For Absent Friends

Album: Nursery Cryme (1971)
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Songfacts®:

  • Phil Collins sang lead on this track, marking his first lead vocal for the band. Peter Gabriel was the group's frontman at the time, but Collins was tapped to deliver the understated lead on this track.
  • The five members of Genesis shared writer's credits on all songs from the Nursery Cryme album, but according to Phil Collins, he and guitarist Steve Hackett put this song together.
  • This song paints a picture of life in a small British village, telling the story of an older couple, both widowed, who go to church and look back on times gone by and the friends they've lost.

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