Ominous, eerie chords aided with quiet but strong drumming opens Phil Collins’ great hit, “In the Air Tonight.” Collins creates this masterpiece oeuvre by himself using an electric guitar, drum machine, drums and a reverse talkback microphone. The use of these certain instruments has listeners dying for the release. Finally released in 1981, fans and new listeners were immediately attracted to this mysterious song and could not stop listening to the song. Even today this oeuvre has grasped the attention of people all ages. Like my self at the age of 16, this song introduced me and opened my mind to music of this decade and many of Collins’ songs.
As more and more people made this song a “fad”, more and more people began to question the lyrics. In a verse, Collins puzzling sings, “If you told me you were drowning, I would not lend a hand….” Instantly listeners began listening more carefully to his lyrics in this song to fully understand what is being said.
Quickly the famous rumors of Collins “watching a man drown” or “drowning a man himself”, spread out world wide having people wondering about the song. Collins at a BBC World Service interview said: “I don’t know what this song is about. When I was writing this I was going through a divorce.” Frustrated at the rumors, Collins also thinks they are comical.
Growing up listening to this song always had me puzzled and convinced me to the rumors said about “In the Air Tonight.” Knowing the truth did not change my perspective of this song I love. If you have not heard this song, I highly recommend giving at least five minutes of your time to enjoy it.
