The song Phil Collins thought Genesis would have ruined: “A lot busier”
If there’s one person who understands the saying, “If you want something done right, do it yourself”, it’s Phil Collins. But like any valuable lesson in artistic integrity, he only really learnt what this actually means on his first ever solo endeavour.
As part of a band, there’s always going to be a learning curve that comes with the dynamics of collaboration, knowing how to read the nuances and contexts of each situation and knowing when it’s time to step back. Collins knew all of this in Genesis, of course, but he also approached it from a different perspective as their drummer, often observing how different frustrations and tensions would play out from the literal and metaphorical backseat.
But that’s not all he observed. In fact, he once said that being the drummer in a band like Genesis meant living up to a certain role, one that actually served to break that tension and appease when things got a little heated. “The drummers are traditionally the guys at the back of the band with the sense of humour,” he once explained, saying they “break the atmosphere” and the “tension between old school friends”.
He even referenced an old quote, saying, “It’s like you cut back 40 years and it’s like, ‘You stole my protractor.'”
But these seemingly playground dynamics aren’t all that Collins noticed, nor were they the sole aspect that he felt responsible for, or should be given credit for, for that matter. In fact, his place in Genesis meant that, whether knowingly or unknowingly, he became painstakingly aware of the perils of too many cooks, and how turning a basic idea into an expansive and oftentimes overcomplicated composition was sometimes the peak of artistic suicide.
Well, maybe it wasn’t always that dramatic, per se, but it was certainly the case with ‘In The Air Tonight’. Collins had initially taken the song idea to Genesis, but they turned away from it because they felt it was too simple to be anything good. Obviously, in hindsight, we know that was a mistake, although – was it? When considering the ways Genesis would have likely butchered one of the greatest drumming masterpieces in history?
According to Collins, the band rejecting it was a blessing in disguise. “Genesis got to the point where we’d all write together and then someone would go off and write the lyrics and kind of write the melody that would go over this thing that we’d written. And sometimes, there was a lack of air. It was all very claustrophobic,” he told NPR. “So, something like ‘In The Air Tonight’ is a good example where you have an atmosphere and a vocal, and if I’d have given that to Genesis, it would have gotten a lot busier.”
Specifically, he admitted that Genesis’ touch would have made it too busy “from a production point of view”, and that while some of his songs, like ‘Sussudio’, have that kind of busyness, ‘In The Air Tonight’ needed that space to breathe, or to be free from that familiar “lack of air” Collins often felt in the band, for it to truly thrive. And then it also took on a life of its own, coming out without any pre-existing expectations, just simply Collins and his desire to nail his own vocals.
But there’s also a darker or more intriguing truth at the crux of it that belies even the more timeless Genesis masterpieces that we still know and love today. That’s how ‘In The Air Tonight’ became its own myth, something people debated over on subject matter, and a mystery that incorporated storytelling ambiguities to create its own atmospheres and narratives without Collins even being aware of it himself. Without him even knowing that it would become something of an urban legend, weightless with multiple layers.
