Does anyone know the history of the song "In the Air Tonight" by Genesis/Phil Collins?

Answer 1

I heard that Phil collins saw another man drown someone and he sent him tickets,front row seats to his show and sang the song to the man letting him know that he knew what he had done! I am a huge Phil Collins fan I grew up on his music!!!

Answer 2

"In the Air Tonight" is a song by Phil Collins which first appeared on his 1981 album, Face Value. It was also Collins' first ever single of his solo career.

Collins commented on the legends about the song in a BBC World Service interview: “ I don't know what this song is about. When I was writing this I was going through a divorce. And the only thing I can say about it is that it's obviously in anger. It's the angry side, or the bitter side of a separation. So what makes it even more comical is when I hear these stories which started many years ago, particularly in America, of someone come up to me and say, 'Did you really see someone drowning?' I said, 'No, wrong'. And then every time I go back to America the story gets Chinese whispers, it gets more and more elaborate. It's so frustrating, 'cos this is one song out of all the songs probably that I've ever written that I really don't know what it's about, you know."

Putting the rumors to rest once and for all, Collins stated on VH1 Classic's "Classic Albums" series that he came up with "99%" of the lyrics on the spot, based on what he felt the vibe was of the dark chords he had improvised over the ominous drum beat. He was "just messing around for fun," completely unaware that what he was creating would ultimately be the staple song from his next album.

The song is notable for its atmospheric production, macabre theme (atypical of the subject matter of his solo work, but broadly similar to that of Genesis), and as the subject of a persistent urban legend. It was an international hit, reaching the top 20 on the Billboard magazine pop singles chart and remains, alone among Collins' solo oeuvre, a popular selection on many classic rock radio stations.
An urban legend has arisen around "In the Air Tonight". According to the legend, the lyrics are based on a tragic event Collins witnessed, usually a drowning (as in the song's lyrics), in which a man could have helped the victim, but did not do so. A common ending is that Collins invites this man to a show and sings the song to him, often with a spotlight pointed at him. Afterward, the man is arrested or, in some versions, is wracked with guilt and commits suicide. Some popular variations are:

Collins saw a man drowning but was too far away to do anything, but a man nearby who could have saved him did nothing. (Other versions of this rumor claim that the drowning was not an accident, but murder.)
While vacationing together, Collins' best friend went for a swim. He began to struggle in the water but Collins, having never learned to swim, could not help. Collins stopped and asked a passing jogger for help; the man refused and Collins' friend died.
While at camp as a child, Collins awoke to find his counselor missing. Looking outside, he saw the counselor standing by the lake doing nothing to help a drowning boy. (In some versions, the counselor is intentionally letting the boy drown.)
Collins witnessed the rape of his wife and, years later, saw the man drowning but refused to help him.
A young Collins and his best friend were at a lake when a man asked them if they wanted to go sailing. Collins had to eat dinner but promised to come back; when he did, his friend was missing and was never seen again.
Collins, while on a pier with his wife, went down the pier for a brief moment, leaving his wife at the other end. When he returned, he saw that his wife was drowning, but before he could do anything, his wife had died. Collins realized next that there was a man that had stood at the end of the pier and watched the woman drown.
When Phil was younger, he and friend had been playing by a water basin when his friend fell in. Phil, who hadn't learned to swim, ran to a neighbor's house for help. When the neighbor answered, he dismissed Phil's cries for help, as Phil had "cried wolf" in the past. When Phil returned to the basin, he found his friend had drowned in the meantime.

Here is a site that tells EVERYTHING about the song. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Air_Tonight

Answer 3

Phil Collins claims that there is no particular meaning behind the song.But for yrs fans have said that the song was about
Phil Collins witnessing another man drown,and the man that was near the drowning victim did nothing to save him.

Answer 4

It's about his divorce from his 1st wife. Nothing horrible like seeing a man rape a woman or a man drown...

Answer 5

I heard on the radio that he wrote it when he and his now ex-wife were in the midst of splitting up, then finally divorced

Answer 6

obviously Lu has th best answer give her the points puleeze and a few stars come on people admit it when you a thorough good answer

Answer 7

There was that story about the drowning guy, but that's just an urban legend.