From Mariachi to Genesis: A Journey of Musical Belonging

Genesis, Selling England by the Pound (1973)

Class of 2010

 

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​​​​​​​“Where are you from?”

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It’s a simple question, but it never has a simple answer. It’s layered with memory, movement, and many identities at once.

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During the 2012 Olympic Games in London, I surprised myself cheering for Team USA more than ever. That surprised me—I’ve always rooted for Mexico, my birthplace and cultural anchor. But after years in the U.S., something had shifted. I’d raised my kids here. Built a career. Grown into the rhythm of this culture. Despite all its contradictions—polarizing politics, consumerism, deep social divides—I’d come to embrace the values that define it: opportunity, merit, freedom.

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I understand its flaws better than ever. But I also feel a quiet pride when I watch its athletes win.

And yet—when I hear the music of Genesis, I’m British.

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Two Flags, One Self

Being Mexican isn’t a choice—it’s an inheritance. And I carry it with pride. But my identity isn’t built on waving flags, singing Cielito Lindo at a futbol match, or belting out mariachi (which, if I’m honest, has never been my cup of tequila). It’s in our family bonds, our indigenous roots, lifelong friendships, loyalty, and the belief that hard work matters more than shortcuts.

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But if identity also includes the inner world—our imagination—then part of me belongs elsewhere. To the rainy British countryside, Victorian poetry, and complex progressive rock. And in that world, Selling England by the Pound is my national anthem.

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Becoming British Through Sound

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From the start, Genesis was more than a band. They were an art project, a theater troupe, and a compositional experiment rolled into one. Formed at Charterhouse School in Surrey in the late 1960s, they began as a group of classically trained teens with more ambition than commercial instinct. Early albums like Trespass, Nursery Cryme, and Foxtrot introduced their signature: long, multi-part epics, shifting time signatures, lyrics bursting with imagination.

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Peter Gabriel was the band’s eccentric frontman—part prophet, part performer. He didn’t just sing songs; he became them. Each show was theater. Costumes. Characters. Performance art before we had a name for it.

Their music, often dismissed early on as too strange or cerebral, slowly gained critical respect and a loyal following. By the time Selling England by the Pound came out in 1973, Genesis had matured into something rare: a band unafraid to make difficult music about difficult things—and make it beautiful.

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Selling England: Theatrical, Poetic, Timeless

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This was their masterpiece. Romantic yet biting. A meditation on fading British identity, class tension, and creeping modern fatigue. Even the title hints at loss: England being sold off in bits.

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Tracks like “Dancing with the Moonlit Knight” and “The Battle of Epping Forest” introduce surreal, symbolic characters. “More Fool Me” is a fragile interlude. “The Cinema Show,” with its 11-minute arc, plays like a novel in music form.

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And “Firth of Fifth.” Tony Banks’ piano intro. Steve Hackett’s soaring solo. It remains one of rock’s most moving instrumental moments. Add Phil Collins’ expressive drumming and Mike Rutherford’s melodic bass—and it’s not background music. It’s a landscape.

 

After Gabriel: Reinvention

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When Peter Gabriel left in 1975 after The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, many thought Genesis would dissolve. Instead, they evolved. Phil Collins stepped up as lead vocalist. The music became more concise and accessible, but still smart. Albums like Duke, Abacab, and Invisible Touch made them global pop-rock icons.

Some fans mourned the lost epics. Others embraced the reinvention. Few bands have lived multiple creative lives as well as Genesis.

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What Truly Belongs to Us?

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Selling England by the Pound is personal for me. I wasn’t British. But this music gave me access to a different kind of imagination. It permitted me to love solitude, complexity, and beauty outside of the world I was born into.

I’m Mexican by blood. American by life. And—at least in part—British by sound.

 

💡 Life Note

So, where are you from? And what music makes you feel like home, even when you’re thousands of miles away?

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