\"In the Air Tonight\" is the debut solo single by the English singer-songwriter and drummer Phil Collins. It was released as the lead single from Collins' debut solo album, Face Value, in January 1981.
Collins co-produced the single with Hugh Padgham, who became a frequent collaborator in the following years. The song was an instant hit, quickly climbing to No. 2 on the UK Singles chart but was held off the top spot by the posthumous release of John Lennon's \"Woman\". It was also an international hit, achieving top 10 status in Australia, New Zealand and several European territories, reaching No. 1 in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden. It peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.
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.
The recording is notable for its atmospheric production and macabre theme. It 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\".
Collins said: 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, 'cause 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?
