Sep 18, 2011

He Sees Everything And Nothing At All


Abacab
Genesis (1981)
The eleventh studio album from Genesis was released thirty years ago today.  It's not a record that I have ever owned, but it has one song that I found on an old VHS tape of music videos that was recorded off of MTV in the early 80's.  It's a haunting song written by Phil Collins about a homeless man that makes me feel deeply sad every time I hear it, but for reasons that I can't explain, it also brings me peace.
See the lonely man there on the corner
What he's waiting for, I don't know
But he waits every day now
He's just waiting for something to show

And nobody knows him
And nobody cares
Cause there's no hiding place
There's no hiding place for you

Looking everywhere at no one
He sees everything and nothing at all
When he shouts, nobody listens
Where he leads, no one will go

He's a lonely man there on the corner
What he's waiting for, I don't know
But he waits every day now
And he's just waiting for something to show

And nobody knows him
And nobody cares
Cause there's no hiding place
There's no hiding place

For you and me
Are we just like all the rest?
We're looking too hard for something he's got
Or moving too fast to rest
But like a monkey on your back, you need it
But do you love it enough to leave it all?

Just like the lonely man there on the corner
What he's waiting for, I don't know, oh
But he waits every day now
He's just waiting for that somethin' to show

Who, the lonely man there on the corner
What he's waiting for, I don't know
But he's there every day now
And he's just waiting for something to show