 " The Battle of Epping Forest " was inspired by a news story that Gabriel had read several years previously about the territorial battles by two rival gangs in the East End of London . He placed an advertisement in The Times in attempt to find more about the story , but was unable to find any further information , so he created his own fictional characters , including " Liquid Len " , " Harold <unk> " and " The Bethnal Green Butcher " . The lyrics have since been praised for their humour and wit , but they did not gel well with the music , which the band subsequently felt was complicated for the sake of being so . 
