Congo (Genesis) cover

"Congo" is a song by English rock band Genesis, released in September 1997 as the first single from their fifteenth album, Calling All Stations (1997). The single marked the debut of Ray Wilson as the lead vocalist for the band. It was a hit across Europe, although it became their first lead single since 1977 to not reach the UK Top 20, peaking at #29. It was also the band's last Top 40 hit, and their only with Wilson. The song did not chart on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the US, it reached position #25 on 30 August 1997 in the Mainstream Rock Charts. The single was the most added track to US Radio for the week 15 August 1997.

The song is about two people who cannot get along with each other in their relationship, leaving them to want to be rid of each other and as distant as possible ("Send me to the Congo" is a metaphor for this). Musically, the song opens with a Caribbean drum beat while an African-style tribe is heard chanting "Congo the Congo", before the song launches into a darker melody driven by synthesiser, guitar, and gated reverb drums. Appropriately, part of the song's refrain takes its lyrical meter from the conga (Latin American rhythm). The album version features a synthesiser solo and extra verses that fade out, while the single version has an earlier fade-out.

"Congo" was the band's lead single from Calling All Stations, and was played at all of the band's live shows on the Calling All Stations tour, generally in the middle of the set. The single version appeared on the band's greatest hits collection Turn It On Again: The Hits. Wilson has performed the song live for his solo Genesis Klassik tour.

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