Duchess

Album: Duke (1980)
Charted: 46
Play Video
  • Times were good
    She never thought about the future, she just did what she would
    Oh but she really cared
    About her music, it all seemed so important then

    And she dreamed that every time that she performed
    Everyone would cry for more
    That all she had to do was step into the light
    And everyone would start to roar

    And on the road
    Where all but a few fall by the wayside on the grassier verge
    She battled through
    Against the others in her world, and the sleep, and the odds

    But now every time that she performed
    Oh everybody cried for more
    Soon all she had to do was step into the light
    For everyone to start to roar
    And all the people cried, you're the one we've waited for

    Oh but time went by
    It wasn't so easy now, all uphill, and not feeling so strong
    Yes times were hard
    Too much thinking 'bout the future and what people might want

    An then there was the time that she performed
    When nobody called for more
    And soon every time she stepped into the light
    They really let her know the score
    But she dreamed of the times when she sang all her songs
    And everybody cried for more
    When all she had to do was step into the light
    For everyone to start to roar
    And all the people cried, you're the one we've waited for Writer/s: Anthony George Banks, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins
    Publisher: CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 2

  • Some Dude from Some WherePrior to getting into metal, I was a huge prog rock fan, especially Genesis. I listened to this song... this entire album, hundreds of times. What I always got from this was that it's about a failed lady musician or singer (the exact method isn't stated). She was just good enough to reach a height of popularity, plateaued, and then dropped off. No one really noticed. Sort of like many one hit wonders in the 80's. It ends in a rehashing of what was and a feeling that things could have been better, and a slight hint of remorse.
  • Joshua from La Crosse, WiActually it was "Behind The Lines", not "Turn It On Again", that Collins covered on the Face Value album.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Emilio Castillo from Tower of Power

Emilio Castillo from Tower of PowerSongwriter Interviews

Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"They're Playing My Song

Gramm co-wrote this gorgeous ballad and delivered an inspired vocal, but the song was the beginning of the end of his time with Foreigner.

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New York

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New YorkSong Writing

Can you be married in one country but not another? Only if you're part of a gay couple. One of the first famous singers to come out as a lesbian, Janis wrote a song about it.

Steely Dan

Steely DanFact or Fiction

Did they really trade their guitarist to The Doobie Brothers? Are they named after something naughty? And what's up with the band name?

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New Words

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New WordsSong Writing

Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.

Matthew Wilder - "Break My Stride"

Matthew Wilder - "Break My Stride"They're Playing My Song

Wilder's hit "Break My Stride" had an unlikely inspiration: a famous record mogul who rejected it.