Phil Collins has revealed that one of the biggest songs of his career almost wrote itself. During a BBC Radio 2 interview, Collins said his classic hit "In the Air Tonight" was about 80% improvised. Rather than planning lyrics in advance, he says he usually sits down at the piano, starts playing, and lets the melody and words develop naturally. Collins recalled creating the song alone in his bedroom with a keyboard and drum machine. After finding the right chords, he recorded a simple backing track and sang whatever came to mind. Remarkably, the first improvised version ended up being almost identical to what appeared on the finished album. He said that's how he's written many of his songs, relying more on instinct than careful planning. He joked that maybe "an extra whiskey at lunchtime" helped the inspiration.