Today's song was never destined to be a big chart hit. It only peaked at #39 on the Top 40 charts, thus meaning Casey Kasem played it, what, once? But the AOR radio stations of the day picked up on it, and played it a bunch in the late winter and early spring of 1983, right about the time my N.C. State Wolfpack were beginning their magical run to the National Championship. That airplay helped create buzz for this song that carried for decades with Collins' core fans, who made it one of their favorite songs.
And, it could be considered somewhat of a follow-up, in style and message certainly, to his 1981 hit, "In The Air Tonight".
Talk about a song one can identify with, and literally slink into, if you are at the end of a broken relationship, dealing with love that is not returned by a party that doesn't give you the time of day, or maybe you're done with a group of people that have picked on you over and over and over again.
For Phil, it was about his failed first marriage. Phil doesn't give in to the haters, he puts 'em in their place. And by the final minute of the song, it feels like he's feeling freedom for the first time in a long time.
"I don't care what you say, I don't play the same games you play.....I'll do alright by myself...."
#NoNoNoNo
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