No Son of Mine

For the Foo Fighters song, see No Son of Mine (Foo Fighters song).

For the song by the metalcore group Every Time I Die, see The Big Dirty (album).

"No Son of Mine" is a song by British rock group Genesis, released in October 1991 by Atlantic and Virgin as the lead single from their 14th album, We Can't Dance (1991). The song, written by Phil Collins and composed by him with Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford, reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was also a top-10 hit in several European countries and peaked atop Canada's RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart for five weeks.

"No Son of Mine"
Single by Genesis
from the album We Can't Dance
B-side	"Living Forever"
Released	21 October 1991 (1991-10-21)
Studio	The Farm (Surrey, England)
Genre	Pop rock
Length	6:41 (album version) 4:41 (radio edit)
Label	Virgin Atlantic
Composer(s)	Tony Banks Phil Collins Mike Rutherford
Lyricist(s)	Phil Collins
Producer(s)	Genesis Nick Davis Robert Colby
Genesis singles chronology
"Throwing It All Away" (1987) "No Son of Mine" (1991) "I Can't Dance" (1991)

Lyrics and music

The song's lyrics tell the story of a boy who runs away from his abusive home, and—after some reconsideration—attempts to return, only to be rejected by his father. In interviews, Phil Collins has said that the lyrics are deliberately vague as to whether the narrator or his mother is the victim of the abuse.

The song has a distinctive sound heard during the intro and before the second verse. Referred to by the band as "elephantus", the sound was created by Tony Banks recording Mike Rutherford's guitar with a sampler and then playing three notes on the bottom register of the keyboard, greatly lowering the pitch. The working title of "No Son of Mine" was "Elephantus".^[1] The sound is also featured in the opening of the "I Can't Dance" single B-side "On the Shoreline". A similar sound is heard in former Genesis member Peter Gabriel's song "I Grieve", which was released a few years later, on the soundtrack to City of Angels.

The single included the eighth track from We Can't Dance, "Living Forever", as the B-side. The radio edit fades out the song's extended outro a minute in advance and deletes part of the second chorus. The music video makes use of the complete album version.

Music video

The accompanying music video for "No Son of Mine" is melancholic, illustrating the scene in sepia tone. The video depicts what is discussed in the song, which is a conversation between a son and his father. During the last chorus, snowflakes begin appearing flying around the house; eventually, at the end, the scene pulls out to reveal that the scenes of confrontation have taken place in a snow globe that the son is holding. It was done by FYI (director Jim Yukich and producer Paul Flattery).

Live performances

A live version appears on the albums The Way We Walk, Volume One: The Shorts, and Live Over Europe 2007, as well as on their DVDs The Way We Walk - Live in Concert and When in Rome 2007.

Track listings

• 7-inch and cassette single^[2][3]

1. "No Son of Mine"
2. "Living Forever"

• 12-inch and CD single^[4][5]

1. "No Son of Mine"
2. "Living Forever"
3. "Invisible Touch" (live)

Personnel

• Phil Collins – drums, lead and backing vocals
• Tony Banks – keyboards
• Mike Rutherford – lead, rhythm and bass guitars

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1991–1992) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[6] 29 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[7] 7 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[8] 12 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[9] 1 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[10] 4 Denmark (IFPI)[11] 4 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[12] 4 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[13] 20 France (SNEP)[14] 13 Germany (GfK)[15] 3 Greece (IFPI)[16] 9 Ireland (IRMA)[17] 5 Italy (Musica e dischi)[18] 2 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[19] 8 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[20] 7 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[21] 36 Norway (VG-lista)[22] 4 Portugal (AFP)[11] 2 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[23] 13 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 8 UK Singles (OCC)[25] 6 US Billboard Hot 100[26] 12 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[27] 8 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[28] 3 US Cash Box Top 100[29] 6 Zimbabwe (ZIMA)[30] 11

Year-end charts Chart (1991) Position Canada Top Singles (RPM)[31] 50 Europe (European Hit Radio)[32] 75 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[33] 93 Sweden (Topplistan)[34] 74 Chart (1992) Position Canada Top Singles (RPM)[35] 64 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[36] 50 Germany (Media Control)[37] 28 US Billboard Hot 100[38] 68 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[39] 39

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United Kingdom	21 October 1991	7-inch vinyl 12-inch vinyl CD cassette	Virgin	[40]
Japan	7 November 1991	Mini-CD		[41]
	21 November 1991	CD		[42]