When Phil Collins Wrote A Song About The Poor People Living In The USA

Primarily known as the drummer and singer of Genesis, Phil Collins is also a successful solo musician who has sold more than 100 million records as a member of Genesis and as a solo artist. Collins embarked on a solo career in 1981, and he had more top 40 singles in the U.S. than any other musician during the 1980s. At that time, he released remarkably successful singles, such as his ‘In The Air Tonight, ‘Sussudio,’ ‘Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now),’ and ‘Another Day In Paradise.’

Collins recorded songs mainly inspired by his personal life throughout his career as a solo musician. The talented musician has won many awards and contributed significantly to the music scene with his sincere and soulful songs from his experiences. Among the other songs he wrote, Collins once wrote a song to open a new window to the lives of poor people that live in the U.S. Let’s see which song that was.

Phil Collins Wrote ‘Another Day In Paradise’ About The Homeless People In The US

In November 1989, Collins released his fourth studio album ‘…But Seriously’ and achieved worldwide commercial success. The album’s lead single ‘Another Day In Paradise’ also became a huge success following its release in October 1989. Moreover, ‘Another Day In Paradise’ also made Collins win the Grammy Award for Record Of The Year and Brit Awards for British Single Of The Year.

Collins sings the song from a third-person perspective which sees a man crossing a street while ignoring a homeless woman. In the song, Collins tells the listeners not to forget the homeless people and questions whether God has anything to say about this issue. Although the single was considered a success, it also drew heavy criticism towards Phil Collins because he was thought of as a hypocrite due to being quite wealthy.

While talking about 15 songs that significantly impact him in a 2016 Rolling Stone interview, Collins also touched upon this subject. He stated that he received criticism because of his ‘Another Day In Paradise’ as a multimillionaire. He then revealed that the incident inspired him to write the song while driving around in a limo in Washington.

As Collins recalled, he saw boxes on Capitol Hill during a snowy day. He questioned whether there was a demonstration, but someone told him that’s where homeless people live. After that, Collins asked himself how such a thing could happen in the U.S. as it is one of the wealthiest countries in the world and decided to write ‘Another Day In Paradise.’

Speaking to Rolling Stone in the interview, Phil Collins said about the song ‘Another Day In Paradise’ the following:

“This is one I got a lot of flak for because I’m a multimillionaire. It was inspired by an incident in Washington, D.C. We were driving around in a limo, and I saw all these boxes on Capitol Hill. It was snowing, and I said, ‘What’s going on here? Is there some sort of demonstration?’ Someone said, ‘No, that’s where these people live.’ I just thought, ‘This is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. How can this happen?’ It put a bee in my bonnet.

You can listen to the song ‘Another Day In Paradise’ below.