What Is "It"?

For  decades, I have been a fan of the song "In The Air Tonight" by former Genesis band member, Philip David James Collins, known the world over as simply Phil Collins. However, there's nothing simple about the man.  He's a drummer, singer, song writer and producer, and even an actor, having appeared on the television show "Miami Vice" and later starred in his own film called "Buster".  He has appeared in tons of movies, television programs and even appeared as a version of himself in the Grand Theft Auto game series.  He's accomplished way more than the likes of this little blog can report, but if you're interested, there is a plethora of material available online that you can peruse at your own leisure.  It's a fascinating read, for sure.  What I recall about Phil Collins, other than he once described himself as an "exterior decorator", meaning, he painted houses in his youth.  That description made me laugh and I always recall it when I see anyone painting a house.  That aside, I also remember Phil Collins famously performed at Live Aid on July 13th, 1985, playing both the London, England venue as well as the show in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He performed at one, hopped on the Concorde, which flew at supersonic speed, and arrived in Philly in time to perform before the close of the live concert.  That's a hell of a feat, if you ask me.

Phil Collins has had more hit singles than I can count, both as a member of Genesis as well as a solo artist.  One of his biggest songs is from 1981 from his debut solo album, Face Value and was it's second release following the song, "I Missed Again" and is arguably one of his biggest hits of all time.  That song being "In The Air Tonight". 

The song is slow and melodic, with a drum beat that resembles a calm heartbeat that almost feels hypnotic with a sharp guitar riff peppered in at the right moments to wake us from the relaxing rhythmic sounds.  It isn't until two thirds of the way through the song that Phil hits us with a hammering drum solo, jolting us from the calmness of the song to the rocking anthem it has always been.

In the song, Phil famously repeats the line, "I can feel it coming in the air tonight. Oh Lord. I've been waiting for this moment for all my life."  He even asks us, the listener, "Can you feel it coming in the air tonight?"

I've heard this song more times than I can count.  At this point it'd be like reciting pi, it's been that many times and not once did I stop to question, "What is it that he feels coming in the air tonight?"  Or any night, for that matter?  This morning I decided to find out and to my surprise...  Nobody knows.  Not even Phil Collins himself, know what "it" is that he felt coming in the air.

When asked Phil Collins simply stated that he left that he intentionally left that open for interpretation.  In interviews over the years, He repeatedly reported that the lyrics were entirely improvised during a studio session following a painful divorce from his first wife, Andrea Bertorelli and though he wrote and recorded the song and having performed it thousands of times for his adoring fans, in the end, he doesn't know the exact meaning himself.

Last week, I wrote a blog about "Divine Intervention", and perhaps this is another example of that.  Phil Collins sat with a group of musicians in a recording studio, his heart grieving over the dissolution of his marriage.  Expressing suppressed pain spontaneously through music has been a well-documented psychological phenomenon.  During that session of just messing around on his drum kit and riffing with his band, Phil Collins not only had a cathartic moment, but had the wherewithal to record said song and we are all glad he did. 

The song "In The Air Tonight" did not reach the pinnacle heights that several of his other hits did, reaching only Number 2 on the UK charts and a measly Number 19 on the US Billboard Hot 100, but it's moved far beyond what any charts would indicate.  It's a moving piece that has generations singing along, all the while none of us knows what exactly "it" is, but according to Phil, it's up to us, the listener, to figure out what "it" means for ourselves.