I'd Rather Be You
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| “I'd Rather Be You” | ||
|---|---|---|
"Throwing It All Away"
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| Song by Genesis | ||
| Album | Archive #2 1976-1992 | |
| Released | 1987 | |
| Recorded | 1986 | |
| Genre | Pop | |
| Length | 3.57 | |
| Label | Virgin | |
| Composer | Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford |
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| Producer | Genesis and Hugh Padgham | |
"I'd Rather Be You" is a pop song by the English band Genesis. It was first released as the B-side to "Throwing It All Away" in June 1987,[1] and later appeared permanently on the rarities compilation Archive #2 1976-1992 in November 2000.[2]
The song is an upbeat, commercial pop song with a bouncy Motown beat. The lyrics are about ambition and success, tempered with a trace of sarcasm ("Why worry when you're holding the Aces?/Don't throw it away 'cause you know I'd rather be you than me/Up there looking down, tell me what do you see?"), and somewhat similar to the 1982 EP track "Paperlate" ("There's no need to be nice on the way up/'Cause you're not coming down").
Like everything released by Genesis from 1983 to 1991, the track is accredited to all three band members: keyboardist Tony Banks, singer/drummer Phil Collins and guitarist Mike Rutherford. In reality its principle writer was Phil Collins.[citation needed]
Recorded during the Invisible Touch sessions in 1986,[3] "I'd Rather Be You" was eventually released on the last single taken from the album in Britain and Germany (in the United States the instrumental "Do the Neurotic" was featured instead[1]); "Throwing It All Away" reached #22 on the UK Singles Chart.
"I'd Rather Be You" was one of three B-sides released on singles from Invisible Touch, all of which were included on Archive #2. In 2007 they were featured on the bonus disc of the boxed set Genesis 1983-1998.[4]
