Phil Collins- The tangled web he weaves...

Yesterday the song "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins came on the radio as my friend, JR, and I were pulling into Red Lobster. My friend explained that the song was about an incident where Phil was molested on a boat and then later in life was given a front row ticket to a Phil Collins' show to be exposed by spotlight while Phil sang this song.

Here is an example of another myth taken from the Internet: "I heard that there is a significance to the song "In the Air Tonight." A friend told me that it was written about an incident that happened when Phil was a youth. He said it was something about a drowning and that he invited some guy that he new that watched a friend of his drown. At the end of the concert he finished with that song, and had that guy he new was arrested after the show."

I looked up a bit more and unfortunately the story is not that exciting. There are several variations of this myth. Another one got around that Phil witnessed a drowning where a man refused to help the victim and was unable to help himself.



In fact, the song was written as a result of Phil's divorce from his first wife. He didn't write it in one night and he didn't expose anyone by spotlight. He actually wrote it as a result of experimenting with new "drum machine" technology that had just come out. Nonetheless, its a pretty chilling song to listen to and it was a fun thing to think about for a day even if, "It's all been a pack of lies!" (Ha ha)


Here are the song lyrics for those who are curious:

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, it's 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...

p.s. I like to look up urban legends and myths on "Snopes.com". It's something fun to do when you're bored.