"Duchess" is a song by the English rock band

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

, appearing as the second track on their 1980 album, ''

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

''. It peaked at number 46 in the UK singles chart.Genesis UK chart history
The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 May 2012. The song is a part of the album's " hidden suite", which included " Behind the Lines", "Guide Vocal", "

Turn It On Again "Turn It On Again" is a song by the English rock band Genesis featured on their 1980 album ''Duke''. Also released as a single, the song reached number 8 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's second top 10 hit. The lyrics, by Mike Rut ...

", "Duke's Travels", and "Duke's End". It was the first Genesis song to use a rhythm machine and a drum box. The lyrics tell the story of the rise and fall of an ambitious singer. At the start of her career, she dreams of singing to large crowds, but cares more about her music than the prospect of fame. As her success increases, her dream comes true and she becomes a superstar, adored by ecstatic audiences. After several years at the top, she struggles to stay relevant. By caring too much about what her audience wants, the quality of her music is negatively impacted. Unable to stay in spotlight, she chooses to end her music career and fondly remembers her former superstardom. The video for the song shows

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

, Tony Banks and

Mike Rutherford Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, best known as co-founder, lead guitarist and bassist of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis. He and keyboardist Tony Banks (musici ...

playing at various points around the

Liverpool Empire Theatre The Liverpool Empire Theatre is a theatre on the corner of Lime Street in Liverpool, England. The playhouse, which opened in 1925, is the second one to be built on the site. It has the largest two-tier auditorium in the United Kingdom and can ...

. The drum machine used in the song, a

Roland CR-78 The Roland CompuRhythm CR-78 is a drum machine manufactured by Roland Corporation that was released in 1978. Although primitive by later standards, the CR-78 represented an important advance in drum machine technology at the time, in particular b ...

, is shown at the beginning of the video. In a 2023 interview, Banks said, "The song that both Phil and I always rate as perhaps our favorite Genesis song is 'Duchess' from ''Duke''. I like it because it has a simple lyric — the rise and fall of a female rock star. ..I think it has an incredible atmosphere. I always thought it could have been a hit. We did release it as a single at one point, but it didn't get far ... So I'd rate that as very underrated."

Personnel

* Tony Banks – keyboards, backing vocals *

– vocals, drums, Roland CR-78 *

– guitars,

bass pedals Bass pedals are an Electronic instrument, electronic musical instrument with a foot-operated pedal keyboard with a range of one or more octaves. The earliest bass pedals from the 1970s consisted of a Pedal clavier, pedalboard and analog synthesi ...

, backing vocals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duchess (Song) 1980 singles 1980 songs Atlantic Records singles Charisma Records singles Genesis (band) songs Songs about fame Songs written by Phil Collins Songs written by Tony Banks (musician) Songs written by Mike Rutherford Virgin Records singles