The story of an assassination told from the perspective of the gunman, Gabriel got the idea for this song after reading Arthur Bremmer's book An Assassins Diary. Bremmer shot Alabama Governor George Wallace in 1972, and what fascinated Gabriel was that he didn't do it for political reasons, but for fame: Bremmer timed the shooting to get as much publicity as possible, making sure he did it in time for the early news.
On this album, Gabriel explores the human condition and what makes people act in an extreme manner. In this song, we see that the gunman didn't get attention as a child and had parents that were growing apart. Regarding this flashback at the end of the song, Gabriel explained to Sounds in 1980: "It is a film device, but I don't think I've seen it done in a rock song before. As to the psychology of it, all that I can say is that some clichés are true – patterns of behaviour begun in childhood do carry through, I see that in my own life."
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