"Congo" is a song by English rock band

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

, released in September 1997 as the first single from their fifteenth album, ''

Calling All Stations ''...Calling All Stations...'' is the fifteenth and final studio album by English rock band Genesis. It was released 1 September 1997 by Virgin Records, and is their only album featuring Scottish singer Ray Wilson as frontman following the depar ...

'' (1997). The single marked the debut of Ray Wilson as the lead vocalist for the band. It was a hit across Europe, although it became their first lead single since 1977 to not reach the UK Top 20, peaking at #29. There had been other singles that did not reach the Top 20, or even the Top 40, but they were not the lead single from an album. It was also the band's last Top 40 hit, and their only with Wilson.

Composition

The song is about two people who cannot get along with each other in their relationship, leaving them to want to be rid of each other and as distant as possible ("Send me to the Congo" is a metaphor for this). 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 melody driven by synthesiser, guitar, and gated reverb drums. Appropriately, part of the song's refrain takes its lyrical meter from the conga (Latin American rhythm). The album version features a synthesiser solo and extra verses that fade out, while the single version has an earlier fade-out.

Chart performance

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.

Releases and performances

"Congo" was the band's lead single from ''Calling All Stations'', and was played at all of the band's live shows on the ''Calling All Stations'' tour, generally in the middle of the set. The single version appeared on the band's greatest hits collection ''Turn It On Again: The Hits''. Wilson has performed the song live for his solo Genesis Klassik tour.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Congo", directed by

Howard Greenhalgh Howard Douglas Greenhalgh (born 19 February 1963) is a British director of music videos and advertising. Biography Greenhalgh was born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire and studied at the Royal College of Art, setting up the firm Why No ...

, features industrialised imagery, with the band playing in a heavily guarded

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

manned with slave labour. Massive

water cannon A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-velocity stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of meters. They are used in firefighting, large vehicle washing, riot control, and mining ...

s are used to control uprisings, and the band is doused with water quite often throughout the video. The video was shot at the Mediterranean Film Studios in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

B-sides

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 track listing 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.

Track listings

CD single

Enhanced CD single

CD promo

Charts

Personnel

* Ray Wilson – vocals * Tony Banks – keyboards, backing vocals *

Mike Rutherford Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, co-founder of the rock band Genesis. Rutherford and keyboardist Tony Banks are the group's two continuous members. Initially servin ...

– guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals *

Nir Zidkyahu NIR or Nir may refer to: Science and technology * Near-infrared, a region within the infrared part of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum * Near-infrared spectroscopy, a spectroscopic method that uses the near-infrared region (from 780 nm to 25 ...

– drums, percussion

References

External links

Music Video
at

VH1 Classic MTV Classic (formerly VH1 Smooth, VH1 Classic Rock, and VH1 Classic) is an American pay television network owned by Paramount Media Networks. It was originally launched in 1998 as VH1 Smooth, an adult contemporary and smooth jazz channel. It wa ...

{{authority control 1997 singles Genesis (band) songs 1990s ballads Rock ballads Songs written by Tony Banks (musician) Songs written by Mike Rutherford 1997 songs Virgin Records singles Atlantic Records singles British hard rock songs Music videos directed by Howard Greenhalgh