The Waiting Room (song)

Song: The Waiting Room

Running Time: 5:25

Band: Genesis

Album: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (1974)

"The Waiting Room" is an instrumental piece by Genesis. It is the second track on the second half of their concept double-album, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.

An avant-garde, spooky-sounding instrumental, "The Waiting Room" represents the moment when the album's protagonist, Rael, has just been left alone in a deep, dark cavern by his female guide, Lilywhite Lilith. Rael suddenly sees a mysterious bright light coming up the tunnel to the left of him, accompanied by a whirring sound. The light becomes so intensely bright that Rael is blinded. In desperation, he reaches for the nearest stone and hurls it in front of him. He hears the sound of breaking glass, and, with the light fading just enough so that he can see again, Rael catches sight of two golden globes hovering down the tunnel away from him. The moment they disappear from his view, there is the sound of a loud crack, and the cavern collapses, trapping Rael underneath the rubble.

Genesis wrote "The Waiting Room" through an improvisational jam. In fact, the original working title for the piece was "The Evil Jam." Drummer Phil Collins has said that the band's only guidelines for "The Waiting Room" was that it had to begin nasty and finish nice, "and where we went in between was up to us." Says keyboardist Tony Banks, "We switched off all the lights and just made noises. And the first time it really was frightening." With the band all making strange sounds on their respective instruments in the darkened studio, a thunderstorm suddenly began outside. Upon hearing the thunder, says Collins, "We all thought, 'We've got in contact with something heavy here.'" Inspired by the thunder and the pouring rain, the band then switched gears and composed the melodic, uptempo section that concludes the piece.

Personnel:

Peter Gabriel: Oboe, Flute

Phil Collins: Drums, Percussion

Tony Banks: Keyboards

Mike Rutherford: Bass

Steve Hackett: Guitar

References: "The Book Of Genesis" by Hugh Fielder (published 1984)

"Genesis: A Biography" by Dave Bowler & Bryan Dray (published 1992)