Lyrics to
One For The Vine

This version of One For The Vine was released by Genesis in 1976.

Our Decade Lyrics Genesis profile has all of the One For The Vine lyrics from 1976 and many more songs from the Genesis discography that we have on file.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Genesis or about the 1970s in general.

Fifty thousand men were sent to do the will of one.
His claim was phrased quite simply, though he never voiced it loud,
I am he, the chosen one.

In his name they could slaughter, for his name they could die.
Though many there were believed in him, still more were sure he lied,
But they’ll fight the battle on.

Then one whose faith had died
Fled back up the mountainside,
But before the top was made,
A misplaced footfall made him stray
From the path prepared for him.
Off of the mountain,
On to a wilderness of ice.

This unexpected vision made them stand and shake with fear,
But nothing was his fright compared with those who saw him appear.
Terror filled their minds with awe.

Simple were the folk who lived
Upon this frozen wave.
So not surprising was their thought,
This is he, God’s chosen one,
Who’s come to save us from
All our oppressors.
We shall be kings on this world.

Follow me!
I’ll play the game you want me,
Until I find a way back home.

Follow me!
I give you strength inside you,
Courage to win your battles –

No, no, no, this can’t go on,
This will be all that I fled from.
Let me rest for a while.

He walked into a valley,
All alone.
There he talked with water, and then with the vine.

They leave me no choice.
I must lead them to glory or most likely to death.

They travelled cross the plateau of ice, up to its edge.
Then they crossed a mountain range and saw the final plain.
Still he urged the people on.

Then, on a distant slope,
He observed one without hope
Flee back up the mountainside.
He thought he recognised him by his walk,
And by the way he fell,
And by the way he
Stood up, and vanished into air

---

Want more lyrics and songs by Genesis?

Genesis has released many songs over the years besides One For The Vine. Genesis released songs from 1969 to 2000 spanning across albums like From Genesis To Revelation, Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England By The Pound, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, A Trick Of The Tail, Wind And Wuthering, ...And Then There Were Three..., Duke, Abacab, Genesis, Invisible Touch, We Can't Dance, Calling All Stations, Genesis Archive 1967-1975, and Genesis Archives #2 1976-92. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Genesis.

If you're a fan of 1970s music looking for more songs from 1976 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and One For The Vine by Genesis

When you decide to study the lyrics to One For The Vine, you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1976 song by Genesis. Some of the lyrics to One For The Vine have clear meanings and some contain metaphorical references. Like most songs, only Genesis and their collaborators know the full story behind any of the their songs.

You can understand the lyrics to One For The Vine if you take apart the structure of the words. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to One For The Vine" means the words set to the music of One For The Vine, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Genesis. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to One For The Vine and the lyrics to One For The Vine are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Genesis who came here looking just for the lyrics to One For The Vine, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

More Songs & Lyrics by Genesis

Visit our Genesis profile for more Genesis songs, lyrics & info!

)