Phil Collins Wrote In the Air Tonight About Watching a Man Drown

It is a flawless revenge story with a cinematic ending, and the song already sounds like an accusation, so people filled in the crime to match the mood. Eminem even repeated the tale in a verse, which gave it another generation of life. Collins has debunked it more times than he can count. He wrote the song improvising over a drum machine while seething about his first divorce, with no specific event behind it at all. There was no drowning, no concert ambush, no spotlight. He has called the legend irresponsible, and you can hear why. The story endures because the menace in that track demands a villain, so listeners invented one and then insisted Collins confirm him.