Lyrics to
Seven Stones

This version of Seven Stones was released by Genesis in 1971.

Our About Genesis page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Seven Stones from 1971 as well as all of the other lyrics from Genesis that we have in our lyrics database.

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I heard the old man tell his tale:

Tinker, alone within a storm,
And losing hope he clears the leaves beneath a tree,
Seven stones
Lay on the ground.
Within the seventh house a friend was found.
And the changes of no consequence will pick up the reins from nowhere.

Sailors, in peril on the sea,
Amongst the waves a rock looms nearer, and not yet seen.
They see a gull
Flying by.
The Captain turns the boat and he asks not why.
And the changes of no consequence will pick up the reins from nowhere.
Nowhere.

Despair that tires the world brings the old man laughter.
The laughter of the world only grieves him,
believe him,
The old man’s guide is chance.

I heard the old man tell his tale:

Farmer, who knows not when to sow,
Consults the old man clutching money in his hand.
And with a shrug,
The old man smiled,
Took the money, left the farmer wild.
And the changes of no consequence will pick up the reins from nowhere.
Nowhere.

Despair that tires the world brings the old man laughter.
The laughter of the world only grieves him,
believe him,
The old man’s guide is chance.

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Genesis has released many songs over the years besides Seven Stones. 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 lyrics from 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1971 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Seven Stones by Genesis

The lyrics for Seven Stones are defined as the words making up the song released by Genesis in 1971. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Seven Stones have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Genesis and those working with them know all of the meanings behind all of the lyrics to their songs.

Some folks are interested in word and phrase etymology. It is easy to understand the lyrics to Seven Stones by Genesis if you think through it. 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 Seven Stones" means the words set to the music of Seven Stones, 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 Seven Stones and the lyrics to Seven Stones 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 Seven Stones, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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