"Keep It Dark" is a song by British 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 on 23 October 1981 in the UK as the second single from ''

Abacab ''Abacab'' is the eleventh studio album by English rock band Genesis, released on 18 September 1981 by Charisma Records. After their 1980 tour in support of their previous album, ''Duke'' (1980), the band took a break before they reconvened in 1 ...

''. It reached number 33 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Song information

A light rock song, it describes a man who has been to the future and has seen a bright, happy world where everyone is filled with joy, cities are filled with light, with no fear of war, and all exploitation has ceased as all creatures have happier lives. Once he returns, however, he is pressured to lie about the incident (i.e., to "keep it dark"). Instead he claims that he was kidnapped by thieves who wanted to take his money. . The cover depicts the

three wise monkeys The three wise monkeys are a Japanese pictorial maxim, embodying the proverbial principle "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". The three monkeys are * Mizaru, who sees no evil, covering his eyes * Kikazaru, who hears no evil, covering ...

. In the DVD interview accompanying the 2007 re-release of ''

'', the album from which the song comes, composer Tony Banks said that "the idea was that this character had to pretend that he'd just been robbed by people and that's why he'd disappeared for a few weeks, and in fact what had happened ashe'd been to the future and gone to this fantastic world where everything was wonderful and beautiful and everything... but he couldn't tell anybody that, because no one would believe him and the powers that be kept him silent." The song's structure is unusual: the rhythm is in a 6/4

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

, with a distinctly syncopated rhythm guitar part. Lead singer

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

sings in

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...

for certain lines of the song. The pace overall, particularly the drums, is similar to the album's

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may al ...

Music video

A music video supported the single release of the song, featuring

Collins Collins may refer to: People Surname Given name * Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat * Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration * Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...

, Tony Banks, and Rutherford in two different settings. In the first and second verses and the fade out, the band walks along bleak city streets (in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

) wearing trenchcoats and fedoras. When the chorus comes in, it shifts to the band wearing all-white suits and sunglasses, and walking through a field, with the sun shining. In both settings, Banks mimes with a mini Casio keyboard and Rutherford with the neck from a guitar, while Collins keeps the beat of the song with drumsticks, mostly hitting air, or the walls of the Amsterdam houses.

Credits

* Tony Banks – keyboards *

– drums, percussion, 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 ...

– electric guitar, bass pedals

Other versions

*Prog rock band World Trade recorded a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

for the Genesis tribute album ''Supper's Ready'' in 1996. *In 2007, Phil Collins' son,

Simon Collins Simon Philip Nando Collins (born 14 September 1976) is a British-Canadian drummer and the former lead vocalist of the progressive rock band Sound of Contact. Collins is the son of English drummer and singer Phil Collins and Collins' first wi ...

, recorded his own version of the song with

Dave Kerzner David Nathaniel Kerzner (born July 10, 1968) is an American musician, songwriter, producer, and sound designer as well as founder of the sound sampling development company Sonic Reality Inc. Along with Simon Collins, Kerzner is the co-founder o ...

, Kelly Nordstrom and Andre Fedorow, as a tribute to Genesis on their 40th anniversary.''Fedorow, Andre'' Wikipedia "Discography"''Fedorow, Andre'' Official Websit
"Official Discography"
/ref>

References

{{authority control 1981 singles Genesis (band) songs Songs written by Tony Banks (musician) Songs written by Phil Collins Songs written by Mike Rutherford 1981 songs Charisma Records singles