| "Congo" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Genesis | ||||||||||
| from the album ...Calling All Stations... | ||||||||||
| B-side | "Papa He Said" "Banjo Man" |
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| Released | 15 September 1997 | |||||||||
| Format | CD, 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl | |||||||||
| Recorded | The Farm, Surrey | |||||||||
| Genre | Rock | |||||||||
| Length | 4:03 (single edit) 4:51 (album version) |
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| Label | Atlantic (US & Canada) Virgin Records (rest of the world) |
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| Writer(s) | Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford | |||||||||
| Producer | Genesis, Nick Davis | |||||||||
| Genesis singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Congo" was the first single from the Genesis album ...Calling All Stations..., released in September 1997. The single marked the debut of Ray Wilson as the lead vocalist for the band. It was a major hit across Europe.
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The song is not about the African country, but rather about two people who cannot get along with each other, leaving them to want to be rid of each other and as distant as possible. Musically, the song opens with a Caribbean drum beat while an African-style tribe is heard chanting "Congo the Congo", before the song launches into a darker guitar-driven melody. The album version features an alternative synthesizer ending that fades out, while the single version has an earlier fade-out that excludes the ending. The lyrics were penned by Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks.
The music video, directed by Howard Greenhalgh, features industrialised imagery, with the band playing in a heavily-guarded shipyard manned with slave labour. Massive water cannons are used to control uprisings, and the band is doused with water quite often throughout the video.
The song's B-sides include "Papa He Said" and "Banjo Man". "Banjo Man" was originally slated for inclusion on ...Calling All Stations..., but it was removed from the album's tracklisting at the last moment. The Enhanced CD version of the single had an edited version of Second Home by the Sea as the B-side.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Congo" (edit) | Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford | 4:03 |
| 2. | "Papa He Said" | Banks, Rutherford | 4:07 |
| 3. | "Banjo Man" | Banks, Rutherford, Ray Wilson | 4:20 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Congo" | Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford | 4:51 |
| 2. | "Second Home by the Sea" (edited version) | Collins, Banks, Rutherford | 4:54 |
The song did not chart on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the US, it reached position #25 on 30 August 1997 in the Mainstream Rock Charts. The single was the most added track to US Radio for the week 15 August 1997.
| Chart (1997) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[1] | 29 |
| Austrian Singles Chart[2] | 35 |
| German Singles Chart[3] | 31 |
| Swiss Singles Chart[4] | 32 |
| US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks[5] | 25 |