‘That's All’ is a song by the English rock band Genesis. It is a group composition and appears as the second track on their 1983 album Genesis. It was the album's second single after ‘Mama’. On June 17, 1993, MCA Records re-issued and re-released the song as a CD and "HiQ" cassette single. The U.S. single reached No. 6 in early 1984, making it their first Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 hit; it included ‘Second Home by the Sea’ as the B-side. The UK single featured ‘Taking It All Too Hard’ as the flipside, and reached No. 16.
The song was intended as an attempt to write a simple pop song with a melody in the style of the Beatles. Phil Collins acknowledged in a subsequent interview that the song also features one of his attempts at a "Ringo Starr drum part". Genesis keyboard player Tony Banks was one of the first to use an Emulator, which was one of the first digital samplers (it was introduced in 1981). Banks would record his bandmate Mike Rutherford as he noodled around on his instruments, then play around with those samples to craft a track, which is how this song developed: "We were just improvising in the studio and Mike was playing a bit on guitar," he said in a Songfacts interview. "With the Emulator, I was able to sample bits and pieces as we were going along. I sampled this bit of Mike's, which didn't sound very good, so I actually slowed it down to about half or quarter speed, and it sort of played a suggestion of the riff that became 'That's All.' It wasn't quite the same, but it had a suggestion of it.”
Banks continued, “I played it on the piano like that, and I thought, this is really good. Phil went at it with a sort of 'Rocky Raccoon' style drumming on it, which made it something it hadn't really been at all in the first place. Then I just wanted to keep it simple, chord-wise, and let it go where it would, rather than trying to combine it with another bit, which is sometimes what we used to do. We really let the song develop in itself, and I was pleased with that. That's a simpler Genesis song, but one that really works."
Directed by Jim Yukich, the video shows the three members of Genesis, apparently homeless, dressed in dirty clothes and warming themselves using fires in metal barrels as they perform the song in an abandoned building. The connection between the video and the song (if there is one) is open to interpretation. "That slightly down-and-out feel seemed to go a little bit with the lyric, but it's not a perfect match," Tony Bank offered.
Labels – Atlantic, Virgin, MCA
Songwriters – Phil Collins, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford
Producers – Genesis, Hugh Padgham
SONG LYRICS
[Intro][Verse 1]
Just as I thought, it was going alright
I found out I'm wrong, when I thought I was right
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
I could say day, and you'd say night
Tell me it's black, when I know that it's white
Always the same, it's just a shame, and that's all
[Pre-Chorus]
I could leave, but I won't go, though my heart might tell me so
I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes
[Chorus]
But why does it always seem to be
Me looking at you, you looking at me
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
[Verse 2]
Turning me on, turning me off
Making me feel like I want too much
Living with you's just a-putting me through it, all of the time
Running around, staying out all night
Taking it all instead of taking one bite
Living with you's just a-putting me through it all of the time
[Pre-Chorus]
I could leave, but I won't go, but it'd be easier, I know
I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes
[Chorus]
But why does it always seem to be
Me looking at you, you looking at me
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
[Bridge]
Truth is I love you, more than I wanted to
There's no point in trying to pretend
There's been no one who makes me feel like you do
Say we'll be together till the end
[Interlude]
[Pre-Chorus]
But I could leave, but I won't go, it'd be easier, I know
I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes
[Chorus]
So, why does it always seem to be
Me looking at you, you looking at me
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
[Bridge]
But I love you, more than I wanted to
There's no point in trying to pretend
There's been no one who makes me feel like you do
Say we'll be together till the end
[Verse 1]
But just as I thought it was going alright
I found out I'm wrong when I thought I was right
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
Well, I could say day, and you'd say night
Tell me it's black when I know that it's white
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
That's all
[Outro]