Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, m… Read Full Bio ↴Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and 1990, Collins scored three UK and seven US number-one singles as a solo artist. When his work with Genesis, his work with other artists, as well as his solo career is totalled, he had more US top 40 singles than any other artist during the 1980s. His most successful singles from the period include "In the Air Tonight", "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)", "One More Night", and "Another Day in Paradise".

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)

The Way You Look Tonight
Phil Collins Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Some day, when I'm awfully low,
When the world is cold,
I will feel a glow just thinking of you
And the way you look tonight.
Oh but you're lovely, with your smile so warm
And your cheek so soft,
There is nothing for me but to love you,
And the way you look tonight.

With each word your tenderness grows,
Tearing my fear apart
And that laugh that wrinkles your nose,
Touches my foolish heart.
Lovely, never, ever change.
Keep that breathless charm.
Won't you please arrange it?

Cause I love you
Just the way you look tonight.

Overall Meaning

Phil Collins's The Way You Look Tonight is a love song that is filled with admiration and devotion. The lyrics talk about the way he feels about his lover, and how much it means to him just to think of her. When he's feeling low and the world is cold, all he needs to do is think of her and the way she looks tonight to make him feel warm and loved. He compliments her on her lovely smile and soft cheeks and there's nothing else he can do but to love her for who she is and the way she looks tonight.

The song speaks about the kind of love that tears away at your fears and makes your heart skip a beat. The tenderness in her words makes him feel like she's the only one in the world that matters. He's moved by the way she looks at him when she laughs and how it wrinkles her nose, and it touches his foolish heart. The lyrics emphasize the fact that he doesn't want her to change, he wants her to keep that breathless charm, because he loves her just the way she looks tonight.

Overall, the song is a testament to the power of love and how it can make even the coldest of days feel warm and bright. The Way You Look Tonight is a beautiful tribute to the person that makes us feel alive and loved.

Line by Line Meaning

Some day, when I'm awfully low,
There will be times when I'm deeply sad and feeling hopeless.

When the world is cold,
When everything around me feels unwelcoming and indifferent.

I will feel a glow just thinking of you
Regardless of the circumstances, thoughts of you will bring me warmth and comfort.

And the way you look tonight.
Your appearance is particularly striking and captivating in this moment.

Oh but you're lovely, with your smile so warm
You possess a special kind of beauty, particularly when you smile warmly.

And your cheek so soft,
Your skin is particularly tender and gentle.

There is nothing for me but to love you,
The only thing that makes sense to me is to love you unconditionally.

And the way you look tonight.
Once again, your appearance is particularly striking and captivating in this moment.

With each word your tenderness grows,
As we interact and speak with each other, your kindness and affection becomes more apparent and endearing.

Tearing my fear apart
Your tenderness and affection helps to dispel my anxieties and worries.

And that laugh that wrinkles your nose,
Your laughter is particularly charming and endearing, it has a unique quality that causes your nose to wrinkle.

Touches my foolish heart.
Your laughter and affection have the ability to melt my heart and momentarily cause me to forget my rationality.

Lovely, never, ever change.
You are a perfect embodiment of beauty and grace, it would be a shame to see you change.

Keep that breathless charm.
Please maintain that unique allure and charm that catches my breath and heart every time I see you.

Won't you please arrange it?
Would you be so kind to accommodate my request?

Cause I love you
I love you; my feelings towards you are genuine and strong.

Just the way you look tonight.
My love for you extends to your current physical appearance, which is particularly captivating at the moment.

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Dorothy Fields, Jerome Kern

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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