In the Air Tonight

Background and recording

Inspiration

Collins wrote the song amid the grief he felt after divorcing his first wife Andrea Bertorelli in 1980. In a 2016 interview, Collins said of the song's lyrics: "I wrote the lyrics spontaneously. I'm not quite sure what the song is about, but there's a lot of anger, a lot of despair and a lot of frustration." In a 1997 BBC Radio 2 documentary, the singer revealed that the divorce contributed to his 1979 hiatus from the band Genesis, until the band regrouped in October of that year to record the album Duke. Collins remembered playing the song to Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks but he felt it was too simple for the group.

Musical style

"In the Air Tonight" has been described as being "at the vanguard of experimental pop" in 1981 and "a rock oddity classic", having been influenced by "the unconventional studio predilections of Brian Eno and Peter Gabriel". It has also been described as a "soft rock classic." Musically, the song consists of a series of chords played on a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 over a simple drum machine pattern (the Roland CR-78 Disco-2 pattern, plus some programming); processed electric guitar sounds and vocoded vocals, an effect which is increased on key words to add additional atmosphere. The mood is one of restrained anger until the final chorus when an explosive burst of drums finally releases the musical tension and the instrumentation explodes into a thunderous crescendo. Composed in D minor, it has a moderate tempo of 96 beats per minute.

Collins has described obtaining the drum machine specifically to deal with personal issues relating to his divorce through songwriting, telling Mix magazine: "I had to start writing some of this music that was inside me". He improvised the lyrics during a songwriting session in the studio: "I was just fooling around. 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 sang 99.9 percent of those lyrics spontaneously".

Drum sound

The song is known for its use of the gated reverb drum sound. Fellow musicians and journalists have commented on its use in the record. Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne called the drum fill "the best ever – it still sounds awesome", while music critic and broadcaster Stuart Maconie was quoted:

The original single version of "In the Air Tonight" features extra drums that play underneath the song until the signature drum crash (referred to by fans as the "magic break") appears. These were added at the suggestion of Atlantic Records head Ahmet Ertegun. In 2007, Collins wrote:

Release

Speaking about the song's rapid ascension in the music charts, Collins wrote the following in 2007:

Critical reception

Record World called the song "futuristic pop that's also rhythmically captivating."

Urban legend

An urban legend has arisen about "In the Air Tonight", according to which the lyrics are based on a drowning incident in which someone who was close enough to save the victim did not help them, while Collins, who was too far away to help, looked on. Increasingly embellished variations on the legend emerged over time, with the stories often culminating in Collins singling out the guilty party while singing the song at a concert. Collins has denied all such stories; he commented on the legends about the song in a BBC World Service interview:

The urban legend was famously referenced by Eminem in his 2000 chart-topping hit "Stan":

Music video

The music video (directed by Stuart Orme) animates the photograph of Collins's face from the cover of the Face Value album, slowly fading in through the introduction until it fills the screen, singing the first chorus. The video then cuts to Collins sitting in an empty room at night. Twice a spectral figure appears in the window, but only the second time does Collins get up to look at it, then is shown walking to the one door of the room.

Collins's face returns for the second chorus. He is then shown leaving the room and entering a hallway full of doors. The first one is locked, then the second opens and Collins sees himself looking at the window again, only now the spectre has turned into his own reflection.

The third door is locked, but as the fourth one opens, the drum break sounds and the viewer is returned to Collins's face again, this time in thermal coloring, which gradually reverts to black and white. His reflection from the window is briefly superimposed on the face, this time seemingly reflected in water. Collins recedes into the darkness as the song repeats and fades.

In 1983 the music video was released on the home video Phil Collins available on VHS and LaserDisc which received a Grammy nomination for Best Video, Short Form.

Performance

"In the Air Tonight" remains a popular selection on classic rock radio stations. It is the song most often associated with Collins' solo career, and he has performed it at many events, including Live Aid, where he played the song on a piano on the same calendar day in both Philadelphia and London. He also performed the song at The Secret Policeman's Ball, which was his first live performance as a solo artist. "I remember doing 'In the Air Tonight' at Live Aid," he recalled, "and [Pete] Townshend saying, 'Are you going to do that fucking song again?' as if it was the only one I ever played."

Legacy

The song appeared as part of the soundtrack for the 1983 movie Risky Business and plays when the characters played by Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay have sex on a subway train.

In 1984, the song was memorably used in a scene from the first episode of the television series Miami Vice, which film and television critic Matt Zoller Seitz cited as why the song has been stamped as "Property of Michael Mann" (the series' executive producer) for years, rarely being used in other screen works due to its indelible use in the series, akin to Martin Scorsese's signature use of songs by the Rolling Stones for his films. "In the Air Tonight" received a new wave of attention thanks to its use in the series, enough for it to rise in sales outside the Billboard Hot 100 at number 102.

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, attended by 3500 worldwide deejays. The mix was picked up by Virgin Records for an official release, which hit Number 4 in the UK charts.

David Wise, composer for the 1995 video game Donkey Kong Country 2, has said that the track "Bayou Boogie" was inspired by "In the Air Tonight", adding that he was "trying to get the SNES to sound like the Roland CR78" Collins used on the track.

The song gained notoriety again when it was used in a 2007 Cadbury's Dairy Milk advert featuring a man in a gorilla suit warming up and playing the drum fill towards the end of the advert. Upon seeing the advert, Collins stated in a BBC interview that he thought the advert was 'fantastic'. The song eventually reached number 14 in the UK Top 40 charts and appeared on the 'Now That's What I Call Music 68' UK CD.

The song appeared as part of a cameo by Mike Tyson in the 2009 movie The Hangover. Rolling Stone noted "The Hangover marked the moment where the Fill broke through to another level of pop-cultural immortality."

In July 2020, a video reaction to the song by TwinsthenewTrend increased the sales and streaming of Collins's original version. The TwinsthenewTrend first-listen video was viewed 4.9 million times in its first two weeks online. Continued popularity brought new traffic to the Collins song which rose to number 3 on Billboard Digital Song Sales chart in August 2020.

Since the 2023 NFL season, a cover version by Chris Stapleton, Cindy Blackman Santana, and Snoop Dogg has opened up each edition of ESPN's Monday Night Football, with unique lyrics each week describing the playing teams.

On 15 November 2024, the song was used by Jake Paul as his entrance song in his boxing match against Mike Tyson, the first live event to be broadcast by Netflix.

Single and credits

VSK102 UK Single Release (Martin H)

1. "In the Air Tonight"
2. "The Roof Is Leaking"

Sleeve includes a black and white 12-page cartoon storyboard drawn by Collins' brother Clive Collins.

UK and US single (1981)

1. "In the Air Tonight" – 4:57

• Phil Collins – Roland CR-78 drum machine, vocals, drums, Prophet 5 synthesizer, Rhodes piano, Roland VP-330 vocoder
• John Giblin – bass
• Daryl Stuermer – guitar
• L. Shankar – violins

1. "The Roof Is Leaking" – 3:36

• Phil Collins – piano, vocal
• Daryl Stuermer – banjo
• Joe Partridge – slide guitar
• A demo track for "In the Air Tonight" also appeared on the "If Leaving Me Is Easy" single. 12" German maxi-single (1981)

1. "In the Air Tonight" (album version) – 5:35

• Phil Collins – Roland CR-78 drum machine, vocals, drums, Prophet 5 synthesizer, Rhodes piano, Roland VP-330 vocoder
• John Giblin – bass
• Daryl Stuermer – guitar
• L. Shankar – violins

1. "The Roof Is Leaking" – 3:36

• Phil Collins – piano, vocal
• Daryl Stuermer – banjo
• Joe Partridge – slide guitar Japan CD single (1988)

1. "In the Air Tonight" (extended)
2. "In the Air Tonight" ('88 remix)
3. "I Missed Again" (Album Version) German CD single (1990)
4. "In the Air Tonight" (extended version) – 7:33 (Additional production by Ben Liebrand)
5. "In the Air Tonight" ('88 remix) – 5:07 (Remixed by Phil Collins and Hugh Padgham)
6. "I Missed Again" – 3:42 (catalogue 2292-57672-2)

Personnel

"In the Air Tonight"

• Phil Collins – Roland CR-78 drum machine, vocals, drums, Prophet 5 synthesizer, Rhodes piano, Roland VP-330 vocoder
• John Giblin – bass
• Daryl Stuermer – guitar
• L. Shankar – violins

"The Roof Is Leaking"

• Phil Collins – piano, vocal
• Daryl Stuermer – banjo
• Joe Partridge – slide guitar

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certification

Lil' Kim version

"In the Air Tonite" is a reworking of Phil Collins' 1981 single "In the Air Tonight" recorded by American rapper Lil' Kim for the Phil Collins tribute album Urban Renewal. The song, promoted as a duet between Collins and Lil' Kim, was released in 2001 as the second single from the album. The song's accompanying music video combines scenes from the original video with new scenes featuring Lil' Kim. It was featured in The Box Netherlands HitMix 2001. The single has been certified Platinum in Germany by the IFPI.

Charts

Marilyn Manson version

| B-side = "As Sick as the Secrets Of (Sleep)"

American rock band Marilyn Manson released a cover of "In the Air Tonight" on 16 April 2025 as a non-album single, to promote an upcoming tour and the band's 2024 album One Assassination Under God – Chapter 1. The CD single contained the B-side "As Sick as the Secrets Of (Sleep)", a reimagining of "As Sick as the Secrets Within". The cover was produced by Tyler Bates and features drums by Gil Sharone. It is faithful to the original musically, retaining the drum break, but adds elements of gothic rock such as distorted guitars, ambient piano, and screamed vocals.

Release

The single was commercially successful upon release. Limited to 4,000 copies worldwide, the CD single sold out within four hours of release. The song entered several charts in the United Kingdom, peaking at number two on the UK Physical Singles Chart, number 15 on the UK Singles Sales Chart, and number 37 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart. The song debuted at number one Billboards Hard Rock Digital Song Sales, the band's third number one single on that chart. It was the band's fifth top 10 hit on the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, and also peaked at number 22 on Billboards Digital Song Sales chart, the band's highest peak on that chart.

Critical reception

Metal Insider reviewer Zenae Zukowski said Manson's version of "In the Air Tonight" retains the "signature ominous edge" of some of the band's previous covers, such as "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" and "Tainted Love". They said the cover adds a "dark, cinematic tone" that "feels tailor-made for a modern horror film." A harsh review came from Headbangers who panned the cover for sounding like "an angry toaster trying to seduce a haunted fax machine in a dark alley behind Hot Topic", rating it 0 out of 5 stars.

Track listing

"In the Air Tonight" written by Phil Collins; "As Sick as the Secrets Of (Sleep)" written by Marilyn Manson and Tyler Bates.

1. "In the Air Tonight" – 5:02
2. "As Sick as the Secrets Of (Sleep)" – 5:00

Charts

Cover versions

• In 2006, a cover of the song by Miami-based rock band Nonpoint was featured in the movie adaptation of Miami Vice.
• The Protomen released a cover as part of their covers album The Cover Up, which had a full album release in 2015. The album is styled with a hidden narrative, being the surviving soundtrack to a banned movie within the universe of their dystopian three act rock opera tragedy, which is influenced by "Reagan-era media" like "In the Air Tonight". The cover of "In the Air Tonight" was later featured in the third season of Cobra Kai in 2021 and as a result was the 7th top song on Shazam for the first half of 2021. They frequently cover the song live to positive responses. Nashville Scene enthused: "They nailed that one, iconic drum fill and all."
• In 2016, the band Mic Lowry released an adaptation of the song titled "Oh Lord". A music video was released on 29 September 2016 on the band's official YouTube page. The band was chosen Elvis Duran's Artist of the Month for March 2017 and were invited to perform the song nationwide in the United States through The Today Show presented by Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb. They also performed live on The Wendy Williams Show on 8 March 2017. The song charted in the UK Singles Chart reaching number 54 on the chart.
• In 2017, the band In This Moment recorded a cover for their album, Ritual.
• Marissa Nadler and Stephen Brodsky recorded a cover in 2019.
• Chris Stapleton, Snoop Dogg and Cindy Blackman Santana recorded a cover version as the theme song for Monday Night Football in 2023.

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