In The Air Tonight lyrics by Phil Collins, 11 meanings. In The Air Tonight explained, official 2024 song lyrics | LyricsMode.com
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Phil Collins – In The Air Tonight lyrics
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
And I've been waiting for this moment for 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 that 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
Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
Well I've been waiting for this moment for 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, oh no you don't fool me
Well the hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows
It's no stranger to you and me


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

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

I can feel it in the air tonight, oh lord, oh lord, oh lord, oh lord
Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord, oh lord, oh lord
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Songwriters: Phil Collins
In The Air Tonight lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC

In The Air Tonight meanings Post my meaning

  • U
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    Unregistered
    My understanding is phil was in some sort of group home him & another kid snuck out & went swimming & a counselor had caught them phil hid in the cover of the dark & watched as the counselor threw rocks at the other child preventing him from reaching the shore resulting in the kid drounding later in life phil invited the man to a show (unknowing just who phil was) as phil sang spotlights lit up the unsuspecting guest as phil reminded him of what he saw many years ago. Yea 1 for the good guy's
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    Unregistered
    The song was to and about Eric Clapton, when Collins caught him screwing around with his wife. Phil immediately divorced her and then wrote this for "Slow Claw". It is something Clapton and Collins have never gotten over and to this day, the two refuse to talk to each other.
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  • j
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    JeriLynnda
    This is what wikipedia says. So maybe I was wrong. Idk, after all Wikipedia is run by the Oompa Loompas.
    "An urban legend has arisen around "In the Air Tonight". According to the legend, the lyrics are based on a tragic event Collins witnessed, usually a drowning (as in the song's lyrics), in which a man could have helped the victim, but did not do so (an alternate version of the legend has the onlooker a murderer, intentionally drowning the victim, rather than a bystander). A common ending is that Collins invites this man to a show and sings the song to him, often with a spotlight pointed at him. Afterward, the man is arrested or, in some versions, is wracked with guilt and has a heart attack or commits suicide. Other versions of the story involve Collins discovering his wife having s** with (or being raped by) another man, often a close friend; the man subsequently drowns while Collins himself watches.
    Years later, Collins commented on the legends about the song in a bbc World Service interview:.
    " I don't know what this song is about. When I was writing this I was going through a divorce. And the only thing I can say about it is that it's obviously in anger. It's the angry side, or the bitter side of a separation. So what makes it even more comical is when I hear these stories which started many years ago, particularly in America, of someone come up to me and say, 'Did you really see someone drowning?' I said, 'No, wrong'. And then every time I go back to America the story gets Chinese whispers, it gets more and more elaborate. It's so frustrating, 'cos this is one song out of all the songs probably that I've ever written that I really don't know what it's about, you know. "
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    Unregistered
    In the air tonight is about when phil was about 6 or 7 years old he witnessed a man drowning another man then phil told his parents but they didn't believe him and for years and years phil had to live with that but then phil found the murderer and sent him front row tickets to his concert then when phil was singing in the air tonight he was singing it directly to the murderer and then when the drum solo came on the lights came directly onto the murderer and the police came and arrested the murderer.
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  • e
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    Elixx
    Wow. Sorry to all for what I'm about to say, but when I saw the lyrics it was scary as hell. Cus is the devil talking to Jesus while he was dead. In those tree days Jesus went to the ades"" and talk to all the people that dies before him to tell them that he was the Messiah that god sent humanity. And then he resurected. And change things forever. Sorry guys.
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  • d
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    dee112166
    I also heard it was about rape, but it was his wife he witnessed being raped and he couldn't do anything to help her. It was an intruder that broke into their house and when he came home the man threatened to kill her and he made Phil watch what he was doing. They later divorced because she couldn't get past what happened to her and he felt he was to blame and it broke up their marriage.
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  • b
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    blablash
    The song by phil colins iin the air of the night about that guy who could've saved that other guy from drowning but didn't then phil saw it all and a show he found him. Its clearly not about a rape or an affair. You have to read the lyrics clearly to understand what its about and just watching the video does not mea that, that's what happend read the lyrics.!
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  • b
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    Buddyz95
    Actually it is about a guy who was standing on top of a jetty and laughed at his m8 because his mate was drowning because his leg was caught in seaweed den he hired an investigator to look 4 de guy and then gave him tickets to his concert and sang this song and turned off all the lights except 2 spotlights 1 on Phil Collins the other on the guy and then after the concert the guy went home and hung himself.
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  • t
    - 2
    Tenderfoot
    Saw Phil on a great show called "The Songwriters". Every week there were famous people on, Billy Joel, Elton John etc etc. Anyway the format was a lengthy chat and then some live music. Well Phil was asked point blank to explain the lyrics to "In the Air Tonight" and he said "No meaning whatsoever, the words came into my head and I wrote them down." That was all he said about the song.
    1 reply
  • U
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    Unregistered
    So the fact that phil saw a kid drowning in the grand union canal when he was a kid, saw a man walking on by who wouldn't do a thing and recalls it all in a song is now interpreted as rape?
    Funny how people read so many things into song lyrics and its only made worse by the fact that phil claims the song came from nowhere.
    Urban myth? Or did phil send tickets to someone just for the fun of it?
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  • n
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    NJAY
    Okay, the song is about being decieved by his first wife Andrea Bertorelli, who had an affair with their painter/decorator. The first verse is aimed at the painter/decorator, and the 2nd verse is aimed at his ex wife. Take a look at the 1981 top of the pops video, notice the paint bucket and brush resting against his piano. Note the video clip, he walks into many rooms and slams the door. Opens a door, and looks stunned. "i saw what you did, i saw it with my own eyes..." The song is definitly not about a drowning, the drowning is metophorical for the pain he felt. Hence the video clip. The start of the video clip spellls the word decieve in 3 different languages including english.
    The song is not about a rape as it would be hyporcitical of him to watch someone being raped " i saw what you did."
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    Top meanings Post my meaning

    • U
      + 2
      Unregistered
      My understanding is phil was in some sort of group home him & another kid snuck out & went swimming... Read more →
    • U
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      Unregistered
      The song was to and about Eric Clapton, when Collins caught him screwing around with his wife. Phil... Read more →

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