“Very edgy”: Phil Collins’ names his favourite Tom Petty song
Phil Collins might have one of the most divisive reputations in music, but there’s a lot of greatness behind his overplayed popularity. It may seem cliché to say, but songs like ‘In The Air Tonight’ truly showcase his drumming prowess. When it comes down to it, Collins isn’t just a drummer; he’s a true musical virtuoso who understands the technical marvel that is the drum kit.
One lesser-discussed trait of ‘In The Air Tonight’ is how good the song is from a melodic point of view. Long before the famous drum solo kicks in, the song builds with a selection of atmospheric arrangements, each of which complements the narrative perfectly. Many have speculated as to what the song is actually about, but it almost doesn’t matter — it’s hauntingly beautiful either way.
Collins’s ability to introduce drums in the right way and at the right time, not just in ‘In The Air Tonight’ but in many of his songs, boils down to it being hard-wired into him. The musician has been surrounded by drumming his entire life, from the early days of discovering Buddy Rich even to listening closely and carefully to the rhythmic sounds within The Beatles.
Starr, in particular, understandably became a notable influence, and the rest came naturally. “It’s difficult, quite, to explain to anybody who wasn’t actually young then; it just framed my life,” Collins once explained. “Those songs and the sound of the records still baffle me and impress me,” he said, “I’ve been a staunch supporter of Ringo…what Ringo did was he brought drums out from the back and made people listen to them.”
Beyond drumming prowess, Collins is a big fan of innovation and reinvention, not just in the 1960s-style The Beatles way but in the various emotions musicians have the ability to tap into. One such example is his appreciation for Tom Petty, who he regards as one of the greatest when it comes to constantly evolving musical sound and technique.
He once named his favourite Petty song as ‘Learning To Fly’, which might seem an obvious choice, but that’s precisely why it appeals: it taps into a very specific type of familiarity without losing touch of its originality. According to Collins, this was something Petty always mastered. “I’ve loved Tom Petty’s stuff for a long, long time. He is very cynical, which I kind of understand, you know,” Collins explained.
Adding: “It’s very English in some respects. I always loved his work with the Traveling Wilburys. But he has that 12 string thing, it’s just that reminds me a little bit of The Byrds, I think, from the ’60s. I just find him very edgy, keeps reinventing himself, big fan.”
Despite many misinterpreting the song as being about drugs, it was actually inspired by political events, but Petty was eager to filter this into the song in the most natural way possible, almost like it was impossible to detect. Perhaps that explains Collins’ fondness for it: it’s uplifting without giving too much away, much like the tropes that many of his own songs adhere to.
