History Music / SellingEnglandByThePound

* NonAppearingTitle: "Firth of Fifth".

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The chorus of "The Cinema Show"; see GenderBender below. This planet actually contains roughly twice as much sea as land. The band [[CaptainObvious weren't being literal here]], using the water and earth as metaphors for how sex feels as a man and a woman, respectively.

* CoverDrop: "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" features the line "when the sun beats down and I lie on the bench, I can always hear them talk," imagery that is reflected on the album cover.

* LiteraryAllusionTitle: The album title was used as a slogan by the British Labour Party at one point.

* MobWar: "The Battle of Epping Forest", written about the turf wars in London's East End that Music/PeterGabriel had heard of for years.

** "The Battle of Epping Forest" makes a passing reference to Music/{{Woodstock}}, and Gabriel does a brief Music/BobDylan impression.
** "The Cinema Show" refers to both ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' and Greek mythology within the span of a few minutes.

* SongStyleShift: Because it's ProgressiveRock, these can happen anywhere, but a particularly noteworthy one is the shift from folk at the beginning of "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" to complex, fast-paced progressive rock in the middle to an eerie twelve string guitar-led instrumental at the end.

* ConceptAlbum: The album's lyrics center around the decline of English folk culture in the wake of growing Americanization, as exemplified by the album title. According to Music/TonyBanks, the album was not originally conceived this way, but ended up leaning into the concept as the songs developed.

** For starters, the "pound" in the title can refer either to the measurement of weight or to the British currency.

[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesco Tess]] co-[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-op_Food op]]erates.

* LyricalColdOpen: "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" (and by extension, the album) opens with the acapella line "'Can you tell me where my country lies?' said the Unifaun to his true love's eyes." The guitar then kicks in with the line "'It lies with me,' cried the Queen of Maybe."

** "Aisle of Plenty" is a reprise of "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight".

Said the Unifaun to his true love's eyes\\

# "Cinema Show" (11:10)

* BookEnds: "Aisle of Plenty" is a reprise of "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight".

* EpicRocking: There are four tracks longer than eight minutes, though originally "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", "Cinema Show", and "Aisle of Plenty" were to be part of a 20-minute suite, much like "Music/SuppersReady", considering the riffs linking the tracks together.

** "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" has wordplay which incorporates British mythology with the modern world, including the "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Queen Queen of Maybe]]" and "Knights of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Shield_Stamps Green Shield stamp]] and shout".

* LyricalColdOpen: "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" (and by extension, the album) opens with the acapella line "Can you tell me where my country lies?"

* NoEnding: In a way, "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", because it was intended to lead into "Cinema Show". It simply fades out on the recording, but it's pretty clearly meant to build tension until the opening of the latter track releases it.
* RecurringRiff: As "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", "Cinema Show", and "Aisle of Plenty" were originally meant to be a suite, there is a similar progression that can be heard at any point in the three songs, of which it transitions the latter two in the final cut.

* ShoutOut: All over the place. "The Cinema Show" refers to both ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' and Greek mythology within the span of a few minutes. "The Battle of Epping Forest" makes a passing reference to Music/{{Woodstock}}, and Gabriel does a brief Music/BobDylan impression. "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" makes references both to an old Labour Party slogan (which also provides the album with its name) and to "Land of Hope and Glory", a song commonly associated with the British Conservative Party. And so on.
* SiameseTwinSongs: "Cinema Show" and "Aisle of Plenty", to the point where some releases (including the original 1973 LP) have them combined as one track.
* SongStyleShift: Because it's ProgressiveRock, these can happen anywhere, but a particularly noteworthy one is the shift from folk at the beginning of "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" to complex progressive rock in the middle to an eerie twelve string guitar-led instrumental at the end.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The chorus of "The Cinema Show"; see GenderBender below. This planet actually contains roughly twice as much sea as land. The band [[CaptainObvious weren't being literal here]].

* GenderBender: The chorus, such as it is, of "The Cinema Show" (it's the only segment of the song to be sung twice) centres around Father Tiresias, a figure from Greek mythology who had lived as both a man and a woman.

* LyricalColdOpen: The whole album opens a cappella with Gabriel's voice.

''Selling England by the Pound'' is the fifth studio album by Music/{{Genesis}}, released through Creator/CharismaRecords on 13 October 1973. It was the first album by the band which charted a single in the UK ("I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", #21) and reached the US Billboard 200 (#70).

Said the Unifaun to his true loves eyes\\

----

!! ''I knoooooooooow what I trope and I troooooooooope what I know'':

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: There used to be online an essay by an American fan about "The Battle of Epping Forest", who amongst other unintentionally hilarious mistakes failed to realise that "not since the Civil War" refers to the English Civil War, not the American one.

** "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", we might note, is ''also'' a pun, as is "Firth of Fifth", which is a pun on the actual body of water the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firth_of_Forth Firth of Forth]]. The album title itself also qualifies, since "pound" can refer either to the measurement of weight or to the British currency. And that's just titles; if we delved into song lyrics we might be here all day.

''Selling England by the Pound'' is the fifth studio album by Music/{{Genesis}}, released through Creator/CharismaRecords on 13 October 1973. It was the first album by the band which charted a single in the UK ("I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", #21) and reached the US Billboard 200 (#70). Although a modest commercial success compared to the later works of both the band and its then-members Music/PeterGabriel and Music/PhilCollins (it has likely sold around a million copies worldwide by now), its impact has extended far beyond its commercial performance; it remains not merely in all likelihood their most acclaimed album but one of the most acclaimed ProgressiveRock albums of all time.

-->There's the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safeway_(UK) safe way]] home\\

->''"'Paper late!' cried a voice in the crowd\\
'Old man dies!' The note he left was signed 'Old Father Thames'\\
It seems he's drowned\\
[[AlbumTitleDrop Selling England by the pound]]"''
-->-- "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight"

-->Old man dies\\

-->It all began when I went on a tour,
-->Hoping to find some furniture.
-->I followed a sign -- it said "Beautiful Chest".
-->It led to a lady who showed me her best.

** "The Cinema Show" also has one centring around Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet.
* EpicRocking: There are four tracks longer than eight minutes, though originally "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", "Cinema Show", and "Aisle of Plenty" were to be part of a 20-minute suite, much like Music/SuppersReady, considering the riffs linking the tracks together.

--> Take a little trip back with Father Tiresias
--> Listen to the old one speak of all he has lived through
--> I have crossed between the poles
--> For me there's no mystery
--> Once a man, like the sea I raged
--> Once a woman, like the earth I gave
--> [[ArtisticLicenseGeography But there is in fact more earth than sea]]
* HurricaneOfPuns: It's not just that "Aisle of Plenty"'s title is in itself a pun; the song has these for the big grocery chains of the time.

** Really, the whole album is full of them. "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", we might note, is ''also'' a pun, as is "Firth of Fifth", which is a pun on the actual body of water the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firth_of_Forth Firth of Forth]]. The album title itself also qualifies, since "pound" can refer either to the measurement of weight or to the British currency. And that's just titles; if we delved into song lyrics we might be here all day.

* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:After all the fighting in "The Battle of Epping Forest", all the participants end up dead. Because the battle would otherwise be a draw, their accountants flip a coin to settle the matter.]]

'''''Selling England by the Pound''''' is the fifth studio album by Music/{{Genesis}}, released in 1973. It was the first album by the band which charted a single in the UK ("I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", #21) and reached the US Billboard 200 (#70). Although a modest commercial success compared to the later works of both the band and its then-members Music/PeterGabriel and Music/PhilCollins (it has likely sold around a million copies worldwide by now), its impact has extended far beyond its commercial performance; it remains not merely in all likelihood their most acclaimed album but one of the most acclaimed ProgressiveRock albums of all time.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[CoverDrop When the sun beats down, and I lie on the bench, I can always hear them talk.]]]]

->"'Paper late!' cried a voice in the crowd\\

[[AlbumTitleDrop Selling England by the pound]]"

''Selling England by the Pound'' is the fifth studio album by Music/{{Genesis}}, released in 1973. It was the first album by the band which charted a single in the UK ("I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", #21) and reached the US Billboard 200 (#70). Although a modest commercial success compared to the later works of both the band and its then-members Music/PeterGabriel and Music/PhilCollins (it has likely sold around a million copies worldwide by now), its impact has extended far beyond its commercial performance; it remains not merely in all likelihood their most acclaimed album but one of the most acclaimed ProgressiveRock albums of all time.

* {{Instrumentals}}: "After the Ordeal".

** The name "Selling England by the Pound" refers to both the currency and the unit of measurement.

* DoubleEntendre: In "The Battle of Epping Forest":

[[AlbumTitleDrop Selling england by the pound]]"

''Selling England by the Pound'' is the fifth studio album by Music/{{Genesis}}, released in 1973. It was the first album by the band which charted a single in the UK ("I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", #21) and reached the US Billboard 200 (#70). Although a modest commercial success compared to the later works of both the band and its then-members Music/PeterGabriel and Music/PhilCollins, its impact has extended far beyond its commercial performance; it remains not merely in all likelihood their most acclaimed album but one of the most acclaimed ProgressiveRock albums of all time.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The chorus of "The Cinema Show"; see GenderBender below. This planet actually contains roughly twice as much sea as land. The band weren't being literal here.