PHIL COLLINS - AGAINST ALL ODDS(TAKE ME LOOK AT ME NOW)

AGAINST ALL ODDS
(TAKE A LOOK AT ME NOW)

PHIL COLLINS

SONGWRITERS: PHILLIP DAVID CHARLES COLLINS; LEROY HEYWOOD; FORDE JERMAINE BRINSLEY & MAURICE ANTHONY SILVERA

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: FACE VALUE

LABEL: ATLANTIC RECORDS

GENRE: POP MUSIC

YEAR: 1981

 

       Philip David Charles Collins LVO(born 30 January 1951) is an English drummer, singer, 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 brought up 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.

       Face Value is the debut studio album by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins, released on 13 February 1981 by Virgin Records. After his first wife filed for divorce in 1979, Collins began to write songs during a break in activity from Genesis with much of the material concerning his personal life. The album was recorded from mid-1980 to early 1981 with Collins and Hugh Padgham as producers. Additional musicians include the Phenix Horns, Alphonso Johnson, and Eric Clapton.

       Face Value was an instant commercial success and reached Nº 1 on the UK Albums Chart for three weeks and Nº 7 on the US Billboard 200. It has since sold over 5 million copies in the US and over 1.5 million in the UK. The album received widespread praise from critics. Its lead single "In the Air Tonight", released in January 1981, reached Nº 2 on the UK Singles Chart and became known for its drum arrangement and use of gated reverb. In January 2016, Face Value was reissued with bonus tracks and new photography in the style of the original but featuring a present-day Collins.

How can I just let you walk away?

Just let you leave without a trace

When I stand here taking every breath, with you, ooh

You're the only one who really knew me at all

 

How can you just walk away from me?

When all I can do is watch you leave

'Cos we've shared the laughter and the pain and even shared the tears

You're the only one who really knew me at all

 

So take a look at me now, oh there's just an empty space

And there's nothin' left here to remind me

Just the memory of your face

Ooh, take a look at me now, well there's just an empty space

And you coming back to me is against the odds

And that's what I've got to face

Instrumental

 

I wish, I could just make you turn around

Turn around and see me cry

There's so much I need to say to you so many reasons why

You're the only one who really knew me at all

 

So take a look at me now, well there's just an empty space

And there's nothin' left here to remind me, just the memory of your face

Now take a look at me now, 'cos there's just an empty space

But to wait for you, is all I can do and that's what I've got to face

Take a good look at me now, 'cos I'll still be standin' here

And you coming back to me is against all odds

It's the chance I've gotta take

Instrumental

 

Take a look at me now.