"Deep in the Motherlode", also titled "Go West Young Man (In the Motherlode)", is a song performed and recorded by

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

, with lyrics and music by

Mike Rutherford Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, co-founder of the rock band Genesis. Rutherford and keyboardist Tony Banks are the group's two continuous members. Initially servin ...

. It was released as the sixth track on the group's 1978 album '' ...And Then There Were Three...'' under the title "Deep in the Motherlode". The song tells a fictional story of a man's travels during the

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

gold rush and his family's urging for him to get as much gold as he can. A mother lode is a rich vein of valuable metal in a mine. The lyric "

Go West, young man Go west, young man may refer to: * "Go West, young man", a quote often attributed to American author Horace Greeley concerning America's expansion westward Film and television * ''Go West, Young Man'' (1918 film), an American comedy western film ...

" is a reference to a famous phrase by

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressm ...

, who, in a 13 July 1865 editorial, advised: "Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country." The song was performed live by Genesis on their 1978 tour and was used as a frequent opening number on their 1980 tour, but the song was not performed live thereafter. In Japan and North America it was released as a single, but re-titled as "Go West Young Man (In the Motherlode)".

References

1978 songs Genesis (band) songs Rock ballads Songs written by Mike Rutherford {{1970s-song-stub