Top 10 Alert!
Song#: 2656 Date: 03/15/1986
Debut: 73
Peak: 7
Weeks: 16
Genre: Pop
Pop Bits: Collins' album No Jacket Required scored three Top 10 hits in a row with two of them hitting #1. He then hit the top spot again in late November of '85 with "Separate Lives," a duet with Marilyn Martin that was featured on the soundtrack to the film White Nights. Then in February of '86, No Jacket Required would win the Grammy for Album of the Year with Collins winning for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, along with Producer of the Year (with Hugh Padgham). As a follow-up to the soundtrack hit and the multiple Grammy wins, Collins issued out this fourth single from his album. It would easily become his eighth Top 10 solo hit at Pop while also getting to #2 AC and #12 Rock. Helping the song along in the background are Collins' old Genesis bandmate Peter Gabriel, Sting, and Helen Terry. It would be the final single released from the album.
ReduxReview: This rolling track became my favorite from the album. I just loved the feel of the song, the drums, the production, the melody, and Collins' performance. There's really not a lot to the song - a couple of easy chord progressions that are repeated - yet the melodies Collins wrote along with the arrangement made the song soar. I also love hearing Helen Terry's voice rise above the rest of the background singers at the end. No matter what the lyrics are meant to convey, I always get such a reflective yet hopeful feeling when I hear the song; almost like something difficult has ended and something wonderful is on the horizon. It is still one of my favorite tracks from Collins.
ReduxRating: 9/10
Trivia: Double Shot! 1) Although only four singles were officially released from No Jacket Required, another track found its way on the Rock chart. The track "Inside Out" garnered enough airplay to reach #9 at Rock. 2) Although many folks just considered this song an ode to someone trying to find their way home, the meaning behind it was actually a bit darker. The lyrics apparently reference a person who is living in a mental institution. Collins mentioned this when he appeared on an episode of VH1's Storytellers program. The idea for the lyrics stemmed from the 1962 Ken Kesey novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. That book was adapted into a play in 1963 and later was adapted into a film in 1975. The film, which starred Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher, would go on to win five Oscars including Best Picture. Its Oscar wins were all in the top 5 categories (Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, Screenplay) and it is one of only three films to win the top 5 (as of this posting date). The other two were 1934's It Happened One Night and 1991's The Silence of the Lambs.
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