"Something Happened on the Way to Heaven"
Artwork for UK release
Single by Phil Collins
from the album ...But Seriously
B-side"I Wish It Would Rain Down"
Released16 April 1990 (1990-04-16)[1]
Length4:50
LabelAtlantic, Virgin, WEA
Songwriter(s)Phil Collins, Daryl Stuermer
Producer(s)Phil Collins, Hugh Padgham
Phil Collins singles chronology
"I Wish It Would Rain Down"
(1990) 		"Something Happened on the Way to Heaven"
(1990) 		"That's Just the Way It Is"
(1990)
Music video
"Phil Collins - Something Happened On The Way To Heaven (Official Music Video)" on YouTube

"Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" is a song by English drummer Phil Collins, released in April 1990 from his fourth studio album, ...But Seriously (1989). The song peaked at No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 the week of October 6, 1990 and No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart.[2][3] A live version also appears on the Serious Hits... Live! album. The song is often identified by the recurring hook of "How many times can I say 'I'm sorry'?", however, the title of the song is essentially the 2nd line of the 2nd verse.

The song was written by Phil Collins and longtime Genesis/Collins guitarist Daryl Stuermer and was produced by Collins and Hugh Padgham. It was also included on ...Hits. The song was originally written for the movie The War of the Roses.[4]

Artworks

The single's UK release featured comedian Tony Hancock on its front cover.[5] The different cover art for the international single release is a still from the 1946 film A Matter of Life and Death[6] (also titled in the US Stairway to Heaven[7]) created by Powell and Pressburger,[citation needed] permitted for use by Rank Film Distributors.[7]

Music video

Directed by Jim Yukich, produced by Paul Flattery and written by both of them for FYI. A dog is napping in a meadow, dreaming of being in a silent movie in which it saves a woman tied to a set of railroad tracks from being run over by a train. The opening of the song is heard faintly in the distance, coming from the open back door of a concert hall, and the dog wakes up and ventures inside. Here, Collins and his band do a sound check and then perform the song as the dog explores the facility, eating from the band's buffet table, climbing among the catwalks, and sitting briefly at Collins' piano and drum kit. These sequences are intercut with shots from the dog's black-and-white perspective, including a brief dream in which it sits at a formal table loaded with food.

At two different times, the dog relieves itself onstage, first by defecating near backing singer Arnold McCuller — only discovered when he steps in the resulting mess — then later by urinating on bassist Leland Sklar's leg. The latter occurs near the end of the song, and the video ends after Collins smiles and wipes Sklar's shoe with a towel (Sklar did not perform on the actual studio recording, Nathan East is the actual performer).[8]

Critical reception

Upon its release as a single, Gary Crossing of Record Mirror noted the "pseudo Seventies Motown brass, the familiar Collins sticksmanship and the regular nauseating vocals".[9]

Formats and track listings

CD maxi

  1. "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" – 4:37
  2. "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" (One World Remix) – 5:38
  3. "I Wish It Would Rain Down" (demo) – 5:19

7-inch single

  1. "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" (edit) – 4:37
  2. "I Wish It Would Rain Down" (demo) – 5:19

12-inch maxi

  1. "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" – 4:37
  2. "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" (One World Remix) – 5:38
  3. "I Wish It Would Rain Down" (demo) – 5:19

Credits

Charts

Deborah Cox version

"Something Happened on the Way to Heaven"
Banner of the US 12-inch retail single
Single by Deborah Cox
Released2003
GenreHouse
Songwriter(s)Phil Collins, Daryl Stuermer

In 2003, Canadian singer Deborah Cox recorded a R&B cover of the track, which was included on the Phil Collins tribute compilation Urban Renewal. It peaked at No. 95 on the Billboard Hot 100. A club/house remix was issued as a single, which reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Airplay chart in November 2003 and stayed at the top spot until February 2004. The track spent 11 weeks at No. 1—10 of them consecutively—making it the first single on the chart to accomplish this feat, which she would hold until 2009, when Lady Gaga broke that record with her single "Poker Face", which spent 15 weeks at the top.

References

  1. ^ "New Singles". Music Week. 14 April 1990. p. 39.
  2. ^ Phil Collins, Billboard Hot 100 – Billboard.com. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  3. ^ Billboard Hot 100, Week of October 6, 1990 – Billboard.com. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  4. ^ Phil Collins. Not Dead Yet. London, England: Century Books. p. 270. ISBN 978-1-780-89513-0.
  5. ^ Hancock record collection - Page seven
  6. ^ Gooder, Paula (2011). Heaven. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. xi. ISBN 978-1-61097-777-7.
  7. ^ a b Collins, Phil (1990). Something Happened on the Way to Heaven (cassette). Atlantic Records. Cat. #7 4-86140.
  8. ^ Collins, Phil (17 May 2010). "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven - Official Music Video". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  9. ^ Crossing, Gary (21 April 1990). "Singles". Record Mirror. p. 16. ISSN 0144-5804.
  10. ^ "Phil Collins – Something Happened on the Way to Heaven". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  11. ^ "Phil Collins – Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 1307." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  13. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 1290." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  14. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 20. 19 May 1990. p. V. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  15. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  16. ^ "Phil Collins – Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  17. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Something Happened on the Way to Heaven". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  18. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 21, 1990" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  19. ^ "Phil Collins – Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  20. ^ "Phil Collins – Something Happened on the Way to Heaven". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  21. ^ "Phil Collins: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  22. ^ "Phil Collins Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  23. ^ "Phil Collins Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  24. ^ "Phil Collins Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  25. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Phil Collins – Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  26. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1990" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  27. ^ "Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1990". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  28. ^ "Top 100 Adult Contemporary Tracks of 1990". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  29. ^ "Single top 100 over 1990" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  30. ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc (22 December 1990). "1990 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 51. p. YE-14. ((cite magazine)): |last1= has generic name (help)
  31. ^ "Adult Contemporary Songs – Year-End 1990". Billboard. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
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