Born and raised in west London, Collins played drums from the age of five and completed drama school training, which secured him various roles as a child actor, with his first major role, aged 13, as the Artful Dodger in the West End musical Oliver!. He then pursued a music career, joining Genesis in 1970 as their drummer and becoming lead singer in 1975 following the departure of Peter Gabriel. Collins began a successful solo career in the 1980s, initially inspired by his marital breakdown and love of soul music, releasing the albums Face Value (1981), Hello, I Must Be Going! (1982), No Jacket Required (1985) and ...But Seriously (1989). Collins became, in the words of AllMusic, "one of the most successful pop and adult contemporary singers of the '80s and beyond". He also became known for a distinctive gated reverb drum sound on many of his recordings. In 1985, he was the only artist to perform at both Live Aid concerts. He also resumed his acting career, appearing in Miami Vice and subsequently starring in the film Buster (1988). In 1996, Collins left Genesis to focus on solo work; this included writing songs for Disney's Tarzan (1999) for which he received an Oscar for Best Original Song for "You'll Be in My Heart". He rejoined Genesis for their Turn It On Again Tour in 2007. Following a five-year retirement to focus on his family life, Collins released an autobiography in 2016 and completed his Not Dead Yet Tour in 2019. He then rejoined Genesis in 2020 for a second reunion tour, ending in March 2022.
Collins's discography includes eight studio albums that have sold 33.5 million certified units in the US and an estimated 150 million records sold worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling artists. He is one of only three recording artists, along with Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, who have sold over 100 million records both as solo artists and separately as principal members of a band. He has won eight Grammy Awards, six Brit Awards (winning Best British Male Artist three times), two Golden Globe Awards, one Academy Award, and a Disney Legend Award. He was awarded six Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, including the International Achievement Award. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010. He has also been recognised by music publications with induction into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2012, and the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Collins
Studio albums
Face Value (1981)
Hello, I Must Be Going! (1982)
No Jacket Required (1985)
...But Seriously (1989)
Both Sides (1993)
Dance into the Light (1996)
Testify (2002)
Going Back (2010)
Strangers Like Me
Phil Collins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Show me everything and tell me how
It all means something
And yet nothing to me
Oh, I can see there's so much to learn
It's all so close and yet so far
I see myself as people see me
I wanna know, can you show me?
I wanna know about these strangers like me
Tell me more, please show me
Something's familiar about these strangers like me
Every gesture, every move that she makes
Makes me feel like never before
Why do I have
This growing need to be beside her
Ooh, these emotions I never knew
Of some other world far beyond this place
Beyond the trees, above the clouds
Oh, I see before me a new horizon
I wanna know, can you show me?
I wanna know about these strangers like me
Tell me more, please show me
Something's familiar about these strangers like me
Come with me now to see my world
Where there's beauty beyond your dreams
Can you feel the things I feel
Right now, with you
Take my hand
There's a world I need to know
I wanna know, can you show me?
I wanna know about these strangers like me
Tell me more, please show me
Something's familiar about these strangers like me
I wanna know
what excites and inspires me
I want to know about the strangers like me
Tell me more, please show me
Something is familiar
About the strangers like me
In "Strangers Like Me," Phil Collins sings about his fascination with and desire to understand the unknown. The song is featured in the Disney animated film Tarzan, and it highlights the character's desire to learn more about the world around him. Specifically, Collins sings about his fascination with the way others behave and the emotions they experience. He wants to know about the "strangers" who are like him in some way but also different, and he is eager to learn something new from them.
Throughout the song, Collins is focused on curiosity and discovery. He wants to see everything and learn as much as he can, recognizing that there is always more to learn. He sees himself as others see him but also recognizes there is something bigger out there. The chorus expresses Collins's desire to learn more: "I want to know, can you show me? I want to know about the strangers like me. Tell me more, please show me, something is familiar about the strangers like me."
In summary, "Strangers Like Me" is a song about the human desire to learn, explore, and understand the world around us. It expresses the idea that there is always more to discover and that we can learn from others who are different from us.
Line by Line Meaning
Whatever you do
No matter what actions you may take
I'll do it too
I will follow your lead and do the same
Show me everything
Please reveal all that you know
And tell me how
Explain to me how it is done
You know me something
You possess knowledge about me
And yet nothing to me
But I am still unaware of what that knowledge may be
I can see there is too much to learn
I am aware that there is still much for me to discover
It's all so close
The information seems within reach
And yet so far
But it remains elusive
I see myself
I have a perception of myself
As people see me
In the way that others view me
But I just know there's something bigger out there
However, I am certain that there is something more significant to discover
I want to know, can you show me
I have a deep desire to learn and am asking for guidance
I want to know about the strangers like me
Specifically, I am interested in discovering others who resemble me
Tell me more, please show me
I am urging you to further detail your knowledge and to provide examples revealing commonalities
Every gesture
Each and every movement
Every move that she makes
Of the one I am observing closely
Makes me feel like never before
Her actions elicit emotions within me that I have never before experienced
Why do I have this growing need to be beside her
I am confused as to why I crave proximity to her
There are some emotions that I never knew
These feelings are entirely new to me
Some for the world far beyond this place
As if they stem from an unfamiliar realm
Beyond the trees, above the clouds
Perhaps even beyond what we know to exist physically
I see before me a new horizon
Which presents an entirely fresh perspective
Come with me now
I am inviting you to join me
To see my world
And witness what I have to show you
Where there's beauty beyond your dreams
There is an indescribable, awe-inspiring magnificence
Can you feel the things I feel right now with you
Can you empathize with the intense emotions I am currently experiencing in your presence
Take my hand
I am offering help and guidance
There's a world I need to know
I have an intense desire to learn more
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Phil Collins
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Agent Bosconian
on Papa Was a Rolling Stone
It was the third of September
September, 3rd. It was the day that forever changed my life.
That day I'll always remember, yes I will
It was the day that I'll never forget about what had happened at that time.
'Cause that was the day, that my daddy died
The day that my estranged father; who was never around, had perished.
I never got a chance to see him
There wasn't an opportunity for me to even meet the man; not once.
Never heard nothin' but bad things about him
All that I've ever heard about were just awful, terrible, and cruel things that he did.
Momma I'm depending on you, to tell me the truth
Please tell me, Mother. Who and what this man truly was, and what he'd done?
Momma just hung her head and said
My Mother hung her head in sadness; thus she responded in her sorrowful voice to me...
Papa was a rolling stone,
My dear child.... Your Father was a man who could never stay in one place to settle down, and was a selfish person who never cared for anyone; but only for himself..
Where ever he laid his hat was his home
He had gone from one place to another with his hat that he wore; and wherever he put his hat down, he settled in there.
And when he died, all he left us was alone
By the time of his death, all that was left behind from him was loneliness and pain.
Hey Momma!
Mother, can you tell me anything about this Father of mine?
Is it true what they say that Papa never worked a day, in his life
Is it the truth that he never had lifted a finger to work at all; in his entire life?
And Momma, some bad talk goin' round town sayin' that Papa had three outside children
And according to the people that knew him all too well; that he also have bore three other children with his lover?
And another wife, and that ain't right
Such a disgraceful thing to hide about having another woman to be his wife.
Heard them talking Papa doing some store front preachin'
Some people eventually talked about his deceitful tricks, such as being a so-called "Preacher" at his store chapel.
Talked about saving souls and all the time leeching
He pretended to act like he was a priest and tricked many people into saving their souls; but at the same time, he robbed them of their hard-earned money.
Dealing in debt, and stealing in the name of the Lord
Trapped himself into debt with such evil acts; thus had stolen everything in the Lord's name.
Momma hung her head and said
My own Mother shook her head in a disgusted matter...
Papa was a rolling stone,
My dear child.... Your Father was a man who could never stay in one place to settle down, and was a selfish person who never cared for anyone; but only for himself.
Where ever he laid his hat was his home
He had gone from one place to another with his hat that he wore; and wherever he put his hat down, he settled in there.
And when he died, all he left us was alone
By the time of his death, all that was left behind from him was loneliness and pain.
Hey Momma,
I must know the whole truth about this wretched man. What else is there for you to tell me, Mother?
I heard Papa called himself a jack of all trades
Others had said that "Father" believed that he was a Jack-Of-All-Trades; thinking that he was unstoppable at anything that he had done to others.
Tell me is that what sent Papa to an early grave
Were these criminal actions that Father had committed in his lifetime; unaware of the consequences that he made, the main reason that put him in a six-foot grave of his own in a cemetery?
Folks say Papa would beg, borrow, steal
Everyone already knew that the bastard was a beggar, a deceiver, and a thief.
To pay his bills
He committed every single criminal activity; in order to pay the debts that he had.
Hey Momma,
But, Mother...
Folks say Papa never was much on thinking
Father had no knowledge of how to take on responsibility on such difficult situations, some other people had also spoke of.
Spent most of his time chasing women and drinking
He was nothing but a alcoholic who'd drink so much to his heart's content; as being a philanderer, who would go and become intimate with one woman to another woman; for his own selfish indulgence.
Momma I'm depending on you, to tell me the truth
Is this the entire truth about this disgraceful, cruel, trickster of a Father, Mother?
Momma looked up with a tear in her eye and said, son
Tears stream down on Mother's face; as she spoke one last time about him...
Papa was a rolling stone,
Once again, my child... Your Father was a man who could never stay in one place to settle down, and was a selfish person who never cared for anyone; but only for himself.
Where ever he laid his hat was his home
He had always gone from one place to another with his hat; and wherever he put his hat down, he settled in there.
And when he died, all he left us was alone
By the time of his death, all that was left behind from him was loneliness and pain.
Fredrick muchaili
on One More Night
This song is my favorite ever