Meaning of “Turn It On Again” by Genesis

“Turn It On Again”is a song by the iconic rock band Genesis. The lyrics tell the story of a man who sits all day behind his television watching it obsessively. In doing so, this man makes himself believe that the people and characters that he sees on the television are his friends.  

The song’s title “Turn It On Again” apparently refers to the man’s obsession with the television constantly being on that he can’t stand it the moment it goes off. Hence the phrase “turn it on again”.

Facts about “Turn It On Again”

• This song was recorded between October and December 1979 at the legendary Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. FYI, the aforementioned studio was formed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA fame along with ABBA’s manager Stig Anderson.
• The song’s production was handled by English music producer and recording engineer David Hentschel and Genesis.
• “Turn It On Again” was released on March 8th, 1980 as the first single from Genesis’ tenth studio album Duke.
• Tony Banks sang backing vocals on the song.
• The music video of the song was one of the music videos that had the privilege to be played on MTV on the first day that it started broadcasting to the world.

Chart Performance

This classic performed very well on the UK Singles Chart as it peaked at the 8th position. On the US Billboard Hot 100, it managed to make it to the 58th position.

Who wrote “Turn It On Again”?

The song, which is one of Genesis’ most successful songs, was written by the following members of Genesis:

• Phil Collins
• Tony Banks
• Mike Rutherford

It’s important to mention that Rutherford solely wrote the lyrics of this classic.