English Song: In The Air Tonight

Artist: Phil Collins
Album: Face Value 1981
Song: In The Air Tonight


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
Its 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 coming in the air tonight, 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, its 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
Its no stranger to you or me

*

In the Air Tonight
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
"In the Air Tonight" is a song by Phil Collins which first appeared on his 1981 album, Face Value. It was also the first single of Collins' solo career, and remains one of his best known hits.

The song/recording

The recording is notable for its atmospheric production, while the song features a macabre theme and is the subject of a persistent urban legend. Released in January 1981 in the UK, the single was an instant hit, with an impressive chart climb of 36-4-3-2. It stalled behind John Lennon's posthumous number one "Woman", while its parent album, Face Value, ranked as the UK's third best-selling LP of 1981. It was also an international hit, reaching the top 20 on the Billboard magazine pop singles chart in the summer of 1981 and remains, alone among Collins's solo oeuvre, a popular selection on many classic rock radio stations. It is the song most often associated with Collins' solo career, and he has performed versions of it at many events, notably at Live Aid, where he played the song on the same calendar day in both Philadelphia and London[1]. He also performed the song at The Secret Policeman's Other Ball.

The lyrics of the song take the form of a dark monologue directed towards an unnamed, possibly prominent person; the singer describes having witnessed an unspecified act perpetrated:

I was there and I saw what you did
saw it with my own two eyes
and anticipating an equally unspecified consequence:

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
I've been waiting for this moment for all my life [1]
Musically the song consists of a series of ominous chords played over a simple drum machine pattern (the Enka pattern on a Roland CR-78); processed electric guitar sounds and vocoded vocals on key words add additional atmosphere. The mood is one of restrained anger until the final chorus when an explosive burst of drums releases the musical tension, and the instrumentation builds to a thundering final chorus.

Collins wrote the song in the wake of a failing relationship with his then-wife. Collins has described obtaining the drum machine specifically to deal with these personal issues through songwriting, telling Mix magazine: "I had to start writing some of this music that was inside me." [2]

The song's popularity in the 1980s increased after a nearly complete recording of it was featured in the pilot episode of the American television show Miami Vice ("Brother's Keeper"), thus becoming one of the first pop/rock songs to be featured as part of a TV program in this manner. On the heels of this successful merging of media, Collins became associated with the show; other Collins tracks including "Take Me Home" were later featured and Collins himself also acted in an episode, "Phil The Shill".

The song was remixed in 1988 by Ben Liebrand for his weekly appearance in the Curry & van Inkel radio show on Dutch radio. The mix was completed and then taken by Liebrand to be part of a mix showcase at the DMC Mixing Championship Finals in London. When he played it there, he urged the other visiting DJ's to contact Virgin to make it an official release. It hit #4 in the UK charts.
 
References

1. ^ In The Air Tonight Songfacts. Songfacts. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
2. ^ http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_phil_collins_air/index.html/ Mix Magazine - Classic Tracks: Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight"
   
    
   Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Air_Tonight