Keep It Dark
title: "Keep It Dark" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1981-singles", "genesis-(band)-songs", "songs-written-by-tony-banks-(musician)", "songs-written-by-phil-collins", "songs-written-by-mike-rutherford", "1981-songs", "charisma-records-singles"] topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_It_Dark" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Keep It Dark |
| cover | Keep It Dark Single.jpg |
| type | single |
| artist | Genesis |
| album | Abacab |
| B-side | Naminanu |
| released | 23 October 1981 |
| recorded | 1981 |
| * Rock<ref name | "Ingalls & Wilhelm 2023" |
| * new wave<ref name | "Ingalls & Wilhelm 2023"/ |
| length | 4:32 |
| label | Charisma/Phonogram |
| writer | Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford |
| producer | Genesis, Hugh Padgham |
| prev_title | No Reply at All |
| prev_year | 1981 |
| next_title | Man on the Corner |
| next_year | 1982 |
| :: |
| name = Keep It Dark | cover = Keep It Dark Single.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Genesis | album = Abacab | B-side = Naminanu | released = 23 October 1981 | recorded = 1981 | studio = | genre =
- Rock
- new wave | length = 4:32 | label = Charisma/Phonogram | writer = Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford | producer = Genesis, Hugh Padgham | prev_title = No Reply at All | prev_year = 1981 | next_title = Man on the Corner | next_year = 1982 | misc =
"Keep It Dark" is a song by British band Genesis, released on 23 October 1981 in the UK as the second single from Abacab. It reached number 33 in the UK Singles Chart.
Song information
"Keep It Dark" describes a man who has been to the future and has seen a bright, happy world where everyone is filled with joy, cities are filled with light, with no fear of war, and all exploitation has ceased as all creatures have happier lives. Once he returns, however, he is pressured to lie about the incident. The cover depicts the three wise monkeys.
In the DVD interview accompanying the 2007 re-release of Abacab, the album from which the song comes, composer Tony Banks said that "the idea was that this character had to pretend that he'd just been robbed by people and that's why he'd disappeared for a few weeks, and in fact what had happened [was] he'd been to the future and gone to this fantastic world where everything was wonderful and beautiful and everything... but he couldn't tell anybody that, because no one would believe him and the powers that be kept him silent."
The song's unusual structure (the rhythm is in a 6/4 time signature) kept it from being released as a single in the US.
Music video
A music video supported the single release of the song, featuring Collins, Tony Banks, and Rutherford in two different settings. In the first and second verses and the fade out, the band walks along bleak city streets (in Amsterdam) wearing trenchcoats and fedoras. When the chorus comes in, it shifts to the band wearing all-white suits and sunglasses, and walking through a field, with the sun shining. In both settings, Banks mimes with a mini Casio keyboard and Rutherford with the neck from a guitar, while Collins keeps the beat of the song with drumsticks, mostly hitting air, or the walls of the Amsterdam houses.
Credits
- Tony Banks – keyboards
- Phil Collins – drums, percussion, vocals
- Mike Rutherford – electric guitar, bass pedals
References
References
- (19 June 2025). "20 of the Best New Wave Albums by Rock/Pop Artists".
- (1992). "Genesis: A Biography, UK discography". Sidgwick & Jackson.
- [http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/genesis/ Genesis UK chart history], The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
- (2014-10-10). "20 Insanely Great Genesis Songs Only Hardcore Fans Know".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::