Thru These Walls

"Thru' These Walls"
Single by Phil Collins
from the album Hello, I Must Be Going!
B-side	"Do You Know, Do You Care?"
Released	October 1982
Format	7"
Recorded	May–September 1982 at Old Croft On 1" 8 track
Genre	Pop rock art rock
Length	5:05
Label	Virgin Records (UK) Atlantic Records (International)
Writer(s)	Phil Collins
Producer(s)	Phil Collins Hugh Padgham
Phil Collins singles chronology
"If Leaving Me Is Easy" (1981) "Thru These Walls" (1982) "You Can't Hurry Love" (1982)

"Thru' These Walls" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Phil Collins, drummer and lead vocalist for the rock band Genesis. It was released as a single in October 1982, being Collins' fourth single. The song is also the seventh track on Collins' second solo studio album, Hello, I Must Be Going!, released in November of the same year (1982).^[1] The song is very dark, which follows a vast majority of songs from the album, and is about a man listening through the wall to his neighbours partaking in unseemly sexual activities.^[2]

Recording

The song has distinct similarities with Collins's debut solo single "In The Air Tonight", featuring similar atmospheric opening chords on a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and also utilized the same gated reverb drum part several times. The song also features one of Collins's attempts at a "Ringo Starr drum part", who is his biggest influence as a drummer.^[3]

Release

The song was the first single by Collins that did not reach the Top 20 in the UK, peaking only at No. 56 in the UK (it was not released as a single in the U.S.).^[4][5] The song gained little airplay on album-oriented rock or adult-contemporary radio formats in the UK.

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Stuart Orme, who also directed the video for "In The Air Tonight".^[6]

Track listing

7": Virgin / VS 524 (UK)

1. "Thru' These Walls"
2. "Do You Know, Do You Care?"^[1]

Sales chart performance

Peak positions

Credits

1. "Thru' These Walls"
   • Phil Collins – keyboards, drums, vocals, marimba
   • Daryl Stuermer – guitars
   • Mo Foster – bass ^[1]
2. "Do You Know, Do You Care?"
   • Phil Collins – vocals, drums, keyboards, tymps, bass pedals, trumpet
   • Daryl Stuermer – guitars

• Gavin Cochrane – Photography

References

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics