Lenten Reflection: Genesis Confession?

“The aim and final reason of all music should be nothing else but the glory of God and the refreshment of the spirit.”
-Johann Sebastian Bach

Every so often, you might discover interesting, even edifying, lyrics in modern music. This is altogether rare, but still possible. Today, I submit one such exception: Tonight Tonight Tonight (1986) by the band, Genesis.

I do not know whether Phil Collins and company intended this, but here we find a song with several allusions to the Sacrament of Penance. You can clearly glean it from the song’s lyrics, depicting a struggle against nagging demons, guilty conscience, sleeplessness, and so forth. Even the music video offers this impression with various imagery.

So, for fun, I thought we might enjoy a Lenten Reflection where we analyze the lyrics of this popular 1980s song. I’ll use the shorter, more common version rather than the one lasting over eight minutes.

Enjoy.

Tonight, Tonight, Tonight → Lyrical Analysis

[Verse 1]

I’m coming down, coming down like a monkey

But it’s alright

Like a load on your back that you can’t see

Ooh, but it’s alright

Try to shake it loose, cut it free, just let it go

Just get it away from me, oh

Comments: The “coming down like a monkey” part may seem strange; lending to various interpretations. However, the rest of it alludes quite well to mortal sin and a guilty conscience. How many poor souls have “a load on your back that you can’t see” in the form of unconfessed sin? I can think of nothing more burdensome than the heavy albatross of concealed grievances, those that offend God and imperil one’s chance of salvation. An untold number of Catholics wander through life oblivious to whatever’s weighing against their souls. If we offend Him too often, God may deprive the grace of a nagging conscience, thus eliminating any opportunity to detect that immense, overwhelming load on one’s back. Pray that never happens to you. Finally, the verse finishes with Collins admitting his desire to “shake it loose, cut it free, let it go . . . just get it away from me, ohhhhhh.” Doesn’t this remind you of someone afraid to go to Confession, who for years has desired to free themselves of so much shame and melancholy? They would do anything to be rid of the mental torment, yet still can’t bring themselves to confess. Then, there’s another way to approach this line. The season of Lent reminds us of the critical need to eliminate secular attachments and sinful proclivities; shake them loose, so to speak. As they worsen in severity, sin and attachment may grasp us like a massive octopus or jellyfish. The tentacles do not detach easily at all. Thanks be to God that sacramental confession destroys this horrible disposition in one fell swoop, leaving us with only the need to address temporal atonement thereafter.

Chorus

‘Cause tonight, tonight, tonight, oh

I’m gonna make it right

Tonight, tonight, tonight, oh

Comments: The chorus is brief and pretty well known by anyone over 30-years-old, who would have heard it on the radio countless times. I don’t believe it’s difficult to discern a repentant message from these lyrics, either. Will you, dear Christian reader, make it right (tonight, this morning, or whenever) by confessing your grievances, and regaining God’s friendship (if you struggle with mortal sin)?

[Verse 2]

I’m going down, going down like a monkey

Ooh, but it’s alright

Try to pick yourself up

Carry that weight that you can’t see

Don’t you know it’s alright?

It’s like a helter skelter

Going down and down, ’round and ’round

But just get it away from me, oh

Comments: Verse two looks similar to the first, save for the last three lines. Here, we should notice the “helter skelter” element, which might remind American listeners of the Charles Manson race war or another song from the Beatles. In this context, however, Collins refers to the helter skelter theme ride, popular in England. As you can tell from the above photo, it’s a simple amusement where someone slides down and around, beginning from the structure’s apex. What is the metaphorical significance of this, though? Well, imagine how we begin at the apex of purity, after the cleansing waters of sacramental baptism, only to slide and descend closer to Hell with each sin we commit. Then, the sole means of halting the downward spiral would be to confess those sins, thereby regaining that apex position of sanctifying grace. 

**Repeat Chorus**

[Verse 3]

I got some money in my pocket

About ready to burn

I don’t remember where I got it

I gotta get it to you

So please answer the phone

‘Cause I keep calling

But you’re never home

What am I gonna do?

Comments: From here onward, the song turns even darker, almost teetering on the verge of despair. Obviously, a secular reading of the lyrics (which is not unreasonable) gives the listener the impression he speaks of some romantic problem with a woman. Men struggling to cooperate with their female companions, combined with the typical financial pressures (including prostitution purchases), is no new story at all. “Money in my pocket, about ready to burn” could also refer to ill-gotten gains, sufficient for one’s condemnation to the fiery inferno for obtaining them. It’s not hard to infer some kind of spiritual message, especially now that the deadly vice of greed is hyper-abundant, and modern priests treat their parishioners like cash cows. Indeed, some of us may believe we “gotta give it to you” to receive any spiritual sustenance whatsoever. Am I exaggerating or did the preponderance of clergy not just shut down all the churches five years ago, partly from fear of forfeiting their precious tax-exemptions and financial advantages? Then, if you had to reach them (not all, but most), you might “keep calling, but you’re [the priest] never home,” getting stymied by their disproportionately powerful gatekeepers. Some Catholics suffer from despair more than others; making such isolation an arduous cross to shoulder alone. To make matters worse, the harsh, efficient, money-first mentality grants confirmation to the suspicions of cynical Protestants, who dismiss the Church, and Her indulgences, as ecclesial racketeering. While their conclusion is ultimately wrong, the Catholic hierarchy, infested with modernists, lent them plenty of confirmation in this awful assumption when it shuttered parishes because of flu season.

**Repeat Chorus**

[Bridge]

You keep telling me I’ve got everything

You say I’ve got everything I want

You keep telling me you’re gonna help me

You’re gonna help me, but you don’t

But now I’m in too deep

You see, it’s got me so that I just can’t sleep

Ooh, get me out of here

Please get me out of here

Just help me, I’ll do anything, anything

If you’ll just help, get me out of here

Comments: This section extends from the previous one. If you believe the cessation and abandonment of the faithful was just a 2020 aberration, then you haven’t been to a Novus Ordo parish in a while. While “Event Catholicism” continues to offer superficial dopamine hits for naïve Catholics, the more devout cannot expect true pastorship from typical Novus-Ordo-trained priests. Thankfully, there are alternatives, if you wish to avoid “Santa Claus Masses,” and other blasphemous absurdities, at least according to one good bishop. However, they’re difficult to find for Catholics who say, with Phil Collins, “ooh, get me out of here” after attending the Novus Ordo nonsense.

Is my assessment too harsh? No, because Novus Ordo priests, when the proverbial rubber smashes the road, will NOT help you. Instead, they’ll cancel confession offerings at the sight of any minor obstacle. Repentant Catholics are toast, particularly if their confessional aspirations interfere with priestly vacation retreats or the obligation to attend some “super special event” with the old bishop.

The Scamdemic desperation for the sacraments left devout Catholics willing to “do anything,” begging their local priests to “just help me,” rectify the stain of mortal sin on their souls. How many clergy accepted the responsibility to minister during that contrived ordeal? Which of them would baptize newborns or anoint the dying?

Finally, this verse alludes to how sin and temptation tend to generate insomnia (you see, it’s got me so that I just can’t sleep). It’s a legitimate problem for folks of all stripes and stations of life. Is there a solution? Whenever we cannot sleep, we might pray the Te Lucis Ante Terminum. It is an interesting hymn in its own right, traditionally prayed by those bound to recite the Divine Office every day (the old Breviary, not the Liturgy of the Minutes). There, the monastic or cleric (finishing the Compline hour), beseeches God’s protection against bad dreams, fears, nightly fantasies, and “polluantur corpora” (nocturnal emissions). It also offers helpful night-time support against insomnia, provided the soul frequents the sacraments, practices mental prayer, and remains in sanctifying grace. Lay people might include this before or after saying the Three Hail Marys for Purity prior to retiring.

Then, the rest of the song finishes with the chorus and repetition of one of the previous verses.

Conclusion → Go to Confession (with a Traditional Priest)

Lent is the perfect time to snap your confession drought.

Ideally, we would go at least once a month, if not more frequently. Make sure you confess to a traditional priest and not through some ridiculous, face-to-face, modern arrangement. Some of today’s Novice Order priests do not even use the correct verbiage for absolution. It’s all the more reason to avoid N.O. parishes altogether.

Don’t forget to pray the Rosary (all 15 decades, each day), asking Our Lady to mollify any scruples you may have regarding confession. We should never fear approaching the holy tribunal with a contrite heart, intending to confess our sins, do penance, and amend our lives.

What are your thoughts? Do you have a different interpretation of the lyrics for Tonight Tonight Tonight? If so, please share in the comments.

God bless and have a fruitful Lent.

P.S. If there is sufficient interest, I may do another lyrical analysis for the Genesis song, “Jesus, He Knows Me,” which we might term “The Jorge Bergoglio Anti-Pontifical Theme Song.” Share this with your pals if you would like to motivate me to do so.