It was over twenty years ago that Genesis released what was, at the time, my favourite “modern” song of theirs, Land of Confusion. It wasn’t so much the quality of the song that drew me as it was the wider context – the video, which mocked Ronald Reagan (probably one of the first music videos I saw that had a political theme), but more importantly, the line:
I won’t be coming home tonight
My generation will put it right
And those same words that initially drew me later drove me away. It later became too much of a Phil Collins song, as far too similar to Sussudio, one of the most inane songs ever made. But seeing it performed at the Live Earth concert changed the way I see the song. While “their” generation has generally screwed things up incredibly badly, “their” generation are still active, and are still leaders in the climate crisis (especially Al Gore). At the very least, some of my cynicism is starting to fade. I’m willing to give Land of Confusion a second chance. I may even be willing to give Phil Collins a second chance.
Filed under: 80s music, Activism, Live Earth, pop culture |
Further thoughts 
“my generation will put it right”
It was sarcastic. And how much has our generation done to change anything? What have you done to stop this absurd cycle of violence? Your cynicism was only seems to have only ever been pessimism, at best. We don’t change things by faulting those who [barely] came before us. We change things by not bitching so much as risking everything to actually do something about it.
Given the current American climate I don’t think our nor the next generation have a chance in Hell of putting anything right. It’s still more violence, death, and vengeance.