Driving the Last Spike
"Driving the Last Spike" | |
---|---|
Song by Genesis | |
from the album We Can't Dance | |
Released | 11 November 1991 |
Recorded | 1991 |
Studio | The Farm, Chiddingfold, Surrey |
Genre | Progressive rock |
Length | 10:08 |
Label | Atlantic |
Composer(s) |
|
Lyricist(s) | Phil Collins |
Producer(s) |
|
"Driving the Last Spike" is the third track on the Genesis album We Can't Dance, released in 1991.
The song's lyrics by Phil Collins are about the Navvies: railway workers of the 19th century, many of whom died constructing Britain's railways. The song narrates the thoughts and feelings of an unnamed railway worker in the form of a soliloquy or internal monologue. The title is a phrase meaning the completion of a major railway project—placing the "last spike" is often a momentous occasion. The original idea came from the book ‘The Railway Navvies’ by Terry Coleman that actor Dennis Waterman gave to Collins.
Despite not being released as a single, "Driving the Last Spike" charted in Canada and the United States, peaking at number 51 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart and number 25 on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.
Live performances
"Driving the Last Spike" was performed live on the band's 1992 The Way We Walk[1] Tour. The second half of the song (starting at 5:41) was transposed to a lower key starting after the first nine shows of the tour. This was done to accommodate Collins' deepening voice without straining.[citation needed] (A recording of an early performance of "Driving the Last Spike" was released as an Atlantic Records promo CD featuring the second half of the song in the album key.)[citation needed]
"Driving the Last Spike" was featured on the live album The Way We Walk, Volume Two: The Longs, and the live DVD The Way We Walk - Live in Concert.[citation needed]
Personnel
- Tony Banks – keyboards
- Phil Collins – vocals, drums, drum machine
- Mike Rutherford – electric guitars, bass guitar
Charts
Chart (1992) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[2] | 51 |
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[3] | 25 |
See also
References
- ^ The Way We Walk Tour Songs & Dates
- ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2006." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- ^ "Genesis Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- v
- t
- e
- Tony Banks
- Mike Rutherford
- Phil Collins
- Peter Gabriel
- Anthony Phillips
- Chris Stewart
- John Silver
- John Mayhew
- Mick Barnard
- Steve Hackett
- Ray Wilson
- Genesis Live
- Seconds Out
- Three Sides Live
- The Way We Walk, Volume One: The Shorts
- The Way We Walk, Volume Two: The Longs
- Live over Europe 2007
- Turn It On Again: The Hits
- Platinum Collection
- The Last Domino? – The Hits
- Genesis Archive 1967–75
- Genesis Archive #2 1976–92
- Genesis 1976–1982
- Genesis 1983–1998
- Genesis 1970–1975
- Genesis Live 1973–2007
- R-Kive
- BBC Broadcasts
- "The Silent Sun"
- "The Knife"
- "Watcher of the Skies"
- "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)"
- "The Carpet Crawlers"
- "A Trick of the Tail"
- "Follow You Follow Me"
- "Many Too Many"
- "Go West Young Man"
- "Turn It On Again"
- "Duchess"
- "Misunderstanding"
- "Abacab"
- "No Reply at All"
- "Keep It Dark"
- "Man on the Corner"
- "Paperlate"
- "Mama"
- "That's All"
- "Home by the Sea"
- "Illegal Alien"
- "Taking It All Too Hard"
- "Invisible Touch"
- "Throwing It All Away"
- "In Too Deep"
- "Land of Confusion"
- "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight"
- "No Son of Mine"
- "I Can't Dance"
- "Hold on My Heart"
- "Jesus He Knows Me"
- "Never a Time"
- "Tell Me Why"
- "Congo"
- "Shipwrecked"
- "Not About Us"
- "The Carpet Crawlers 1999"
- "The Silent Sun 2006"
- "The Musical Box"
- "Get 'Em Out by Friday"
- "Can-Utility and the Coastliners"
- "Supper's Ready"
- "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight"
- "Firth of Fifth"
- "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"
- "The Lady Lies"
- "Behind the Lines"
- "Domino"
- "Anything She Does"
- "Driving the Last Spike"
- "Fading Lights"
- In Concert
- Three Sides Live
- The Mama Tour
- Live at Wembley Stadium
- The Way We Walk
- The Video Show
- Live in London
- When in Rome 2007
- Genesis Movie Box 1981–2007
- List of Genesis medleys
- Brand X
- Flaming Youth
- Mike and the Mechanics
- GTR
- Stiltskin
- Simon Collins
- Sound of Contact
- Jonathan King
- Tony Smith
- The Musical Box
- Six of the Best
- Genesis: Together and Apart
- The Farm
This 1990s rock song-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e