Phil Collins – In The Air Tonight

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  General Comment:I am relieved to see so many people here who recognise the drowning lyric is just a metaphor for hating someone. It really winds me up to see people talking about "actual" imaginery incidents especially when they refer to these taking place at Summer Camp or when he was in boy scouts of America. I mean seriously the guy is from Hounslow, London ENGLAND, no summer camps in England and definately no boy scouts of america!!!!!

  Flag bonglecaton May 01, 2013   Link

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  General Comment:if somebody was abused once as a child by a person who then moved on, the lyrics would fit for the now adult finding the person (who would not recognize the grown person) looking for revenge.

  Flag JFNon April 21, 2013   Link

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    hows that work

    Flag JFNon April 21, 2013  
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  Memory:wow.this song means so much to me,its very personal.
  ive seen it preformed accapella that was the best ever.
  to me its about someone who stood back and watched someones life crash around them,maybe they even helped cause the caos and than wanted a hand up when they stuffed up their own life but its to late this person screwed up beyond belief and you just sit back and watch them suffer their karma and its life your saying "well you dont know who i am" as in you thought i was just a door mat who would forgive and forget.
  pretty sure we all have a person like that in our life? i know i did

  Flag happyloveon January 04, 2013   Link

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  General Comment:Jesus Christ, you people are STUPID.
  
  It was written for the Miami Vice 1980s intro. It is meant for when a drug dealer, who is NEVER seen again in the entire series, critically wounds one of the main Miami Vice characters.
  
  "Brother's Keeper" and "A Bullet For Crockett" are the two episodes.
  
  Fucking retards coming up with all these trash comments as if you really know anythig. Shit, I'd hate to listen to any of the garbage you losers would write.
  
  

  Flagged KuroOokamion December 31, 2012   Link

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    Jeez man. That was unnecessary. I'd hate to see the shit YOU would write with a mouth like that ya damn prick.
    
    Attacking peoples opinions. Which is solely what this site is for, stating an opinion on the meaning of a song. Take away that very top part and the very bottom part and you have a pretty good OPINION. Ya damned asshole.

    Flag Silvertongue7on January 18, 2013  

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    Take a chill pill, jeez.

    Flag Moustacheron January 30, 2013  
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  Song Meaning:Phil's own words regarding the meaning of these lyrics:
  
  "I had the chords I liked and the drums sounding good and I just made up some lyrics that fit the music. I just made it up as I went along. I don't know what it means."
  
  So there you have it. All the stories people have made up revolving around these lyrics is a bunch of BS.

  Flag joossenson October 24, 2012   Link

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    He also admits that he feels there's "something going on", but he doesn't know what is going on.
    
    This is just amazing. One of the greatest, most timeless and most haunting songs of all time was "99.9% improvised" (according to Phil himself.)
    
    That is astounding. I love this song.

    Flag A3oerton December 31, 2012  
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  General Comment:I heard somewhere that this was about a prisoner who was given the death penalty for a crime he didn't commit. Not sure how true that is, but it kind of makes sense.

  Flag KaiteTheTaterFairyon August 23, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:I remember the boat scene in Miami Vice and hearing this song. I loved this song after ever since, can't listen to it without remembering the famous boat scene, knowing this could be the last night of their whole life.

  Flagged shaw44on July 16, 2012   Link

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  My Interpretation:Alright, so it's not about a murder and some guy drowning, even though we all love that story...
  
  It's probably about his wife having an affair. In the video, there's a scene where Phil is sitting in a chair in a room. He sees the silhouette of a man outside the window. Phil leaves his body behind and astral-projects to the window to watch the man. I think what happened was that Phil was on tour... he missed his wife, so he had a spontaneous out-of-body experience and went to see her. He witnessed her sleeping or making out with another man. When Phil returns home, his wife pretends like the guy is just hired help and nothing more (he was a painter/decorator, according to the London Times). She introduces the two men and Phil already knows his wife has slept with the guy, so he's telling him in his mind, "I've seen your face before my friend, but I don't know if you know who I am. But I was there and I saw what you did. I saw it with my own two eyes... so you can wipe off that grin... I know where you've been... it's all been a pack of lies (pow-pow-pa-pow-pa-POW-pa-pow-POW-POW-POW!) lol, I had to include the drums, of course.
  
  What he feels "coming in the air" is the breakup that's about to happen since he knows she's already having an affair with the painter. Or maybe he feels like he's going to turn violent because he can't take all the lies anymore.
  
  While I realize my astral-projection theory is a little bit out there, we're talking about the guy who wrote "No Son of Mine", which is the story of the abuse that happened in his childhood home. My husband learned to astral project as a child when his parents were violently fighting as he lay in bed. He would project to the living room and watch them. So it's very possible that Phil is able to do it too. I've also had out-of-body experiences. It actually happens to a lot of people.

  Flagged 7heatheron June 04, 2012   Link

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    Exactly - that's why in his performance in BBC Tops of the Pops there is a paint bucket displayed next to him (as the only decoration).
    youtube.com/…

    Flag khaveon March 25, 2013  
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  General Comment:These song lyrics mean everything and nothing.
  
  There is nothing in the song that points to anything specific

  Flag orourkedaon May 15, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:There are a lot of people caught up in the whole "Witnessed a drowning" thing, but that is really a vehicle to illustrate the main character's true feelings of his aggression's focus. To clarify, the lyrics are "If you told me you were drowning I would not lend a hand". Simply put "you are such a piece of trash, I wouldn't even bother to save your life, since the world is better off without you".
  
  While the dark emotions may very well reflect Collins's own feelings regarding the split between he and his wife, they are in no way related. The song is about betrayal. The main character is aware of the villain's treachery. He also knows that the villain is living with the pain and guilt of his wrong doing (which he can feel in the air). This is a punishment in, and of itself.
  
  The music so accurately captures the sensation of brooding anger, which makes this one of the best songs from the 80s.

  Flag yukansuggiton April 26, 2012   Link

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    Exactly! He said he came into the studio feeling so angry and he put that all out in the drum beat and this is what he created out of those negative feelings.I've always thought it was funny how people all took it so literally.

    Flag emuInAmuumuuon April 27, 2012  

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