"Tell Me Why" is a song by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

. It first appeared as the seventh track on their 14th studio album, ''

We Can't Dance ''We Can't Dance'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English rock band Genesis (band), Genesis, released on 11 November 1991 by Virgin Records in the UK and a day later by Atlantic Records in the US. It is their last studio album recorded wit ...

'' (1991), and was issued as a single in Europe in 1992 and in the United Kingdom on 8 February 1993 by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

. It was the last Genesis single featuring

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

on vocals before leaving the group in March 1996.

Background

A royalty from the single was donated to the Bosnian

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

and

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

charities. This was in keeping with the lyric of the song, which expressed disdain for hypocrisy about food and shelter (''"You say there's nothing you can do / Is there one rule for them and one for you?"''). Reflecting the emerging trend for CD singles, "Tell Me Why" was issued as two separate discs in the UK. Both editions came in

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

s with identical artwork, and were backed by a live version of "Dreaming While You Sleep." The first CD featured a 1992 version of "

Turn It On Again "Turn It On Again" is a song by the English rock band Genesis featured on their 1980 album ''Duke''. Also released as a single, the song reached number 8 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's second top 10 hit. The lyrics, by Mike Rut ...

" as an exclusive track, while the second included a full performance of "

Tonight, Tonight, Tonight "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" is the second track on the 1986 album '' Invisible Touch'' by the English rock band Genesis, released in January 1987 as the fourth single from the album. It peaked at No. 3 in the US and No. 18 in the UK. Backgrou ...

" from the 1987 ''Invisible Touch'' tour. In Europe the live

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

s were "

Mama Mama(s) or Mamma or Momma may refer to: Roles *Mother, a female parent * Mama-san, in Japan and East Asia, a woman in a position of authority *Maternal uncle, in some parts of South Asia Places * Mama, Russia, an urban-type settlement in the Mam ...

", "

The Brazilian "The Brazilian" is an instrumental piece by the English rock band Genesis. It concludes their thirteenth studio album, '' Invisible Touch'' (1986), and features experimental sounds and effects. The band wrote two instrumental pieces for the albu ...

" (both from the

Invisible Touch ''Invisible Touch'' is the thirteenth studio album by the English rock band Genesis, released on 6 June 1986 by Atlantic Records in the United States and on 9 June 1986 by Charisma/Virgin Records in the United Kingdom. After taking a break in 1 ...

tour) and the single version of "Invisible Touch." Unlike its four predecessors, the single was not a commercial success, barely breaching the UK Top 40. The working title of "Tell Me Why" was originally "Rickenbacker" after the 12-string

Rickenbacker Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. Rickenbacker is the first known maker of electric guitars, with a steel guitar in 1932, and produces a range of electric guitars and bass ...

guitar used by Mike Rutherford on the song. Rickenbackers are known for their distinct "ringing" sound.

Track listings

* CD single # "Tell Me Why" – 4:58 # "Dreaming While You Sleep" (live) – 7:55 # "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" (full version live – Wembley, 3 July 1987) – 9:33 * 7-inch single # "Tell Me Why" – 4:58 # "Invisible Touch" (live) – 5:18

Personnel

* Tony Banks – keyboards *

– vocals, drums, percussion *

Mike Rutherford Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, best known as co-founder, lead guitarist and bassist of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis. He and keyboardist Tony Banks (musici ...

– 12-string guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar

Charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tell Me Why (Genesis Song) 1991 songs 1992 singles Charity singles Genesis (band) songs Political songs Protest songs Songs critical of religion Songs written by Mike Rutherford Songs written by Tony Banks (musician) Songs written by Phil Collins Virgin Records singles