The Carpet Crawlers

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"The Carpet Crawlers"
Single by Genesis
from the album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
B-side	"The Waiting Room (Evil Jam)" (live)
Released	18 April 1975
Recorded	August–October 1974
Genre	Progressive rock,[1] soul[2]
Length	5:15
Label	Charisma/Phonogram (UK) Atco/Atlantic (US)
Songwriter(s)	Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford
Producer(s)	John Burns and Genesis
Genesis singles chronology
"Counting Out Time" (1974) "The Carpet Crawlers" (1975) "A Trick of the Tail" (1976)

"The Carpet Crawlers 1999"
Cover for the 1999 re-recorded version.
Single by Genesis
from the album Turn It On Again: The Hits
B-side	"Follow You, Follow Me" "Turn It On Again"
Released	2 November 1999
Genre	Progressive rock, pop rock
Length	5:39
Label	Virgin/Atlantic
Songwriter(s)	Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford
Producer(s)	Trevor Horn
Genesis singles chronology
"Not About Us" (Live) (1998)" (1998) "The Carpet Crawlers 1999" (1999) "Silent Sun 2006" (2006)

"The Carpet Crawlers" is a song by the English progressive rock band Genesis, recorded for their sixth studio album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks wrote most of the music, with the help of Peter Gabriel. Lyrically, the song tells the section of the album's story whereby Rael, the lead character, finds himself in a red carpeted corridor surrounded by kneeling people slowly crawling towards a wooden door. Rael dashes by them towards the door and goes through it. Behind the door is a table with a candlelit feast on it, and behind that, a spiral staircase that leads upwards out of sight.

The complex symbolism of Peter Gabriel's lyrics has been interpreted as referring to the fertilisation journey or as describing a scene inspired by Gnosticism in which humanity is misled by the 'callers': instead of the promise of heaven, the carpet crawlers find death and rebirth to a hellish environment.^[3]

The song was released in April 1975 as the album's second single under the title "The Carpet Crawlers". In 1999, Genesis re-recorded the song with producer Trevor Horn that featured Gabriel and Collins sharing lead vocals, released as "The Carpet Crawlers 1999". This marked the last time both singers recorded with Genesis.