48. Phil Collins--Hello, I Must Be Going!

 #48: Phil Collins---Hello, I Must Be Going (1982)

Top-Notch Tracks: "I Don't Care Anymore," [HJ200 #25], "It Don't Matter To Me," "I Cannot Believe It's True," "You Can't Hurry Love," "Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away," "Like China"

Album Depth: "Why Can't It Wait 'Til Morning," "The West Side," "Do You Know, Do You Care?"

Weak Links: "Thru These Walls"--(an annoying ode to eavesdropping.) 

Stand-Out Lyrics: "'Cause I've been talking to the people that you call your friends and it seems to me there's a means to an end--they don't care anymore."--"I Don't Care Anymore"

"Your mum and dad don't like me, and they tell me every time I come around to see you. I don't know why, 'cause I always straighten my tie and comb my hair."--"Like China"

"Well, he's gonna try to make it work for you--make you think your whole life's been leading to this. But whatever you do, think about me and don't be fooled by his kiss."--"Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away"

"You said you could, you couldn't, now why did you lie? You made it look so easy."--"Do You Know, Do You Care?"

"How long must I wait? How much more will it take, before loneliness will cause my heart to break?"--"You Can't Hurry Love"

"When I opened your letter yesterday, I could not believe my eyes. 'Cause I've already given all I have to give, and I think it must have slipped your mind."--"I Cannot Believe It's True"

"No more, no more, no more, no more, no more, no more, no more, no more, no more, no more, no more, no more. No more."--"I Don't Care Anymore"


Phil Collins--Hello, I Must Be Going!

Album Cover: 4 out of 10. As far as giant-close-up-pictures-of-my-face album covers go, this is not the worst one. The face only covers half of the album cover, leaving some nice blue relief.

Comments:  "Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." That's a quote from an obscure television show. (The Courtship of Eddie's Father?) Phil Collins was angry. He was angry, and he was hurt. And it was cathartic to listen to his pain--as long as it wasn't my pain.

I decided early on that I didn't want to deal with the hurt and anger that Phil Collins dealt with, so the solution was to not let myself get close enough to anyone to allow them to hurt me. Would I recommend this approach to others? No. There were a lot of years of drifting aimlessly, and a lot of years of loneliness.

In the end, it worked out for me, because if I had been willing to put myself out there any earlier than I did, the woman I fell in love with wouldn't have been ready yet for me. But, I waited, and things have worked out for us. I'm vulnerable now. I could be hurt. But, I trust in my wife enough to believe she'll never leave me in a state where I'm as angry and hurt as Phil Collins was when he made "Hello, I Must Be Going!" And the joy and happiness I have with her far outweigh the chances for that possible pain.

I guess you could say I didn't hurry love. (I just had to wait.)

Phil was angry when he made this album. The highlight, of course, is "I Don't Care Anymore," but even it may not carry the sheer volatility of "Do You Know? Do You Care?" Heck, even the fun, upbeat, horn-infused songs ("It Don't Matter To Me," and "I Cannot Believe It's True,") are full of Phil's fuming and fury. And it all helped make this a great album.

So, thanks, Phil. Thanks for the angst.


Up next: The preferred mode to cross the Snake River Canyon. (Sorry, Mr. Knievel, no rockets for me.)

Comments

  1. darenolsonApril 2, 2021 at 9:16 AM

    Not only were you the first to Pink Floyd, Queen, and Styx, but now you're the first to Phil too! You must have some DANG good albums on your list!

    I remember listening to Phil's remake of "You Can't Hurry Love" on the radio while messing around with Chris in shop class. We were taking apart and putting back together a lawn mower engine. I was able to take it apart just fine. But getting it put back together was a different story. I thought I had all the moving parts and gaskets and spark plugs in the right place, but I could never get that thing to start.

    Of course, a year later, the song that later on turned out to be my favorite off this album was "I Don't Care Anymore"--a song that now that I think about it probably should have been on my Top 200 list. But Phil already had two spots taken up, so I think I kept "I Don't Care Anymore" off the list to make room for some other song like "The Curly Shuffle."

    "I Don't Care Anymore" also happened to be playing on the radio one day as I was driving my nephew to jiu jitsu practice, and so he got to witness me singing all of the lyrics to it at the top of my lungs, including the 13 no-mores at the end. A few weeks later he asked me if we could listen to the "No More" song again. And that was one of the proudest moments of my extended uncling efforts has ever produced.

    While I absolutely LOVE this album, I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed that he didn't do a remake of the song "Hello, I Must Be Going." I mean, if you're going to name your album after the song, shouldn't it be a requirement that you sing that song? Yes. It should be. So one demerit for not including that song on the album.

    https://youtu.be/_YrNQaXdOxU

    But now that I've watched the song again, maybe it's best that Phil didn't include it, because Phil can't dance. So I'll take away the official demerit and just give it a wag of the finger for not putting Captain Spalding's face on the album cover.

    ReplyDelete

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