Supper's Ready
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| “Supper's Ready” | |||||
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| Song by Genesis | |||||
| Album | Foxtrot | ||||
| Released | 6 October 1972 | ||||
| Recorded | August 1972 | ||||
| Genre | Progressive rock | ||||
| Length | 22:54 | ||||
| Label | Charisma/Virgin (UK) Atlantic (U.S.) |
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| Writer | Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford | ||||
| Producer | David Hitchcock of Gruggy Woof | ||||
| Foxtrot track listing | |||||
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Supper's Ready (sample ) is a song by the band Genesis. A recorded version appeared on their 1972 album Foxtrot, and the band performed the song regularly on stage for several years following this. Live versions appear on the albums Seconds Out (recorded in 1977) and the compilation Genesis Archive 1967-75.
Nearly 23 minutes in length, the song could be described as a medley of seven separate shorter songs, although some musical and lyrical themes do re-appear throughout. True to some main tenets of progressive rock, the song undergoes multiple changes in time signature, key signature, Leitmotif, instrumentation, and mood. Even as such, the song's musical structure remains quite avant-garde.[1] The song's writing is credited jointly to the whole band (Banks/Collins/Gabriel/Hackett/Rutherford). In various interviews, Banks mentioned that he composed several of the musical progressions whilst still a university student; Gabriel authored most or all of the lyrical content; Collins apparently contributed much to the arrangements and segués from one section to another. In a radio interview on the programme Rockline, Gabriel summed up Supper's Ready as "a personal journey which ends up walking through scenes from Revelations in the Bible....I'll leave it at that." (92.3FM KROCK, NYC, 6/16/86)
The song has been highly regarded by fans for its epic nature and cathartic climax, with Gabriel in particular delivering an emotionally charged vocal performance at the close of the song. Referring in part to the song's lyrical depiction of a struggle between good and evil, Gabriel has been quoted as saying he felt he was "literally singing for his life" in the recording studio. In contrast, Hackett is said to have responded to a fan who enthused "Steve, I actually saw God at the end!" with the rather more down-to-earth "Well, I was just trying to get the notes right".
The various sections of the song are detailed below:
[edit] "Lover's Leap"
This section harks backs to the band's folky roots, featuring a gentle arpeggiated guitar backing (with Hackett, Banks and Rutherford all playing 12-string guitars), soft electric piano (Hohner pianet), bass pedals, cello and flute, and a section with folky three part vocal harmonies (which omit the third note of the chord). The only percussion used is triangle, cymbals & bells.
Lyrically it mingles imagery of a man returning home after a long time to be greeted by his lover, and mention of supernatural imagery ("six saintly shrouded men"), which Gabriel claims relate to a genuine supernatural experience which occurred with himself, his wife Jill and producer John Anthony. According to Gabriel, during a late-night conversation, his wife began speaking with a completely different voice. Gabriel held up a makeshift cross out of a candlestick and another household item, and Jill reacted violently. Jill was eventually calmed down and taken to bed, but neither Peter nor John Anthony slept that night. On another occasion, also late at night, Gabriel looked out of the window of his wife's parents' house to see what he perceived to be an entirely different lawn, across which seven shrouded men were walking. Gabriel recounted that these experiences led him to contemplate notions of good, evil, and the supernatural, and eventually inspired the lyrics to "Supper's Ready."
[edit] "The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man"
This section sees Banks switch to Hammond organ, Hackett playing electric guitar and Collins entering on drums. When performing the song live, Gabriel would don a "crown of thorns" costume at this point. The piece segués into the next with a Lover's Leap reprise.
[edit] "Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men"
This section is much more dynamic than the previous two, with lively drums, a strong elegiac lead electric guitar solo from Hackett, and a lot of interplay between this guitar and the organ (including a section with fast organ and guitar arpeggios, Hackett employing the "tapping" style of playing). The lyrics refer to a battle of some sort, presumably involving Ikhnaton.
[edit] "How Dare I Be So Beautiful?"
This is a slow and gentle section, the only instrumentation being treated acoustic piano chords, each chord being faded-in on the recording, thus losing the piano's characteristic attack and sounding more like an organ (it was done by organ live). The title is a catchphrase used by the band's early music-business contact, Jonathan King. The lyrics deal with the aftermath of the preceding battle, and referring to the Greek myth of Narcissus, who turned into a flower.
[edit] "Willow Farm"
Live in concert, this section provided what is perhaps one of Gabriel's most iconic moments - the lyrics commence with the question "A Flower?", which would see Gabriel appear in his "flower mask" (by Gabriel's own admission, partly inspired by the BBC children's programme The Flower Pot Men.) Musically, this section is somewhat bizarre, featuring amongst other things: vaudeville-style sections, the Mellotron Mark II's "combined brass" tape set, sped-up vocals, and musique concrete noises of trains and explosions. Lyrically, it has a Python-esque quality, dealing with elements of the absurd in the English psyche, "there's Winston Churchill, dressed in drag, he used to be a British flag, plastic bag, what a drag!" and numerous elements of word play, boarding schools, agricultural depravity and social conformity. Gabriel said that it was written to contrast the darkness of the rest of the song.[citation needed]
At this point there is a reflective interlude, not definitely belonging to either "Willow Farm" or the following "Apocalypse In 9/8", with bass pedal, electric guitar, organ and mellotron drones, followed by another melody on acoustic guitar, flute and oboe.
[edit] "Apocalypse in 9/8 (Co-Starring the Delicious Talents of Gabble Ratchet)"
At this point, the drums enter, with the rhythm section of Collins, Hackett and Rutherford striking out a pattern using the unusual metre of 9 beats to the bar (expressed as 4+3+2).[2] Over this, Gabriel sings lyrics filled with apocalyptic imagery akin to the Book of Revelation, alternating with a complex organ solo from Banks (played in 4/4 against the 9/8 rhythm section), then switching to a climactic vocal from Gabriel, and the mellotron "three violins" tape set. In live performances, during the organ solo, Gabriel would don a bizarre "Magog" outfit of geometrical head-dress (which can be seen on the cover of the band's Genesis Live album). Gabble Ratchet is a reference to the Hounds of Hell;[3] they are usually portrayed as geese, which explains the sound effect heard during this section. They are also known as Gabriel's Hounds, a punning reference to Peter Gabriel himself. Indeed, the programme for the 1972/3 tour refers to this section as "co-starring the delicious talents of wild geese"[4]
[edit] "As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet)"
"As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs" is a folklore variation of the logical tautology that "X = X"[5] and in this context is a reference to certainty and faith--being absolutely convinced of the ultimate victory of good over evil and that God and Heaven do indeed exist. "Apocalypse" segués into this part via a slower section which reprises the lyrics from "Lover's Leap" in combination with the chord progression from "The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man", backed by a pressed snare drum roll and tubular bells. As this reaches a peak, during live shows, Gabriel would let off a flash charge, discarding his Magog costume to reveal himself in shining white apparel which glowed when exposed to black light. During one gig, he infamously attempted flying on a kirby wire, and was nearly strangled. From this point to the end, drums, deep bass pedals and mellotron brass are present, Gabriel singing Blakean lyrics which reference The New Jerusalem (The Crystal City of God that is established after the death of the AntiChrist) and the Second Coming of Christ with reference to the biblical Revelation 19:17-
"I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the sky, Come! Be gathered together to the great supper of God"
(This passage of Scripture refers to the bodies of the wicked dead left-over after the forces of the AntiChrist are supernaturally destroyed - the birds are called to feast on the flesh of the wicked. Hence, the song's bizarre title: Supper's Ready).
This portion also references a homecoming, bringing the song to full circle.
After completing the lyrics in this section, Gabriel would then pick up and raise an active blacklight tube, holding it near himself, upraised with both hands, as though it were a sword. Gabriel would be the only one lit onstage at this point and would actually appear to be glowing from the combination of blacklight, his reflective white costume and fluorescent makeup. Gabriel considered this effect to be a theatrical way of symbolizing the victory of good/light over evil/darkness. (This "glowing" also reflects a spiritual transformation, changing from a fleshly body to a spiritual one as is depicted in the Biblical Rapture, also referenced in the preceding lyrics, "Can't you feel our souls ignite..").
Then, the piece fades out on overdubbing cascading lead electric guitar parts from Hackett. On the original recording this section is in the key of A, but because of Gabriel's inability to properly re-create the same vocal performance onstage from either hoarseness or tiredness, the band regularly had to change the key to G.
[edit] Live Introduction
One essential part of the Genesis concerts during the Gabriel-led era was the short stories that Gabriel told between the songs; "Supper's Ready" also had its own story. This is the story told at the Rainbow Theatre on 20 October 1973 (as released on the Archives 1969-1974 album):
"Old Henry went past the pet shop, which was never open, into the park, which was never closed, and the park was full of a very smooth, clean, green grass. So Henry took off all his clothes and began rubbing his flesh into the wet, clean, green grass. He accompanied himself with a little tune - it went like this...
Beneath the ground the dirty brown writhing things called worms interpreted the pitter-patter from above as rainfall. Rainfall in worm world means two things: mating and bath time. Both of these experiences were thoroughly enjoyable to the worm colony. Within seconds, the entire surface of the park was a mass of dirty, brown, soggy, writhing forms. He was still pleased, old Michael, and he began whistling a tune this time to accompany himself...
"Jerusalem" boogie to us perhaps, but to the birds it meant that supper was ready"
During the 1982 Genesis reunion, billed as Six of the Best, Gabriel told the story he wrote for the Genesis Live album, and slightly altered it to segue into Supper's Ready.
During the Collins era, Phil Collins used a different, raunchier, and somewhat more misleading introduction, as evidenced on the Before Riches bootleg of the Wind and Wuthering tour:
"Now this particular story is all about Romeo and Juliet. Ah yes... friends in the audience. Well, Romeo, Romeo, tonight, it being Friday, was feeling very, very horny. And so he decided to telephone his young lady, Juliet, who was sixteen years old and just as horny, to ask her out for a drive with him in his car. Well, of course, Juliet had no alternative but to accept the invitation, and within the hour, they were in the back of his car, at it.
Well, Romeo was a bit of a slow starter and the first half an hour went past without saying a word, but very slowly and very seductively he removed some of her clothing. And then he ate her pants. Anyway, when she was completely naked, Romeo very excitedly undone, undid his shirt, and took his trousers off. He had to do this himself because Juliet was tied to the steering wheel. And anyway... I didn't know so many people tied their girlfriends to steering wheels. Anyway, Romeo was about to approach Juliet like that, or was it like that? No, it was definitely like that. But luckily for Juliet, from her crouched position by the steering wheel, she noticed the clock on the dashboard.
'Romeo! Romeo! Untie me, I must go home.' Now wait for it, wait for it. Romeo was very excited, you see, because he hadn't had it for weeks. And he said, 'Juliet, you can't leave me like this.' And she said, 'I must, I must, I'm very hungry, and, and, and, and, and... Supper's Ready!!"
The references to Romeo and Juliet are intentionally meant to be misleading, as they are the principal characters of the song The Cinema Show.
On the 1982 tour, Phil would announce it, as noted on a VOIO from Philadelphia in August of 1982, "In sharp contrast to the last piece (they played Abacab before it), we're going to play you a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very old song. Now this song, is almost TEN YEARS OLD. For this, we thought we would bring out the old 12-string guitars. This song includes lots and lots of very very LOUD BITS. And lots of very very QUIET BITS! Yes Lots of LOUD BITS and Lots of QUIET BITS! LOUD BITS! QUIET BITS! LOUD BITS! QUIET BITS! Here we go. This, for all of you historians is called "Supper's Ready".
[edit] Personnel
- Peter Gabriel – vocals, flute, bass drum, tambourine and oboe
- Steve Hackett – electric guitar, 6 and 12 string acoustic guitars and guitar effects
- Mike Rutherford – bass, 12 string acoustic guitar, bass pedals, cello, backing vocals
- Tony Banks – piano, Hohner pianet, Hammond organ, mellotron, treated piano, 12 string acoustic guitar, backing vocals
- Phil Collins – drums, backing vocals, triangle, tubular bells, percussion
- "Guy and Paul": Child's Voices (Possibly)
[edit] References
- ^ Smith, Bradley (1997). Billboard Guide to Progressive Music, First printing, Billboard Books, p. 81. ISBN 0-8230-7665-2.
- ^ Seconds Out Songbook 1978 Wise Publications
- ^ Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, 1898 [1]
- ^ Genesis Programmes - Gabriel Years
- ^ Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable
Gabble Ratchet is also the name of a Genesis Tribute Band in California. Gabble Ratchet - Genesis Tribute Band
