Follow You Follow Me
| "Follow You Follow Me" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Genesis | ||||||||||
| from the album ...And Then There Were Three... | ||||||||||
| B-side | "Ballad of Big" (UK) "Inside and Out" (U.S.) |
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| Released | 25 February 1978 | |||||||||
| Recorded | September–October 1977 | |||||||||
| Genre | Soft rock | |||||||||
| Length | 3:59(album version)3:19(U.S. single edit) | |||||||||
| Label | Charisma/Virgin (UK) Atlantic (U.S.) |
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| Writer(s) | Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford | |||||||||
| Producer(s) | David Hentschel and Genesis | |||||||||
| Genesis singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Follow You Follow Me" is a love song written and recorded by the English rock band Genesis. It was released in February 1978 as the first single from their ninth studio album, ...And Then There Were Three.... The music was composed by the band and the lyrics were written by bassist and guitarist Mike Rutherford.
At the time of release, "Follow You Follow Me" became the band's most successful single, reaching number seven in the UK and number 23 in the US. The song is included in the 2005 book, Rock Song Index: The 7500 Most Important Songs for the Rock and Roll Era, which states "the formerly progressive Genesis begins to proceed without impediment toward the Top 10".
The slower, sentimental "Follow You Follow Me" was a departure from most of their previous work as a progressive rock band, as well as much of the rest of the album, featuring a simple melody, romantic lyrics and a verse-chorus structure. Although previous albums contained love ballads, such as Selling England by the Pound's "More Fool Me" and "Your Own Special Way" from Wind & Wuthering, "Follow You Follow Me" was the first worldwide pop success by the group. The band all agreed that their music was attracting mainly male audiences. This song was written specifically to redress the balance.
The song started from a chord sequence by guitarist Mike Rutherford, who also claimed he wrote the lyrics in about five minutes. At the time, the band usually wrote songs individually. Keyboardist Tony Banks was quoted:
It was our only truly group-written number. Mike played the riff, then I started playing a chord sequence and melody line on it, which Phil then centralized around. It worked so well as a very simple thing; it was enough as it stood. I'd just written a simple love lyric for "Many Too Many", and I think Mike was keen to try the same thing. Maybe "Follow You Follow Me" was almost too banal, but I got used to it. I think we find it much easier to write long stories than simple love songs.
Drummer and vocalist Collins described it as "a great rhythm track" but he claimed it "was not intended to be a hit single".
The music video for the song was a mimed live performance of the band. It later appeared on their DVD The Video Show.
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Wikipedia