White Mountain (song)
Encyclopedia
"White Mountain" is a song by the progressive rock
group Genesis
. It was released on their second studio album, Trespass
.
Lyrically, the song tells a fable
of a wolf named Fang, who seeks to usurp the authority of the pack leader (an old undefeated hero known as One-Eye) by learning of the crown and sceptre known only to the king. The sentence for Fang's sin is death. As the song progresses, Fang is chased by a pack of wolves led by One-Eye, before falling before the king in an epic final battle between the two. One-Eye then hides the crown and returns to his pack in peace.
The lyrics initially describe the characters as wolves, but later refer to One Eye performing actions which appear to mark him out as a human (e.g .raising a sceptre). This may be an attempt in the song to blur the race of the characters between human and animal, or may be meant to refer to a possibly lycanthropic aspect of One Eye or indeed the entire pack.
The song was performed live during 1976, on the A Trick of the Tail
tour, with Phil Collins singing the lead as Peter Gabriel had by this time left the band. Live versions did not include significant drum parts, but rather an accompaniment using a hi-hat
. John Mayhew, the drummer who recorded the song, had been dismissed after the recording of the album, with Collins replacing him shortly thereafter.
The album takes its name from the song as Fang is said to have "trespassed where no wolf may tread," save the king himself.
During the 1976 Trick of the Tail tour, on several occasions, Phil Collins would mistakenly replaced the word tread with "go", even though the word "Go" doesn't rhyme with the word Dead in the line that follows in the song (e.g. The last sacred haunt of the Dead)
The names of Fang and One Eye are borrowed from Jack London
's novel White Fang
. In the story, Fang has the first name of White, and One Eye is Fang's father. The song and the story differ in every other respect.
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
group Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
. It was released on their second studio album, Trespass
Trespass (album)
Trespass is the second studio album by Genesis and was recorded and released in 1970. Their last with guitarist Anthony Phillips, Trespass had a folk-flavoured progressive rock sound that was a marked departure from their earlier work....
.
Lyrically, the song tells a fable
Fable
A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized , and that illustrates a moral lesson , which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.A fable differs from...
of a wolf named Fang, who seeks to usurp the authority of the pack leader (an old undefeated hero known as One-Eye) by learning of the crown and sceptre known only to the king. The sentence for Fang's sin is death. As the song progresses, Fang is chased by a pack of wolves led by One-Eye, before falling before the king in an epic final battle between the two. One-Eye then hides the crown and returns to his pack in peace.
The lyrics initially describe the characters as wolves, but later refer to One Eye performing actions which appear to mark him out as a human (e.g .raising a sceptre). This may be an attempt in the song to blur the race of the characters between human and animal, or may be meant to refer to a possibly lycanthropic aspect of One Eye or indeed the entire pack.
The song was performed live during 1976, on the A Trick of the Tail
A Trick of the Tail
-B Side:*This is the first song in the Genesis catalogue to feature an ellipsis in its name, used to convey the mysteriousness of the track. All future issues of this track omit the elipsis, however....
tour, with Phil Collins singing the lead as Peter Gabriel had by this time left the band. Live versions did not include significant drum parts, but rather an accompaniment using a hi-hat
Hi-hat
A hi-hat, or hihat, is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in R&B, hip-hop, disco, jazz, rock and roll, house, reggae and other forms of contemporary popular music.- Operation :...
. John Mayhew, the drummer who recorded the song, had been dismissed after the recording of the album, with Collins replacing him shortly thereafter.
The album takes its name from the song as Fang is said to have "trespassed where no wolf may tread," save the king himself.
During the 1976 Trick of the Tail tour, on several occasions, Phil Collins would mistakenly replaced the word tread with "go", even though the word "Go" doesn't rhyme with the word Dead in the line that follows in the song (e.g. The last sacred haunt of the Dead)
The names of Fang and One Eye are borrowed from Jack London
Jack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
's novel White Fang
White Fang
White Fang is a novel by American author Jack London. First serialized in Outing magazine, it was published in 1906. The story takes place in Yukon Territory, Canada, during the Klondike Gold Rush at the end of the 19th-century, and details a wild wolfdog's journey to domestication...
. In the story, Fang has the first name of White, and One Eye is Fang's father. The song and the story differ in every other respect.