In the cage

Peter Gabriel

There’s sunshine in my stomach
Like I just rocked my baby to sleep.
There’s sunshine in my stomach
And I can’t keep me from creeping sleep,
Sleep, deep in the deep.

Rockface moves to press my skin
White liquids turn sour within
Turn fast – turn sour
Turn sweat – turn sour.
Must tell myself that I’m not here.
I’m drowning in a liquid fear.
Bottled in a strong compression,
My distortion shows obsession
In the cave.
Get me out of this cave!

If I keep self-control,
I’ll be safe in my soul.
And the childhood belief
Bring’s a moment’s relief,
But my cynic soon returns
And the lifeboat burns.
My spirit just never learns.

Stalactites, stalagmites
Shut me in, lock me tight.
Lips are dry, throat is dry.
Feel like burning, stomach churning,
I’m dressed up in a white costume
Padding out leftover room.
Body stretching, feel the wretching
In the cage
Get me out of this cage!

In the glare of a light,
I see a strange kind of sight;
Of cages joined to form a star
Each person can’t go very far;
All tied to their things
They are netted by their strings,
Free to flutter in memories of their wasted wings.

Outside the cage I see my Brother John,
He turns his head so slowly round.
I cry out Help! before he can be gone,
And he looks at me without a sound.
And I shout out ‘John please help me!’
But he does not even want to try to speak.
I’m helpless in my violent rage
And a silent tear of blood dribbles down his cheek,
And I watch him turn away and leave the cage.
My little runaway.

In a trap, feel a strap
Holding still. Pinned for kill.
Chances narrow that I’ll make it,
In the cushioned straight-jacket.
Just like 22^nd Street,
When they got me by my neck and feet.
Pressures building, can’t take any more.
My headaches charge. My earaches roar.
In the pain
Get me out of this pain.

If I could change to liquid,
I could fill the cracks up in the rock.
But I know that I am solid
And I am my own bad luck.
But outside John disappears and my cage dissolves,
and without any reason my body revolves.

Keep on turning
Keep on turning
Turning around
Spinning around.

Fonte: encarte que acompanha os LPs do álbum duplo The lamb lies down on Broadway (1974), do Genesis.