Lyrics for In The Air Tonight as interpreted by Boonechic_21

In The Air Tonight Lyrics
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
I've been waiting for this moment, all my life, oh Lord
Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
Oh Lord

Well, if you told me you were drowning
I would not lend a hand
I've seen your face before, my friend
But I don't know if you know who I am
Well, I was there and I saw what you did
I saw it with my own two eyes
So you can wipe off the grin
I know where you've been
It's all been a pack of lies

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord
Oh Lord
And I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord
Oh Lord

Well, I remember
I remember, don't worry
How could I ever forget the first time
The last time we ever met
But I know the reason why you keep your silence up
No, you don't fool me
The hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows
It's no stranger to you or me

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord
I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord

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LetsGoMets
02-08-2002

Rated 0 
This song means to me the end of a relationship with someone is drawing near. This person has gotten to me and hurt me in so many ways that I can no longer stand the person I see before me. As we reach the end of the relationship I obtain inner peace and freedom. She is holding me back and i won't drown with her.

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4 Replies
gbblazer
03-27-2002

Rated 0 
So I heard that this song is a true story written about one of Phil Collin's friends. His parents were killed way back when. And one night the guy's in a bar and sees the guy who killed em. The story goes he waited until he left the bar and killed him in an alleyway.

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ramthar
03-30-2002

Rated +1 
collins has said on many occasions that this song isn`t based on any one real life experience. i think it just shows the pain he was going through in the early 80's due to his split with his wife then. and that whole collins sees a guy who sees another guy drowning but doesn`t help him, then collins sees the guy who saw the guy at one of his concerts and sings this song to him - that story is total BS.

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yao ling
04-17-2002

Rated 0 
This is definatley a song with deep meaning. I agree with the previosu comment in that it is not about a drowning he witnessed but rather the end of this marraige. For the whole story try . . . http://www.snopes2.com/music/songs/someair.htm

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pansza
04-27-2002

Rated +1 
i was told that Phil wrote this song based on a true story. it when phil was staying in a hotel and watched from his upper hotel room, a man drown in a pool while another man stood by a watched without helping.......

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gandalfe
05-02-2002

Rated 0 
Whereas the urban legend I heard was that it was about a childhood tragedy - his best friend was drowned at camp while he watched, and that, when Phil made it big, he invited the killer to sit front row and stared at him all thru the song. Just goes to show that the bullshit is everywhere.

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Fantomsurf
05-15-2002

Rated -1 
I also heard about the drowning thing just a different way. That Phil collins saw a kid drowning and saw a guy who was close enough to help but he did nothing so one day at a Phil collins concert he brought the guy on stage and sung that song to him. This story was also sung on Eminems song "Stan"

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ramthar
05-15-2002

Rated 0 
like i said before, those drowning stories have no merit whatsoever.

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Fantomsurf
05-19-2002

Rated 0 
Ah well then I stand corrected. I mean I wasn't aware the internet was based on your facts. I was under the impression that it was for everybody to say what they thought but man was I ever wrong. If you'll excuse me now I gotta start retracting everything else I have ever posted on any other site before you find them too

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ramthar
05-27-2002

Rated 0 
ok, while you are doing that, i just thought i`d let you know that what i stated is not only fact, it is my opinion as well. so you don`t have to believe me, and likewise, you don`t have to believe the man who wrote the song. the drowning thing is a raging rumor, and one that Collins has never nurtured. the song has nothing to do with anyone who actually ever drown. get over it.

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halona
07-01-2002

Rated 0 
Regardless of what the songwriters true meaning is for this song. It has a wonderful message. And I have always loved a good "moral to the story" kinda song. This one is definitely tops on my list. And just for the record...be it fact or fiction....I still like the drowning lake story!! Gives this song a hell of alot more meaning when you sit in the dark with the volume cranked!!! Try it.

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The_Phil
07-08-2002

Rated 0 
the only song by Phil Collins I like. it's great

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Lily_Child
07-21-2002

Rated 0 
I really like this song. DMX actually does a mis of Phil's chorus with a few of his own lyrics. But this one is still the Orig-in-al. lol. Isn't it kinda crazy how the same song lyrics that we all read can mean something completly different to each of us? I love it. Recently I heard the story about how he watched his friend drown and bla bla bla... and it's pretty interesting. True or not, it could work. But so could anything if ya twist it, right y'all?

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Christina78
08-20-2002

Rated 0 
I think this song is about a guy who witnesses some kind of crime, but doesn't let anyone know what he saw. Maybe he witnessed his wife having an affair and never said anything. Instead he probably just ended the marriage and went on with life keeping everything inside. By doing this, anger builds up and basically, if he ever saw the guy again, he would not help him if he was in trouble becuase he knows what they guy has done. And after all the pain and waiting, he finally feels that this guy is going to get what he deserves. He can't describe why, but he can just "feel it in the air tonight." Because what goes around comes around.

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Mercury
09-03-2002

Rated 0 
I also have heard many stories of a man drowning and that Phil or the fictional character in the song saw the person who would not help the victim. But no matter what this song rocks. Also, Eminem mentions this song in his hit, "Stan.".

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keithlittle
09-23-2002

Rated 0 
It really makes me wonder if anyone reads previous comments seeing as so many people are saying, "this is about a man drowning". It isn't. Phil Collins has mentioned that fact in MANY of his interviews. It was written during a tough period in his life while he was going through a divorce with his wife and is most likely a commentary on that time. Eminem mentions this song in one of his one, of course, being the idiot that Eminem is, he also seems to believe that this song is about someone drowning.

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Alone_is_me
10-12-2002

Rated 0 
I thought this song was about this guy seeing this girl getting raped then a few weeks later, he saw that same guy drowning and he didn't save him. I don't know, that's just what I have always been told.

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hoodedrobin
10-14-2002

Rated +1 
All I'm going to say is that whether the drowning stories are true or not, whether the wife story is true or not...it still stands that this song has one of the best drum fills EVER. EVER. You can't dispute that.

do-do do-do do-do dodo dum dum I can feel it coming in the air tonight...

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UrbanAngel
03-03-2003

Rated 0 
the true story of this song which most ppl know includin eminem as was heard in hes lyrics...to stan...is phil was on a cruiseship on vaccation n had seen 2 men fighting one was pushed over board phil in shock did nuthing as the guy walked away...a month or so later he had this man invited to sit front row at one of hes shows where he staired the man straight in the eyes and sung IN THE AIR TONIGHT 2 let him know he had seen wat the guy had did...scary huh...

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UrbanAngel
03-03-2003

Rated 0 
the truf!!! ask eminem lol everyone knows this! lol this song is about>>>> phil bein on vacation on a cruiseship n seeing a fight between two men...one of the guys pushed the other over board...bein shocked phil did nuthin to help as the guy was drowning....about a month later phil sent the man that pushed the other over board...a private invitation to sit front row at one of hes shows where he then staired the man straight in the eyes and sung IN THE AIR TONIGHT to him....2 let him know he saw everything....scary huh....read the lyrics !!!

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UrbanAngel
03-03-2003

Rated 0 
the truf!!! ask eminem lol everyone knows this! lol this song is about>>>> phil bein on vacation on a cruiseship n seeing a fight between two men...one of the guys pushed the other over board...bein shocked phil did nuthin to help as the guy was drowning....about a month later phil sent the man that pushed the other over board...a private invitation to sit front row at one of hes shows where he then staired the man straight in the eyes and sung IN THE AIR TONIGHT to him....2 let him know he saw everything....scary huh....>>>>>Well, if you told me you were drowning
I would not lend a hand
I've seen your face before my friend
But I don't know if you know who I am
....read the lyrics !!!

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Compuwiz19
03-08-2003

Rated 0 
I've seen a lot of interviews with Phil Collins on this song, and his story seems to be always changing... perhaps this song is based on a real life experience?

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Compuwiz19
03-08-2003

Rated 0 
a different one altogether that is

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Compuwiz19
03-08-2003

Rated 0 
damn i wish he'd make a music video so that it would finally be settled

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LeArtist
03-26-2003

Rated +1 
I can't believe you're still debating this one. Please. Listen. He did NOT see someone drown. He did NOT kill someone in an alleyway...sheesh. It's just like the whole Kurt Cobain thing, which I have no comment on btw. I'm sure you all have heard of symbolism? Yeah? Ok. Apply that to this song. Like when Bono says, "The heart is a bloom, shoots up through the stony ground" (in Beautiful Day), that doesn't mean that your heart comes out of a pile of dirt and blossoms. Right? Right. Ask your English teacher, please.

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