Supper's Ready This is it. Arguably the greatest song Genesis ever made (It's really either this or "The Musical Box"). Over the course of its epic 23 minute runtime, the song goes through moments that are beautiful, exciting, dramatic, meditative, triumphant, and just plain strange. Naturally, a 23 minute epic made up of many separate compositions joined together doesn't flow quite as seamlessly as some of their songs in the 10 minute range, but it never feels choppy or overly contrived. It doesn't have the benefit of a consistent upward trajectory like, say, "The Musical Box," but it overcomes this obstacle very well and ends up equaling, if not exceeding the grandiose scale of any of their shorter epics. The song is a wonderful listen all the way through, but if I had to pick a favorite moment, it would be the final climax. The combination of Steve Hackett's golden guitar lines and Peter Gabriel's soaring vocals makes for one of the most satisfying conclusions of any rock song I've ever heard.
My favorite part of Supper's Ready is the last part - Sure As Eggs Is Eggs. Especially the instrumental fade out - it's a very lovely piece of music. It's powerful and dramatic and neatly wraps up the epic by referencing the first part in sort of reprise. Brilliant songwriting.
For some reason, Time Table just jumped out at me immediately the first time I heard Foxtrot. Watcher was certainly a grand statement, but the piano intro to Time Table and the way the chords change within the song and the outro are just stunning. Then you have the kings and queens lyrics that are stereotypical of prog, but in this song, they really work since the lyrics come back to present day in the chorus. The chorus, with its strong statement of equality is still relevant. I wish the band had done this song live at least once. Their live performances usually blow my mind.
Does anyone else think the title Supper's Ready is a reference to the Last Supper? For me, there's a lot more going on in the story than just the book of Revelations. The Lover's Leap section sounds like the parable of the Garden of Eden, the lovers being Adam and Eve, the Farmer is God and the Fireman is the Devil - and let's not forget the children's verse "Rock you little snake" referencing the Serpent of Eden - making the Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man the anti-Christ.
Definitely. Not so much in the first section, but at the end "This is the supper of the Mighty One" is almost certainly a Biblical reference. An amusing contrast between the imagery of the end of civilisation, and the mundane domesticity of husband and wife sitting down at the meal table.
There is so much great stuff in Supper's Ready but I think what really makes it connect are the "I've been so far from here..." sections, at first sung melancholy then at the end, sung in great pain (which gives way to blissful release.) There is something so personal and very emotional and relatable about those two sections, which can touch the listener in regards to their own life experience. And which gives all of the bizarre symbolic fantasy sections room to play, in between. I think a lot of prog fans are romantics at heart! Supper Ready is something of a acid trip version of a love song, though the ending feels somehow universal and transcendent on a mythic level.
I have always been intrigued by these two lines: On first listen, without listening carefully, it's easy to make the mistake of hearing it as one line repeated. When it finally clicks that they are different, it's a slight shock. A farmer is very different from a fireman, especially one who "looks after the fire", as opposed to putting fires out. Presumably the fire that he looks after is the fires of Hell. This clever device, the juxtaposition of two lines of lyric that sound almost the same to a casual listener but in fact say different things, is a mark of a lyricist who has actually put a lot of thought into the lyrics they are putting down, as opposed to just finding some lines that rhyme. Steven Wilson does this sort of thing as well. I think this kind of thing is what makes Supper's Ready, and progressive rock music in general, enjoyable. It can be listened to on many levels. It's possible to just enjoy the song without concentrating on the details - but also, should you choose to concentrate, you discover things in the songs, and the best songs keep on offering up new revelations with repeated listens.
Lover's Leap The song starts without introduction and has a fairly straight structure. However, the harmonic structure is complicated. The verse changes key subtly and then the song finally cadences to E flat for the chorus at :29. The verse returns and the chorus follows at 1:21. The use of chord fragments in the guitars gives the song a real dreamy quality as well along with the lack of strong cadences. A post chorus ends the song and an interlude in the somber key of D minor follows. Nice vocal harmonies and electric piano. At 3:40 the interlude changes to A minor. A great way to open the work.
The opening of this song screams Banks. I'm seriously considering, once the Genesis albums thread has run its course, of doing something similar for Tony Banks' solo albums.
It's been purported that there are three 12-string guitars in the beginning of "Supper's Ready" (or at least within the "Lover's Leap" section) played by Rutherford, Banks and Hackett. Obviously played in different inversions (or possibly different tunings). Whether that is true or not I do not know, but it is very drone-like. This is a defining sound of Genesis, to me. I love it!
Again, I'm not sure, but for me this has "Rutherford, foremost and Banks, secondary" written all over it. In any case it's hypnotic.
This is a Supper’s Ready post of sorts, but first, some context: Fall of ‘86, I was 13 and the first two records I bought “on my own” (i.e., going to a record store with my own pocket money, without parental involvement) were “No Jacket Required” and “Invisible Touch”. “So” was probably among my next purchases. My initial adolescent musical tastes were heavily influenced by the top 40 charts, but I felt right away that there was something special about Genesis. Also, DJs and VJs of the time made it known to the masses that Peter “Sledgehammer” Gabriel used to be in the band. That is to say, I think I would have gone down the Genesis rabbit hole anyway, but my journey was kick-started by a chance taste of alternative radio that fall. The coach of my youth baseball team held an end of season party at his house and the assistant coach demanded that the radio stay tuned to 102.1fm CFNY Toronto “the spirit of radio”, because the station was counting down the “best damn music of all time” and I think there was some sort of contest for listeners who made complete lists of all the songs being played that weekend. Anyway, for someone who was listening to top 40 (on AM radio, no less) and had previously been reared on his parents’ love for old country music, 50s-style rock and roll, and, most recently, MOR, the countdown was quite an eye-opener. (Funnily enough, I don’t recall much of the music I heard that day, but this was at a time when CFNY was pretty eclectic, before it jumped on the indie/Alternative bandwagon.) Near the end of the party, there must have been a teaser for Genesis coming up, so I was compelled to keep listening after getting back home that evening. Flipping my bedroom boom box to the FM band for the first time and hoping I found the right station, I had a cassette running to record and caught Cinema Show and the first part of what I would much later learn to have been Supper’s Ready (“human bacon by some butchery tool” and “Narcissus is turned to a flower” left their mark on me). I didn’t know what to make of it! Jarring and strange, but wonderful in all senses of the word. I called my father in and replayed the tape and we both concluded that there must have been another band by the same name... or, was this Peter Gabriel? Didn’t sound like the Sledgehammer guy, though... Fast forward several months and I had made my way back to the “Genesis”, “Three Sides Live” and “Abacab” and “Duke” albums, and then found a copy of Seconds Out at an indie record store across the street from Maple Leaf Gardens (Record Peddler?). From Three Sides Live and concert reviews of the Invisible Touch show at Exhibition Stadium, I knew the live band was a five-piece, but the gatefold photos on the mysterious double LP didn’t look like anyone I knew from the band circa ‘86-‘87. Two drummers pictured and neither seems to be Phil Collins? I decided to buy the record anyway and hoped it was the same Genesis. Only after getting to Supper’s Ready on Seconds Out that the penny dropped and I realized that this was “human bacon” song I caught on late-night radio that fateful Saturday back in September. Despite loving Seconds Out to death very quickly, it is somewhat ironic that Foxtrot ended up being one of the last records I picked up on my journey through the discography. I had migrated to CDs in ‘87 and that involved repurchasing many of my favourite LPs on CD before going back to complete the Genesis library (also, if I recall correctly, not all of the older LPs may have made it on CD right away, at least on Atlantic). So upon hearing the original version of Supper’s Ready, I had a similar reaction to when I first heard Duke and Abacab: man, the live version kicks the ass of the original! (Now, in fairness, with only a handful of exceptions, Genesis has always been a beast live and usually brings something more to the table than what was put on record.) But the Genesis of ‘76-‘77 played the old songs so well and they swing in a way that the band circa ‘72 didn’t. I learned to love the Foxtrot version, but I think my desert island collection would include the Seconds Out version if I had to choose just one.
nice story, I enjoyed that a lot. It was so annoying waiting for albums to be released on cd, wasn't it? I thought some would never make it
The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man At 3:53 the intro kicks the section off and it has a folky ascending line. At 4:23 the verse starts and the chords alternate between A-G. The rise out is fairly simple but it gets the point across. The section ends on D and then goes to an interlude in E at 5:28. The interlude is a nice one around E and D suspended chords. Peter plays a melody that goes from E to D modally. Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men At 6:08 the section starts with an intro based around F major 7 to D and sounds almost like Neil Young. The song at 6:27 rises out in a cadence and then we hear what may be the most harmonically simple section that Genesis has laid down. It is my favorite section of SR due in part to Mike Rutherford's fantastic rhythm guitar playing. Only two chords D and D Suspended 4. Tony Bank's plays some fantastic organ lines. At 7:14 the rise out returns and then begins Steve's amazing guitar solo section. The solo is in D Major and his tone is killer. At 7:39 listen for Hackett's amazing "battle call" D Major arpeggio. At 7:56 Hackett plays some legato lines and his Les Paul sounds almost like a wind instrument...one of a kind tone. At 8:03 Hackett and Banks play a fantastic line in harmony with Bank's providing a pedal point underneath Steve's frantic tapping. Steve taps over the descending chords of E minor and then A major and back to D. At 8:33 the section ramps down after the battle and then gradually starts to dissipate with chiming D chords at 9:15. Ikhnaton and Itsacon is one of my favorite Genesis "songs" and IMO has one of Steve Hackett's best guitar solos. Some great sweep picking even before the neo classical guys used it to death. However as I said before it is Mike's rhythm guitar playing that really kills me on the section. We don't hear too much about his rhythm style but on this section he really plays with finesse and power both at the same time
The programme excerpts explaining the Supper’s Ready story from the Foxtrot tour Mark quotes are interesting; clearly by the same author as the liner notes from the Lamb.
I would just like to chime in and say how much I'm enjoying this thread. I only own The Lamb, Duke, Abacab, and Trick Of The Tail but never really listened to them much. This thread inspired me to listen to The Lamb and I'm digging it bigtime. Has anyone listened to the 2014(?) 180g vinyl reissues? Was thinking about ordering Selling England and Foxtrot. Again, thanks for this thread. I've got a lot of catching up to do.
Glad you're enjoying it. I couldn't tell you the best vinyl I'm sorry. I only had a few vinyl and it was years ago
Just noticed a vinyl reissue of The Lamb on Amazon that was released a few days ago (11/8). Any intel on this one?
I'd be interested in that. If only because despite constantly revisiting it and trying to find good things to say about it I always find it disappointing. I know I should like it but he makes some very odd decisions. A good guided chat through his albums could be really useful.
I'm not normally a fan of these videos where the song is illustrated word for word, but this one is quite good. Someone obviously put a lot of work into this.
