I must admit that I stole the idea for tonight’s song from my friend, Michael Seidel, who featured it in his own post yesterday, though he posted a different, slightly longer version!  Thanks, Michael, for planting the seed in my head — Hugs ‘n cheers!

The only other time I have played this one was in 2019, when I had Phil Collins on my mind after hearing that …

Phil was performing at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, when he suddenly took a tumble.  That’s right, folks … fell down backward off the stool he was about to sit on.  But, as is the trademark of the true entertainer, “the show must go on”, and Phil barely missed a beat, got back up and continued to play and sing.

“I’m gonna be sitting down for a lot of tonight. But don’t be alarmed.  Getting old sucks. You know, back surgery, foot’s f—-d. It’s ugly. … But hey … I’m not dead yet.”

Take Me Home is often misconstrued to be about a man returning home, but Collins tells that the song’s lyrics refer to a patient in a mental institution, and that he was inspired by the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Sting and ex-Genesis band mate Peter Gabriel sang backup vocals. Also featured is former Culture Club backing singer Helen Terry.

This is one of Collins’ favorite songs in his catalogue. It has been in his setlist since the No Jacket Required tour, and is typically the last song he plays.

Take Me Home
Phil Collins

Take that look of worry
I’m an ordinary man
They don’t tell me nothing
So I find out what I can
There’s a fire that’s been burning
Right outside my door
I can’t see but I feel it
And it helps to keep me warm
So I
I don’t mind
No I
I don’t mind

Seems so long I’ve been waiting
Still don’t know what for
There’s no point escaping
I don’t worry anymore
I can’t come out to find you
I don’t like to go outside
They can’t turn off my feelings
Like they’re turning off a light
But I
I don’t mind
No I
I don’t mind
Oh I
I don’t mind
No I
I don’t mind

So take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember
Take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember
Take, take me home
Oh Lord,
‘Cause I’ve been a prisoner all my life
And I can say to you

Take that look of worry
Mine’s an ordinary life
Working when it’s daylight
And sleeping when it’s night
I’ve got no far horizons
And I wish upon a star
They don’t think that I listen
Oh but I know who they are
And I, I don’t mind
No I, I don’t mind
Oh I, I don’t mind
No I, I don’t mind

So take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember
Take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember
Take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember
Take, take me home, oh lord
Well I’ve been a prisoner all my life
And I can say to you

But I don’t remember
Take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember
Take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember
Take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember
Take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember
Take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember
Take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember
Take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember
Take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember
Take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember

Songwriters: Phillip David Charles Collins
Take Me Home lyrics © Concord Music Publishing LLC