31. May 2026
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Songs of my Life: Genesis – Land of Confusion

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

I am not too regular in posting Songs of my Life postings. However, the song I am presenting now is having the 40th anniversary of its publication, alongside the corresponding album release. In fact, it is the second time I deal with a song by the rock band Genesis. However, the post about Shipwrecked comes from a different era of the band’s history. This time, I am dealing with Land of Confusion, one of the most hilarious recordings of the British music legends.

 

Land of Confusion – The Story of the Song

The roots of Genesis are already dated back to the earlier 1960’s. At that time, the founding members Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Anthony Phillips, Mike Rutherford and Chris Steward met at a public school in Surrey, England. Genesis was founded in 1967 and initially focused on progressive rock, in which they were one of the key bands of the 1970’s. Two key members, Peter Gabriel (1975) and Steve Hackett (1977) left the band during that decade, leading to Genesis becoming a trio, consisting of Rutherford, Banks, and Phil Collins, who had joined in 1972. He was also the lead singer of the band.

In the 1980’s, the trio Genesis became more and more popular. The 1980 album Duke was the the first one in band history leading the charts. Any following studio album recorded in that lineup did so as well, and the band also was overwhelmingly popular during that time. The 1983 album Genesis also topped the charts in Germany and was a double platinum album in the U.K., a platinum album in Germany and a four time platinum in the United States.

 

Invisible Touch

Three years after Genesis, on 6th June1986, the band released their thirteenth studio album overall, Invisible Touch. Like any album of the band since Abacab (1981), Genesis recorded it in their very own studio The Farm. In the years before Invisible Touch, the band members had lead a certain focus on their solo projects, like Collins’s solo career or Mike & the Mechanics. This had even lead to rumors that Genesis would split up. Only the title title track had been released beforehand, on 19th May 1986, and later lead to a platinum record in their home country.

Invisible Touch was a huge success. Quadruple platinum in Great Britain, triple platinum in Australia and even six time platinum in the United States. In most of the key markets, it was at least a Top 5 album – even though the critics were overall average. The Invisible Touch Tour, held between September 1986 and July 1987, had a total of 112 shows. Like on previous tours, touring musicians Chester Thompson (drums) and Daryl Stuermer (guitar / bass) joined the trio on stage.

 

Land of Confusion

The third song on the album was the 4:45 song Land of Confusion. The band chose the song as the third single release of Invisible Touch, published on 10th November 1986. The lyrics to the protest song were written by Mike Rutherford, who felt that the time was right to do so.  It deals with the political situation and tensions during the 1980’s.

A key reason why the song got massive popularity is its music video. For the video, Genesis used Splitting Image puppets. The key character in the video is Ronald Reagan, who is having a nightmares of the the world, running into multiple political characters of history and that time. Nancy Reagan is in bed right next to him. The song also deals with global warming, crime, and pollution.

 

Genesis after Invisible Touch

After the Invisible Touch album, Genesis had one of their most successful albums, We Can’t Dance (1991). The record contained multiple big songs like I Can’t Dance, No Son of Mine or Jesus He Knows Me. After an extended tour, Phil Collins left the band and was replaced by Ray Wilson, which lead to the Calling All Stations album, which also contains Shipwrecked.

Later, Genesis reunited. They did not release any more studio albums, but had some very successful stadium tours. Phil Collins suffered from multiple diseases, which also do not allow them to drum any more. His son Nicholas replaced him in that role in his latest stage appearances, including the The Last Domino? Tour in 2021 and 2022, coming with a total of 47 shows. Latest news state that Collins’ health situation is improving, but this tour was likely the last Genesis one. However, Mike & the Mechanics concerts typically have a few Genesis songs as well.

 

Land of Confusion – My Story of the Song

Invisible Touch was my first contact with Genesis. Later, I have become a big fan of the British band and saw them live on a couple of occasions. The key song was indeed Land of Confusion. Even though my favorite album is We Can’t Dance, Invisible Touch also made me love the earlier eras of Genesis as well.

I also loved the appearances with Ray Wilson. Nonetheless, the key era of Genesis is the one as a trio to me. In the meantime, I am gifted running into Mike Rutherford a few times, I love the shows he does with the Mechanics. Following the worsening health situation of Phil Collins made me very sad during the last years. Genesis are a band that gave me so many songs and also laughs with songs like Jesus He Knows Me or Land of Confusion. Keep my fingers crossed that their music is never fading.

 

Land of Confusion- Spotify and Lyrics

Here is Land of Confusion on Spotify:

Among other sources, you can find the lyrics here.

 

Songs Of My Life Playlist

I created a playlist with all the Songs Of My Life songs so far. It will be updated with very new episode:

 

Songs Of My Life

Here are the postings of the personal Songs Of My Life category:

 

Music Legends on Flyctory.com

Who belongs to the music legends? Here on Flyctory.com, it’s only me who decides on this:

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