"Firth of Fifth" is a song by the British progressive rock band Genesis. It first appeared as the third track on the 1973 album Selling England by the Pound, and was performed as a live piece either in whole or in part throughout the band's career. Composition The title is a pun on the estuary of the River Forth in Scotland, commonly known as the Firth of Forth. Though the song is credited to the entire band, most of the music was composed by keyboardist Tony Banks. He had written the bulk of the song by 1972, presenting it as a candidate for the album Foxtrot (1972), but it was rejected. He redesigned the piece, which the group accepted as a candidate for Selling England by the Pound. Banks, who worked on the lyrics with Mike Rutherford, later dismissed them, saying they were "one of the worst sets of lyrics [I have] been involved with". The song starts out with a classical-style grand piano introduction played by Banks. This section is rhythmically complex, with certain bars in the rare time signatures of and , alternating with bars of . This section changes tempo and segues into the first section of lyrics, accompanied by Phil Collins on drums and a chord progression between the Hammond organ (Banks) and guitar (Steve Hackett). This leads into a flute melody played by Peter Gabriel, followed by a synth-driven instrumental section which restates the opening piano theme. Hackett then plays the flute melody using violin-like guitar tones. Peter Gabriel sings a brief section of lyrics before Banks concludes the song on piano. Live performances From autumn 1973 onwards, the song's piano intro was omitted during live performances. Banks felt he could not play the introduction effectively live, as he used an RMI electric piano on stage, which was not touch-sensitive. The song survived the departure of Peter Gabriel in 1975, with Phil Collins taking over to sing lead, but was dropped as a piece overall following Hackett's departure in 1977. It was reinstated for the 1981 tour, and performed for the Six of the Best reunion show in 1982. A 1981 live recording from the Savoy in New York was included as the B side of the UK release of the 12" single of "That's All". The instrumental section of the song, featuring the guitar solo, was resurrected for the Mama Tour in 1983-84, as