#Phil collins true colors how to

So, when Cyndi Lauper sang this song, it had already had a significance to me that I deeply understood.

As early as high school I had begun to see the value in being myself instead of following the crowd and trying to be someone I wasn't. Katrubie from CaMy son, was born in 1987, 4 years after I graduated from High School.I guess more than any other song that Tom and I wrote, that one seems to have the most universal appeal.' That song, more than any other song I've written, has had tremendous life. Tom and I were both elated when we heard her record of it because it was so much more adventurous than our demo, and to her credit, she produced it and did a beautiful job. Cyndi completely dismantled that sort of traditional arrangement and came up with something that was breathtaking and stark. The demo was sort of rooted in the gospel ballad tradition of a song like ' Bridge Over Troubled Water', ' Let It Be' or ' Lean On Me,' that sort of thing with the piano. In 'True Colors,' more than any other song, Cyndi Lauper came up with a very, very creative departure from our demo. That would be the case with 'Like a Virgin' or 'Alone' by Heart - the records copied the demos. Sometimes an artist will copy your demo exactly as you present it. Billy Steinberg explained: 'One of the things that one contends with as a songwriter is that when an artist records your song, unless you're producing it yourself or somehow involved in the production, you have very little input into how the song's being arranged and structured. Lauper ended up being the perfect artist to record this song. Tom and I sat together and I finished the lyrics with his help.' Then Tom really got on my case to finish those lyrics. We had done a very rough demo of the song with the original verse and the chorus and I don't know how this happened, but somehow George Martin, The Beatles' producer, heard our very rough demo and Tom heard back that he loved it.

#Phil collins true colors how to

I remember I had something about sad eyes or something, I think Tom even said, 'Well how about 'you with the sad eyes'?' He kept encouraging me, 'Let's finish that song, it's a great song.' I said, 'Let's write something else, I can't do it, I'm stuck.' The song kind of languished because I just didn't know how to rewrite these verses. I really got writer's block when it came to rewriting it. In spite of the fact that I had written that verse about my mom and that it led to the chorus lyric and I was proud of it, I agreed to rewrite the verse lyric and then of course the song would need a second verse lyric. On the other hand, the lyric to the verse you've written, although it's very poetic and very interesting, it seems to be specifically about someone with friends in high places.' He thought it had less universality and I agreed with him. It could be a parent to a child, a friend to a friend, could be for or about anyone. So the 'true colors shining through' came out of the line that preceded it, 'You've got too many faces in your makeup kit.' We wrote that verse and chorus, Tom and I, and Tom said to me, 'Gee, that chorus has tremendous universal appeal, it could be sung by anyone to anyone. I often employ a sort of stream-of-consciousness lyric writing style and I remember writing that verse. In our interview with Billy Steinberg, the lyricist explained: 'On 'True Colors' I had this verse and it was written about my mother: 'You've got a long list with so many choices, a ventriloquist with so many voices, and your friends in high places say where the pieces fit, you've got too many faces in your makeup kit, but I see your true colors shining through,' then it went on with the same chorus that the song has.