In The Air Tonight lyrics

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.

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 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 , thats what happend READ THE LYRICS ...!!!

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 sex 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. "

Actually, you're all wrong on the meaning. and YES THE SONG IS ABOUT RAPE, Ok, so here goes...

Some people say this is a myth but Me and my mom both saw a personal interview with Phil Collins himself and this is the story he told. (Sorry I have the memory of a goldfish so there are no details)

Back when he was a young boy, he saw a girl get raped in a park. He was scared and confused on what he should do. So, he ran and never told. Years later, he was playing a show and saw the same man from the park in the front row of his concert. He immediatly recognized him.

Thus, "In the Air Tonight" was written.

If you go back and read the lyrics, it makes perfect sense. Nobody drowned, it is just him saying he wouldn't help if he was drowning because of what he did.

"I've seen your face before my friend, but I don't know if you know who I am"

"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"

C'mon... it makes perfect sense. Why would he have only met his wife once and their decorator not know who he is? Serisously

The paint bucket and brush on the piano was there because as Phil was setting up on stage on TOTP, the crew left the paint bucket and brush on the stage and Phil just decided to us them - this he revealed in an interview in January 09. Quirky but it worked.