| "Fly on a Windshield" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Genesis from the album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway | ||||
| Released | 29 November 1974 | |||
| Recorded | August-October 1974 | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 2:45[1] | |||
| Label | Charisma/Virgin (UK) Atco (original US) Atlantic (remastered CD)(United States) |
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| Writer | Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, and Phil Collins. | |||
| Producer | John Burns and Genesis | |||
| The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway track listing | ||||
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"Fly on a Windshield" is a song by Genesis. It is the second track from their 1974 concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
The song describes the album's protagonist, Rael, making his way through the streets of New York City, when he suddenly sees a mysterious dark cloud descend upon Times Square nearby, where it forms a solid wall and slowly engulfs the city and its pedestrians, block by block, making its way towards Rael. Rael tries to run away, but the winds pick up, forming a thick, hard crust of dust all over him, rendering him immobile. The wall engulfs Rael, hitting him hard "like a fly, waiting for the windshield on the freeway."
The song originally came about through a band improvisation, sparked by an idea that bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford had. Says keyboardist Tony Banks, "We used a lot of moods (on the album), at times things were little more than improvisations on an idea. For instance, Mike would say, 'Pharaohs going down the Nile', and he would just play two chords and instantly the rest of us would conjure up that particular mood. That one ended up on the album as Fly On A Windshield."[2]
Besides being performed on the "Lamb" tour itself, "Fly on a Windshield" was also performed by Genesis on the "A Trick of the Tail" tour of 1976, as part of the "Lamb Stew" medley. It was also later performed at their Six of the Best reunion concert with Peter Gabriel at the Milton Keynes Concert Bowl on October 2, 1982.