* "...Phil offers thoughtful, well intentioned lyrics which tackle the world's problems of war and chaos;...Phil's worries in 1987 have a prophetic ring to them." ~ Welch, Chris. The Complete Guide to the Music of Genesis. 1995 ed
This quote is inaccurate. Mike Rutherford penned the lyrics for this track and the song was released in 1986.
The song is widely remembered for its music video, which had heavy airplay on MTV. The video drew controversy for its portrayal of Ronald Reagan as being physically and cognitively inept. The video features puppets by the British television show Spitting Image. After Phil Collins saw a caricatured version of himself on the show, he commissioned the show's creators, Peter Fluck and Roger Law, to create puppets of the entire band, as well as all the characters in the video.
The video opens with a caricatured Ronald Reagan (voiced by Chris Barrie), Nancy Reagan, and a chimpanzee (parodying Reagan's film Bedtime for Bonzo), going to bed at 16:30. Reagan, holding a teddy bear, goes to sleep and begins to have a nightmare, which sets the premise for the entire video. The video intermittently features a line of stomping feet, illustrating an army marching through a swamp, and they pick up heads of Cold War-era political figures in the swamp along the way (an allusion to Motel Hell).
Caricatured versions of the band members are shown playing instruments on stage during a concert: Tony Banks on an array of synthesizers (as well as a cash register), Mike Rutherford on a four-necked guitar (parodying Rutherford's dual role as the band's guitar and bass-player), and two Phil Collins puppets: one on the drums, and one singing.
During the second verse, the video features various world leaders giving speeches on large video screens in front of mass crowds; the video shows Mussolini, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Mikhail Gorbachev and his aides (appearing like Frank Sinatra's 'rat pack'), and Muammar al-Gaddafi. Meanwhile, Reagan is shown putting on a Superman suit, fumbling along the way, while Collins sings,
Oh Superman where are you now
When everything's gone wrong somehow
The men of steel, the men of power
Are losing control by the hour.
Meanwhile, the "real world" Reagan is shown drowning in his own sweat (at one point, a rubber duck floats by).
During the bridge, the Superman-costumed Reagan and a Monoclonius-type dinosaur (with punk jewelry) watch a television showing various clips (apparently from the Spitting Image show itself), including Johnny Carson, Leonard Nimoy as Mr Spock (with a Rubik's Cube), and Bob Hope. This segues into a sequence apparently set in prehistoric times, where the Monoclonius-type and a Theropod-type dinosaur (wearing a bow-tie) meet up with Ron and Nancy Reagan and a rather outlandish mammal eats an egg and reads a newspaper. At the end of this part, the ape from the prologue is shown throwing a bone in the air (an allusion to 2001: A Space Odyssey).
As the bone begins to fall there is a sudden switch to Collins catching a falling phone which he uses to inform the person on the other end that he "won't be coming home tonight, my generation will put it right" (which is when a caricature of a 1980s Pete Townshend is seen playing a chord on guitar and giving thumbs up for putative mentioning of his own song, My Generation) and on the "we're not just making promises" verse the bone lands (on top of David Bowie and Bob Dylan). Reagan is then shown riding the Monoclonius through the streets while wearing a cowboy hat and wardrobe (a reference to Reagan's down-home public persona and ranch). As the video nears its climax, there are periodic scenes of a large group of spoofed celebrity puppets, including Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Hulk Hogan singing along to the chorus of the song, in a spoof of the charity driven song "We Are the World".
At the end of the video, Reagan awakens from his dream, and surfaces from the sweat surrounding him; Nancy at this point is wearing a snorkel. After taking a drink (missing his mouth and, indeed, his face), he fumbles for a button next to his bed. He intends to push the one labeled "Nurse", but instead presses the one titled "Nuke", setting off a mushroom cloud. Reagan then replies "Man, that's one heck of a nurse!" Nancy whacks him over the head with her snorkel. (This is somewhat reminiscent of the opening of Far Out Space Nuts when a "Launch" button is pressed, thinking it was labeled "Lunch".)
The video, directed by John Lloyd & Jim Yukich and produced by Jon Blair, won the short lived Grammy Award for Best Concept Music Video during the 1988 Grammys. The video was also nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Video of the Year in 1987, but lost to "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel (coincidentally, Genesis' former lead singer). It also made the number-one spot on The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau's top 10 music videos in his year-end "Dean's List" feature, and number three on the equivalent list in his annual survey of music critics, Pazz & Jop (again losing out to "Sledgehammer").
The song was played on their Invisible Touch, The Way We Walk, Calling All Stations (with Ray Wilson on vocals) and Turn It On Again: The Tour tours, though always transposed down a key to account for the deepening of Phil Collins's voice over the years.
It also appears on their live albums The Way We Walk, Volume One: The Shorts, and Live Over Europe 2007. As well as on their DVDs Genesis Live at Wembley Stadium, The Way We Walk - Live in Concert and When in Rome 2007.
"Land of Confusion" was also a track used for the final episode of the 1980s cop show Miami Vice (in which Phil Collins periodically played a minor role) called "Freefall" and was applied as the characters of the show Crockett (Don Johnson) and Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) were in the middle of a stakeout. The song was to imply the complexity of the story during the finale.
"Land of Confusion" was then-Delaware Senator Joe Biden's campaign song during his brief run for President in 1987.
The song has been variously re-recorded as cover versions by several artists spanning a number of genres.
* One-time Genesis guitarist Daryl Stuermer reworked the song into a jazz tune on his album Another Side of Genesis.
* It has been covered by reggae group Fourth Dimension.
* Swedish melodic death metal band In Flames covered the song for their 2003 EP Trigger.
The most recent cover version was by American metal band Disturbed, from their third studio album, Ten Thousand Fists. The song became the fourth single from that album. Vocalist David Draiman commented that the aim of covering the song was, "taking a song that's absolutely nothing like us and making it our own."
It was accompanied by a music video animated by Todd McFarlane, known for his work with the Spawn comic book series. McFarlane had previously animated the music videos for the songs "Freak on a Leash" by Korn and "Do the Evolution" by Pearl Jam. According to McFarlane, the music video is "a big view of the corporate world and how it all ties into just one big beast for me... The world is run by one giant thing, which is driven by greed and lust."
The video starts out with the The Guy, Disturbed's mascot, falling to earth. It then shows military forces sporting a dollar sign within a circle of white that is within a field of red, followed by legions of black-clad soldiers reminiscent of Adolf Hitler's Schutzstaffel, belonging to different countries. The video then shows The Guy, escaping bondage from chains, as the military forces continue to assault cities. Later on, leaders of various nations of the world are shown sitting at a table with the same dollar sign on it. Eventually The Guy confronts some soldiers, who sport patches with the dollar sign symbol, and stirs the people around the world to revolt and kill the soldiers, and then flags of various nations of the world are shown, with the final flag sporting the dollar sign. The Guy then leads the rebels to the United Nations Headquarters where they slaughter the U.N. representatives and finally the overweight businessman who, when destroyed by The Guy, explodes into dollar bills.
Land of Confusion
Genesis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Been haunted by a million screams
But I can hear the marching feet
They're moving into the street
Now did you read the news today?
They say the danger's gone away
But I can see the fire's still alight
There's too many men
Too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go 'round
Can't you see
This is a land of confusion?
Well, this is the world we live in (oh oh oh)
And these are the hands we're given (oh oh oh)
Use them and let's start trying (oh oh oh)
To make it a place worth living in
Ooh, Superman, where are you now
When everything's gone wrong somehow?
The men of steel, the men of power
Are losing control by the hour
This is the time
This is the place
So we look for the future
But there's not much love to go 'round
Tell me why this is a land of confusion?
This is the world we live in (oh oh oh)
And these are the hands we're given (oh oh oh)
Use them and let's start trying (oh oh oh)
To make it a place worth living in
I remember long ago
Ooh, when the sun was shining
Yes, and the stars were bright
All through the night
And the sound of your laughter
As I held you tight
So long ago
I won't be coming home tonight
My generation will put it right
We're not just making promises
That we know we'll never keep
Too many men
There's too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go 'round
Can't you see
This is a land of confusion?
Now this is the world we live in (oh oh oh)
And these are the hands we're given (oh oh oh)
Use them and let's start trying (oh oh oh)
To make it a place worth fighting for
This is the world we live in (oh oh oh)
And these are the names we're given (oh oh oh)
Stand up and let's start showing (oh oh oh)
Just where our lives are going to
In Genesis's song "Land Of Confusion," the lyrics describe the chaos and confusion that exists in the world. The first stanza details the singer's sense of unease and feeling that something is coming. Despite the media reporting that the danger is gone, for the singer, the danger remains palpable. The second stanza reveals the source of this danger - men of power who are losing control - and asks why there is such a lack of love in the world. The chorus repeats the phrase "this is a land of confusion," further emphasizing the feeling of chaos and disorder.
Line by Line Meaning
I must've dreamed a thousand dreams
Been haunted by a million screams
But I can hear the marching feet
They're moving into the street
The singer is troubled by the chaos in the world and feels that it is invading his dreams. He senses that something is starting to happen.
Now did you read the news today?
They say the danger's gone away
But I can see the fire's still alight
They're burning into the night
The media are trying to convince people that everything is okay, but the singer sees through the illusion and knows that the danger is still present.
There's too many men
Too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go 'round
Can't you see
This is a land of confusion?
There are too many people causing problems in the world and not enough love to counteract their actions. This causes confusion and disorder.
Well, this is the world we live in (oh oh oh)
And these are the hands we're given (oh oh oh)
Use them and let's start trying (oh oh oh)
To make it a place worth living in
The world is flawed and imperfect, but instead of giving up, we should use the resources and abilities available to us to try and make it a better place.
Ooh, Superman, where are you now
When everything's gone wrong somehow?
The men of steel, the men of power
Are losing control by the hour
The singer is lamenting the fact that those in power who are supposed to help and protect people are failing to do so. He wishes there was someone like Superman to make things right.
This is the time
This is the place
So we look for the future
But there's not much love to go 'round
Tell me why this is a land of confusion?
Despite the present difficulties, the opportunity exists to forge a better future. However, there is still a lack of love and unity to help bring this about, which makes it challenging and confusing.
I remember long ago
Ooh, when the sun was shining
Yes, and the stars were bright
All through the night
And the sound of your laughter
As I held you tight
So long ago
The singer reminisces about a time when things were good, and he shared a deep connection with someone special. This nostalgic memory highlights the contrast with the present situation.
I won't be coming home tonight
My generation will put it right
We're not just making promises
That we know we'll never keep
The singer asserts that he is willing to take action to resolve the problems of the world. He believes his generation can make a positive difference, and they should avoid being hollow and unreliable in their promises.
Too many men
There's too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go 'round
Can't you see
This is a land of confusion?
The singer repeats the chorus to emphasize the central theme of the song: the world is plagued by too many problems and conflicts, and the absence of love is causing chaos.
Now this is the world we live in (oh oh oh)
And these are the hands we're given (oh oh oh)
Use them and let's start trying (oh oh oh)
To make it a place worth fighting for
The singer calls on people to work together and use their hands, abilities, and passion to create a world worth fighting for, despite the current confusion and turmoil.
This is the world we live in (oh oh oh)
And these are the names we're given (oh oh oh)
Stand up and let's start showing (oh oh oh)
Just where our lives are going to
We are all given specific names, backgrounds, and characteristics that shape our lives, but we have the power to use them to create something great. The singer implores people to stand up and start showing the world what kind of lives they want to lead.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: Anthony George Banks, Phillip David Charles Collins, Michael Rutherford
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@vtr0104
Disturbed's video is about the economic and cultural identity crisis of the early 2000s. While the message of unity that derives from the original song and their tribute to it is similar, Genesis' video was made in 1986. The world had been going through a Cold War for almost thirty years, with each side spreading misinformation and trying to invest more in its military arsenal than the other.
With the mid 80s (this video is is from '86), the world was also exposed to the dangers of nuclear technology following the Chernobyl incident, showing everyone that not only the nuclear weapons being used by the opposing powers were likely to bring the world to an end, but even the peace-time uses of it.
Added to this, both the Soviets and the US found themselves being led by unqualified people, with their share of problems (Gorbachev's drinking and Reagan's mental issues), people who were put in charge of an enormous military that had been waiting to pull the trigger for 3 decades, and which was now facing aging hardware and software that were liable to cause a disaster merely through a computer glitch or some decayed wiring.
Genesis' depiction of this is brilliant through its caricature, as Reagan presses what he thinks is his nurse's call button, only to trigger a missile launch instead. And all the while, the world seems to be oblivious to what is going on (the TV channels, putting everyone to sleep through funny talk-shows, optimistic series like Star Trek, which is why you see Leonard Nimoy's Spock at one point, and general entertainment, like Michael Jackson who appears in his Thriller outfit).
This was the true crisis facing the World in the 80s, even though most people block it out and only remember the fun music and different clothes or hair people wore. It was 2 sides with a very strong and embedded sense of identity, each trying to prove one's ideology over the other.
Disturbed was for the children of those generations of people, who instead felt purposeless and being only alive to exist as part of a vast economic machine that gave no importance to their value beyond their productivity. Bad in its own way, but not in the accidentally world-ending sense of things.
Might be neither of those things that screws us over now though, but this asshole virus instead, that's gonna tank economies with the equality of Communism and the ruthlessness of Capitalism simultaneously. And it's likely gonna kill more people before its conclusion than any of the last wars of the 20th and 21st centuries...
@vtr0104
@monokhem I stand corrected, it was indeed Boris Yeltsin who I was remembering.
As for the second part, a lot of people my parents' age actually thought a nuclear incident the likes of Chernobyl was as close to being in the vicinity of a deployed weapon.
While this doesn't make any sense (a reactor is not built on the same principles as actual nuclear ordnance), these were folks born in the late 30s (and maybe being part of the Communist block didn't help either).
I don't think even an actual nuclear war would end the planet, it's been through far worse and some ecosystem always replaces the previous one, eventually.
But it would end a lot of what's been built and that people are used to. The "modern conveniences", so to speak. Hell, we've still got infrastructure in place and still the whole world's panicking, and it didn't take 10000 nuclear warheads to do it, only a tiny virus....
@Cujucuyo
0:06 Nancy Reagan, Bonzo (from Bedtime for Bonzo) and Ronald Reagan
0:21 Tony Banks
0:23 Mike Rutherford
0:41 Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher
0:44 Phil Collins
0:51 Henry Kissinger
1:09 (briefly) Meryl Streep
1:48 (on the screen) Ayatollah Khomenhi
1:53 (on the screen) Colonel Gaddafi
2:45 Richard Nixon
2:50 Leonard Nimoy as Mr Spock
2:54 Bob Hope
3:17 Sylvester Stallone as Rambo
3:38 Prince (with the tongue)
3:42 Tina Turner, Madonna, Grace Jones
3:47 Pete Townshend (Michael Jackson in the background)
3:50 Hit by a falling bone - David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan
4:04 Left - Ian MacGregor Right - Lord Lucan, Edward Heath
4:21 Cliff Richard, Tina Turner (again), the Queen
4:25 Left to right - Clint Eastwood, Sting, Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson
4:30 Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Mr T
4:40 Bette Midler, Princess Diana
4:43 Paul McCartney, Pope John Paul II
The book Nancy Reagan is reading in bed is 'His Way' by Kitty Kelley.
@thankyoucaptainobvious7707
(1) Confederate monuments confer undue dignity on a faction that fought to preserve the institution of slavery and the ethos of white supremacy that underlays it.
(2) Alexander Stephens, VP of the CSA, famously gave the “Cornerstone Speech” in which he announced that the new Confederate government was FOUNDED on the idea that blacks were inferior to whites.
(3) General Robert E Lee acknowledges that he fought to preserve the institution of slavery, but one letter written after the Civil War in 1866, addressed to Gen. Thomas L. Rosser shows Lee Actually OPPOSED the erection of Confederate monuments or symbols saying it would keep division alive. (he was Sooo right)
(4) Any unprovoked attack on Civilians or Military bases are acts of Terrorism, -Fact. Major Robert Anderson of the Confederate Army became a Domestic Terrorist when he Attacked Fort Sumpter before sunrise on April 12, 1861, leading to a total senseless loss of over 620,000 American soldiers.
(5) Why do some insist on celebrating the lives of men who committed treason in the name of preserving slavery? That these statues even exist is unusual. When armies are defeated on their own soil—particularly when those armies fight to promote racist or genocidal policies—they usually don’t get to keep their symbols and material culture. Seriously, who does that?!? Even Deutschland knows better.
(6) In 1949, West Germany criminalized the display of swastikas; the symbol was blown off of buildings. The federal state systematically destroyed statues & MONUMENTS!, razed many Nazi architectural structures and buried ‘executed’ military and civilian officials in mass, unmarked graves so that their resting grounds would not become Nazi shrines. The Confederates were lucky the benevolence of Lincoln prevented him from doing the same.
(7) The statues were blunt instruments in institutionalizing white supremacy and blotting out the dual sins of treason and slavery. Those who believe anything else will forever be on the WRONG Side of history.
(8) if the South had prevailed:
(a) the Institution of Slavery would have persisted well into the 20th Century
(b) The “United” States would Not exist as the Super Power it continues to be; therefore...
(c) We May have not had the Military & Organizational strength to assist Churchill in defeating the Nazis nor stand up to the CCCP during the subsequent Cold War.
(d) We also Might not have a GIANT well deserved statue of a Real American Patriot, Abraham Lincoln, in The Capitol
Class dismissed
@carpejkdiem
@andrew You've fallen for the social engineering for men of the day. GOD/YAHUAH/YAHUSHUA made woman out of man for a help mate. You instead of being a SPIRITUAL leader in your future home, are provided porn to replace her.
You are blind if not just dishonest with yourself and hopeless as a victum of your programmers. They abused us as children by force indoctrinating their lies into our child minds.
What you see as troubled woe to the man, they are also victims unawares of the social engineering and predictive programming steered towards them. The nucleus for the BIBLICAL fam. The thread that binds the family unit.
Just as your programmers wanted you see your helpmate as your enemy. It causes double mindedness which leads to instability in all your ways - Proverbs/book of Wisdom shares that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Those pigs/swine characters you were led to use after your views on women reveals reveal that you have lil to know knowledge of the LIVING WORD/JESUS/YESHUA - Your lack of seeking a Wise dome and common sense in the LIVING WORD/JESUS/YESHUA reveals why you've no SPIRITUAL ears to hear or eyes to see the WICKED and WILEY ways of the devil
Hegelian dialectic method
Devide and Conquer method
Destruction of the fam
A GOD/YAHUAH/YAHUSHUA less nation programming where the lil g government get to then play your god instead.
Sadly they are lovers of satan/death and all about lies and fear of overpopulation programming and settinv the WORLD STAGE for the return of the NEPHILIM and their NEPHILIM KING/ANTICHRIST/DRAGON.
As written by these Occultists on the dollar bill/paper money - ORDER OUT OF CHAOS
The OLD BIBLICAL FIRST ATTEMPTED BY NIMROD NEW WORLD ORDER AGENDA FIRST ATTEMPTED BY NIMROD KING OF PAGAN ISM/MIGHTY HUNTER OF SOULS - NEW WORLD ORDER the nations rulers behind the UNITED NATIONS INITIATIVE NWO AGENDA
THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY BACKBONED
● UNITED NATIONS INITIATIVE NWO AGENDA
The WORLD STAGE is being set for the return of the NEPHILIM and their NEPHILIM KING/ANTICHRIST/DRAGON. It's DUMMY UUUUP time now!!!
A man needs ONE woman. It's no mistake your programmers narrative goes against this. The beast system prefers chaos over ORDER in order to create the environment for the masses to turn to them to play their lil g so they can lead the deaf dumb and blind to their side of the END OF THE AGE PROPHECY OF THEIR ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT UNFOLDING AS WE ARE LED TO SPEAK
You dont have to be a dumbass! You've been given access to the LIVING WORD/JESUS/YESHUA and His gospel that was written in the stars that revealed His physical coming and the whole gospel of the written word.
@mascara1777
One of my clearest memories as a child is sitting on my dad's lap watching this video and being absolutely terrified of the puppets.
@stormyskyz4251
THANK YOU! Just showed it to my husband, we are late 30’s now, he had the same look I had all those years ago.
@ScorpioRahl
Same. I remember seeing it in tv as child. Terrified of the dolls and everything ... but I remember this one thanks to this
@itsallinmyheds6874
I was six when this video came out and the guy eating his tongue in a hotdog bun has haunted my whole life. 😂
@andrewbobb7659
same here
@malumusera
Tenías razón en tener miedo (por los políticos de la época que nos guiaron hasta aquí)
@thepianist7084
Literally ahead of its time. As an 80's kid, I didn't think we were in a land of confusion. Now, I think this song applies more than ever!
@beckyboo1433
Oh yeah we weren't in a land of confusion in the 80s. 80s and 90s were great! I hate the way the world is today
@CyconDotCom
This video turned out to look like a prophetic model about the coming of the modern online AI-driven, algorithm, President Deepfake, media machine of mass destruction - it terrified me as a kid but the world we live in now that I'm older is far worse...
@buckeyetater7540
Yea they thought Regan seemed old. Wonder what they would think of old Joe.