Lyrics to
The Fountain Of Salmacis

This version of The Fountain Of Salmacis was released by Genesis in 1971.

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a flower containing both male and female organs;
a person or animal of both sexes.

The child Hermaphroditus was the son of Hermes and Aphrodite,
the result of a secret love affair. For this reason he was
entrusted to the nymphs of the isolated Mount Ida,
who allowed him to grow up as a wild creature of the woods. After his
encounter with the water-nymph Salmacis, he laid a
curse upon the water. According to fable, all persons who bathed in the
water became hermaphrodites.

From a dense forest of tall dark pinewood,
Mount Ida rises like an island.
Within a hidden cave, nymphs had kept a child;
Hermaphroditus, son of gods, so afraid of their love.

As the dawn creeps up the sky
The hunter caught sight of a doe.
In desire for conquest,
He found himself within a glade he’d not beheld before.

“Where are you, my father?
Give wisdom to your son”

“Then he could go no farther
Now lost, the boy was guided by the sun”

And as his strength began to fail
He saw a shimmering lake.
A shadow in the dark green depths
Disturbed the strange tranquility.

“The waters are disturbed
Some creature has been stirred”

“The waters are disturbed
Naiad queen Salmacis has been stirred”

As he rushed to quench his thirst,
A fountain spring appeared before him
And as his heated breath brushed through the cool mist,
A liquid voice called, “Son of gods, drink from my spring”.

The water tasted strangely sweet.
Behind him the voice called again.
He turned and saw her, in a cloak of mist alone
And as he gazed, her eyes were filled with the darkness of the lake.

“We shall be one
We shall be joined as one”

“She wanted them as one
Yet he had no desire to be one”

“Away from me cold-blooded woman
Your thirst is not mine”

“Nothing will cause us to part
Hear me, O Gods”

Unearthly calm descended from the sky
And then their flesh and bones were strangely merged
Forever to be joined as one.

The creature crawled into the lake.

“And I beg, yes I beg that all who touch this spring
May share my fate”

“We are the one
We are the one”

“The two are now made one,
Demi-god and nymph are now made one”

Both had given everything they had.
A lover’s dream had been fulfilled at last,
Forever still beneath the lake.

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Genesis has released many songs over the years besides The Fountain Of Salmacis. 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.

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About Lyrics and The Fountain Of Salmacis by Genesis

The lyrics to The Fountain Of Salmacis are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by Genesis in 1971. Elements of the lyrics to The Fountain Of Salmacis are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by Genesis and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for The Fountain Of Salmacis back when it was created.

Some people have an interest in the etymology behind words and phrases. You can take apart the lyrics to The Fountain Of Salmacis by Genesis in a number of ways. 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 The Fountain Of Salmacis" means the words set to the music of The Fountain Of Salmacis, 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 The Fountain Of Salmacis and the lyrics to The Fountain Of Salmacis 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 The Fountain Of Salmacis, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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