Battle Footage

from 1976; Collins is the lead singer.

Storytelling

Gabriel used to tell stories while the band was getting ready to start a song (tuning their instruments). This is what he used to say before the start of the Supper's Ready. It is from their 1969-1975 collection.

"Old Henry went past the pet shop, which was never open, into the
park, which was never closed, and the park was full of a very smooth,
clean, green grass. So Henry took off all his clothes and began rubbing
his flesh into the wet, clean, green grass. He accompanied himself with a
little tune - it went like this." [Gabriel then briefly performs scant singing over Collins's drum accompaniment.]

"Beneath the ground, the dirty brown writhing things called 'worms'
interpreted the pitter-patter from above as rainfall. Rainfall in
worm-world means two things: mating and bath time. Both of these
experiences were thoroughly enjoyable to the worm colony. Within
seconds, the entire surface of the park was a mass of dirty, brown,
soggy, writhing forms.

"He was still pleased, old Michael, and he began whistling a tune
this time to accompany himself." [Gabriel then briefly whistles the
beginning of the hymn Jerusalem.] " 'Jerusalem Boogie' to us, perhaps. But to the birds it meant that supper was ready."

Supper's Ready

The seven sections of the song, Supper's Ready.

1. Lovers Leap
Written By Gabriel after he witnessed " an out of body" experience in his wife. Gabriel recounts another experience ( seeing seven saintly shrouded men) which led him to contemplate notions of Good and Evil. Supper's Ready is the result of such contemplation.

2. Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man
The Concert Program describes the section this way:
" The lovers come across a town dominated by two characters; one a benevolent farmer and the other the head of a highly disciplined scientific religion. The latter likes to be known as "The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man" and claims to contain a secret new ingredient capable of fighting fire. This is a falsehood, an untruth, a whopper and a taradiddle, or to put it in clearer terms; a lie."

3. Ikhnaton and Itsacan and Their Band of Merry Men
It is a battle seen between the two characters. The concert program description:
"Who the lovers see clad in grays and purples, awaiting to be summoned out of the ground. At the G.E.S.M's (Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man) command they put forth from the bowels of the earth, to attack all those without an up-to-date "Eternal Life License", which were obtainable at the head office of the G.E.S.M.'s religion."

4. How Dare I Be So Beautiful?
Form the concert Program:
"In which our intrepid heroes investigate the aftermath of the battle and discover a solitary figure, obsessed by his own image. They witness an unusual transmutation, and are pulled into their own reflections in the water."

5. Willow Farm
"Climbing out of the pool, they are once again in a different existence. They're right in the middle of a myriad of bright colors, filled with all manner of objects, plants, animals and humans. Life flows freely and everything is mindlessly busy. At random, a whistle blows and every single thing is instantly changed into another."

6. Apocalypse in 9/8
At this point the music  is fantastically depicting the battle seen. ( the seconds out tour film has an actual modern battle footage climaxing with the explosion of the atomic bomb.)

7. As Sure As Eggs is Eggs.
The Second Coming is revealed as Gabriel discards his Magog outfit, a white flash goes off, he reappears in a white costume to takes his children to the "New Jerusalem."