Going back to 1986, with the GTR album. The band featured Steve Howe (Yes) and Steve Hackett (Genesis).

I'd always preferred "The Hunter" over "When the Heart Rules the Mind". I liked the melody, and Steve Howe's vachalia (Portuguese guitar). I recall that in a "Making of GTR" documentary, Howe (6 years removed from Yes proper) played a bit of "Your Move" on it, but the real feature was GTR's then-current single, "The Hunter" which featured the same instrument.

But the lyrics always drew a blank. Did Geoff Downes EVER explain what the song was about? I thought it has a confusing and self-contradictory "story".

Is it about glorifying big-game hunting? "Pick up a rifle, you must be strong/ To take a title can be so long", and "Take the glory, steal the prize" indicate that the hunt is not for food or subsistence or real survival. It's for a title and glory? Why is it referring to the Great Mohammed, then a pause, and then talks about picking up a rifle (that technology didn't exist in Mohammed's time)?

Then apparently, the song's narrator failed in the hunt on the first try, and was cajoled into trying again. But, in the last verse, the song's narrator refers to using a camera, and not a gun: "through the lenses then into film". He sees the target in the sights of the camera and sees a vision of truth. So, was he standing in front of a rampaging rhino, and decided that bravery is in facing the rhino on film, and not with a bullet?

Any help in interpreting this is appreciated!