| "That's Just the Way It Is" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byPhil Collins | ||||
| from the album...But Seriously | ||||
| B-side | "Broadway Chorus" | |||
| Released | 16 July 1990 (1990-07-16) | |||
| Length | 5:19 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Songwriter | Phil Collins | |||
| Producers |
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| Phil Collins singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "That's Just the Way It Is" onYouTube | ||||
"That's Just the Way It Is" is a song by English musicianPhil Collins, released as a single from his fourth solo studio album,...But Seriously (1989), in July 1990 byVirgin Records. The track featuresDavid Crosby on background vocals and is written by Collins and co-produced by him withHugh Padgham. It was released as a single only in Europe, Australia and Japan, while "Do You Remember?" was instead released in the United States. The song reached number 26 in theUK Singles Chart.
The song, according to Collins, is an anti-war ballad that heavily deals withThe Troubles of Northern Ireland. The song itself was positively received by most critics. The B-side to the song was "Broadway Chorus", the demo version of "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven".
The song is an anti-warballad, about the conflict inNorthern Ireland,The Troubles.[1][2][3]Phil Collins said of the song:
It's about Northern Ireland as far as I am concerned. Which in England we are used to it all the time, I mean Ireland of course, it's on the doorstep but everywhere else in the world it's... just another news report, but if you are living in England and you just sort of constantly [hear of] people getting blown to smithereens because this thing that's been going on for the last twenty—but also for a lot longer in Ireland, it's only just come to the front in the last twenty years. You see newsreels of kids throwingpetrol bombs because their brothers throw them and then their dads throw them and their dad's dad and it's just bred, inbred, now this violence and I just thought someone somewhere, and it's got to be from both sides, has got to say "Hang on, life means more than this. This has got to stop."[4]
David Crosby performs backing vocals on the song and duets with Collins several times. During live performances of the song, Collins would precede it with a monologue about what he thought were the "evils of war".[5] TheSan Jose Mercury News criticized this, saying, "But instead of reinforcing his persona as rock's Good Old Bloke, it came across as a piece of show biz, as if he wasn't feeling it but simply reading it."[5] The B-side of the single was "Broadway Chorus", a demo version of another hit single from the album, "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven".
Don McLeese ofThe Chicago Sun-Times said that David Crosby was "used more effectively" on this song than any other song which had Crosby on the album.[6] ThePittsburgh Post-Gazette however, said that the song was "so lyrically vague it lacked punch".[7] Jon Pareles ofThe New York Times thought that the song "[echoed]Bruce Hornsby in tone and title".[8] TheSan Jose Mercury News thought the song was "pretty".[9] Lennox Samuels ofThe Dallas Morning News thought that the song "starts out as if it is going to be another "In the Air Tonight"..."before it moves into being an anti-war song".[10] Meanwhile,The Atlanta Journal-Constitution thought that Crosby's vocals "lends challenging harmony".[11]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 16 July 1990 |
| Virgin | [24] |
| Australia | 30 July 1990 |
| WEA | [25] |
| Japan | 10 December 1990 | Mini-CD | [26] |
Phil Collins songs | |
|---|---|
| Face Value | |
| Hello, I Must Be Going! | |
| No Jacket Required | |
| Buster | |
| ...But Seriously | |
| Serious Hits... Live! |
|
| Both Sides | |
| Dance into the Light | |
| ...Hits | |
| Tarzan | |
| Testify | |
| Brother Bear | |
| Going Back | |
| Featured singles | |
| Other singles | |
| Other songs | |
