Not autobiographical, but rather a fictional story about a character who is either being abused or witnessing the abuse of his mother, according to Genesis singer Phil Collins' 1997 appearance on “VH1 Storytellers.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIOASBsII04
[Verse 1]
Well, the key to my survival
Was never in much doubt
The question was how I could keep sane
Trying to find a way out
Things were never easy for me
Peace of mind was hard to find
And I needed a place where I could hide
Somewhere I could call mine
[Verse 2]
I didn't think much about it
Till it started happening all the time
Soon I was living with the fear everyday
Of what might happen at night
I couldn't stand to hear the crying of my mother
And I remember when I swore that
That would be the last they'd see of me
And I never went home again
[Pre-Chorus]
They say time is a healer
And now my wounds are not the same
I rang the bell with my heart in my mouth
I had to hear what he'd say
He sat me down to talk to me
He looked me straight in the eyes, he said
[Chorus]
"You're no son, you're no son of mine
You're no son, you're no son of mine
You walked out, you left us behind
And you're no son, you're no son of mine"
Oh, his words how they hurt me
I'll never forget it
And as the time, it went by
I lived to regret it
"You're no son, you're no son of mine" (No son of mine)
But where should I go and what should I do
"You're no son, you're no son of mine" (No son of mine)
But I came here for help, I came here for you
[Verse 3]
Well the years they passed slowly
I thought about him everyday
What would I do, if we passed on the street
Would I keep running away
In and out of hiding places
Soon I'd have to face the facts
We'd have to sit down and talk it over
And that would mean going back
[Pre-Chorus]
They say time is a healer
And now my wounds are not the same
I rang the bell with my heart in my mouth
I had to hear what he'd say
He sat me down to talk to me
He looked me straight in the eyes, he said:
[Chorus]
"You're no son, you're no son of mine
You're no son, you're no son of mine
You walked out, you left us behind
And you're no son, you're no son of mine"
Oh, his words how they hurt me
I'll never forget it
And as the time, it went by
I lived to regret it
"You're no son, you're no son of mine" (No son of mine)
But where should I go and what should I do
"You're no son, you're no son of mine" (No son of mine)
But I came here for help, I came here for you
"You're no son, you're no son of mine, no
You're no son"
[Outro]
Ah yeah, ah yeah, ah yeah, ah yeah, ah yeah
"You're no son, you're no son of mine"
(Oh-oh)
(Oh-oh, oh-oh)
(Oh-oh, oh-oh)
(Oh-oh, oh-oh)
(Oh-oh, oh-oh) "You're no son of mine, you're no son of mine"
(Oh-oh, oh-oh) "You're no son, no son, no son of mine"
(Oh-oh, oh-oh)
(Oh-oh, oh-oh)
(Oh-oh, oh-oh) "No, you're no, no son of mine"
(Oh-oh, oh-oh)
(Oh-oh, oh-oh)
(Oh-oh, oh-oh)
(Oh-oh, oh-oh)
No Son of Mine was written by Phil Collins & Mike Rutherford & Tony Banks.
No Son of Mine was produced by Robert Colby & Nick Davis & Genesis.
Genesis released No Son of Mine on Mon Oct 21 1991.
According to Songfacts, Tony Banks said that “It was not originally part of the song”:
We needed a tempo thing to happen there, and one time Phil did this thing with two drumsticks. It sounded great and gave it part of the atmosphere.
According to Songfacts, Phil Collins explained:
The chorus of the song came from improvisation while we were writing the music. I took the notion of my lyrical idea and just wrote a story around it. The story is sort of self-explanatory. It’s a household of abuse. The father is being sort of the mo...