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.
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