Songfacts®:

• This 10-minute epic is a Victorian fairy tale about two small children in a country house. The song touches on themes of death, reincarnation and lust, and is based on a 1969 demo by Anthony Phillips and Mike Rutherford called "F Sharp." Phillips has never received credit for his part in writing the song. It became one of Genesis' signature tunes from their progressive rock-era and was a staple of their live performances for many years.
• Nursery Cryme was the third studio album by Genesis. Although not a success upon release in their homeland, the album became an unexpected hit in Italy, reaching #4 in the LP charts.
• In an interview with Mojo magazine April 2010, former Genesis lead singer Peter Gabriel cited as influences on Nursery Cryme the Dickens novel Great Expectations and the Henry James novella, The Turn of The Screw, which was filmed as The Innocents and also adapted by Benjamin Britten into an opera.
  
  Said Gabriel: "One of the influences on Nursery Cryme was the dark childhood of The Turn of The Screw. Also Great Expectations. These are very English and evocative. One of the reasons, I think, that films and programs about school are of interest to people is because that is when so much of your interface with the world gets formed."