The Urban Myth Surrounding Phil Collins’ IN THE AIR TONIGHT.

The ambiguous lyrics of Collins's first solo hit, "In the Air Tonight", have spawned an urban legend that won't go away.  The popular interpretation of the lyrics is that Collins witnessed a murder. The legend further goes that Phil Collins sees the guilty party in the audience at one of his concerts, and he sings the song to him--a spotlight on the man in an otherwise pitch dark auditorium. In some versions the man then goes home to kill himself, in another he is arrested by awaiting police officers.

Here are the song lyrics in question:

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, 
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.

Well I remember, 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.

Rapper Eminem references the myth in his song "Stan" (about an obsessed fan) who pleads to his idol:

You know that song by Phil Collins from "In the Air Tonight"? 

About that guy who could have saved that other guy from drowning? 
But didn't?
Then Phil saw it all, then at his show he found him?

That's kinda how this is. You could have rescued me from drowning. 

Now it's too late. I'm on a thousand downers now, I'm drowsy.

When asked about it in interviews, Phil Collins denies that the lyrics have anything to do with a murder, or a drowning. He claims that he isn’t really sure what In the Air Tonight is about.  The song itself came out of the anger he was feeling about his divorce from his first wife, as Collins stated in a BBC 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’. ... “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.”

One reason the myth persists is that Collins’ explanation does not satisfactorily clear up the mystery of those lyrics.:

“I got these chords that I liked, so I turned the mic on and started singing. The lyrics you hear are what I wrote spontaneously. That frightens me a bit, but I’m quite proud of the fact that I sing 99.9 percent of those lyrics spontaneously.” 

Whether Collins is being completely candid or not, his explanation could lend credence to a Freudian interpretation: that the song emerged from his subconscious, bearing witness to an event too traumatic for Collins to remember clearly or consciously. The haunting. macabre tune seems to fit: straining, yearning to break through to an epiphany (air-drums): “I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life.”

Also of interest:

Phil Collins' "You Can't Hurry Love" at Prince's Trust Rock Gala

Paul McCartney "I Saw Her Standing There" at Prince's Trust Rock Gala

Eric Clapton and Tina Turner "Tearing Us Apart" at Prince's Trust Rock Gala

George Harrison and Eric Clapton "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at Prince's Trust Rock Gala