Paperlate

Infobox Single
Name=Paperlate


Artist=Genesis
from Album=3 X 3
B-side=You Might Recall
Released=May 1982
Format=US:
Recorded=May-June 1981
Genre=Pop rock
Length=3:20
Label=Charisma (UK)
Writer=Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford
Producer=Genesis
Chart position=
Reviews=
Last single="Man On The Corner"/"Submarine"
(1982)
This single="Paperlate"
(1982)
Next single="Mama"/"It's Gonna Get Better"
(1983)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = 3 X 3
Type = ep
prev_track = Beginning of album
prev_no =
this_track = "Paperlate"
track_no = Track 1
next_track = "You Might Recall"
next_no = Track 2

"Paperlate" was the lead song from the second of two EPs by the British rock group Genesis. The EP, titled "3 X 3" (as it featured three tracks and the band comprised three musicians), peaked at #10 on the album charts in mid-1982. The success of the EP led to an appearance on "Top of the Pops". In America "Paperlate" was released as a standard single, backed by "You Might Recall".

History

The title came from a line in the 1973 Genesis song "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" ("Paper late, cried a voice in the crowd"), which Genesis rehearsed at a soundcheck, leading to the conception of the song. "Paperlate" is one of two Genesis songs that features the Earth, Wind & Fire horn section, the other being "No Reply At All", also from the "Abacab" sessions.

Lyrically, the song has similarities to another of their single tracks, "I'd Rather Be You" (1987); both are about ambition and motivation.

Availability

Aside from its inclusion on the US version of "Three Sides Live" "Paperlate" did not appear on Compact Disc until November 2000, when it was featured on the retrospective boxed set "" along with its EP track "You Might Recall". The other B-side, "Me and Virgil", was left off the compilation, but in 2007 all three tracks were reunited on the extra disc of the "1976-1982" collection.