It's been a little while since I've done an album review, so today I'll be talking about Supertramp's Breakfast in America. I've done a post in the past about concerts I've seen, including Roger Hodgson, so if you're interested you can check that out too.
Musically, this isn't my favourite song on the album- it has a certain feeling of uneasiness and urgency about it, in part because of the tempo and key. That said, it's not inappropriate for the subject of the song, and honestly, the lyrics do a good job of describing the experience of moving to Hollywood in the hopes of making it big. They start off in a very pessimistic tone, talking about how heartbreaking and disappointing it is moving there, with imagery of doors being slammed in faces and phone calls being ignored. By the end of the song, though, the tone changes, and essentially says "don't give up, even if it seems hard, because you can make it if you try".
The first of many hits on the album. This song describes the experience of growing up in Western society, and having all the wonder and excitement stripped from the world to be replaced with logic and cynicism. The chorus does a brilliant job of showing a glimpse into the mind of a person torn between their innocence and their intellect, unsure of who they really are due to the pressures placed on them to act mature. Honestly it's pretty far over my head, and even the last two lines I wrote seem a bit abstract to me, but on some level I can definitely relate to this song. It's quite good musically as well, but that really should go without saying for this album.
Another hit. This is one of my favourites on the album- it has a fairly optimistic feel to it, both musically and lyrically. There are a lot of references made to freedom ("Like a ship without an anchor, like a slave without a chain"), and really feels to me like somebody leaving their old life behind to look for a better one. I've seen some pretty interesting interpretations of this online- one person even said this song predicted the 9/11 attack (not a theory I believe, but they found a surprising amount of evidence for it in the lyrics). The actual meaning is definitely beyond my poetry comprehension skills, but if even just for the music, it's a great song.
An unfortunately short, but incredibly catchy song, and another hit. This is probably one of the first, if not the first, songs I heard by Supertramp. As I understand it, it's about a young English boy (possibly Roger himself) dreaming of visiting America ("Take a jumbo across the water / Like to see America"). It's interesting in how much the tone changes from line to line- it alternates between optimism about his future life in America and the harsh truth that it's not a particularly realistic dream.
From what I can tell, this is a fairly generic love song, lyrically. That's not necessarily a bad thing, of course- not everyone is able to understand really poetic songs filled with metaphor and allusion (I'm certainly not). It's really good musically, of course- it's not just a piano ballad, or a generic rock lineup; it's got some variety. Funnily enough, this song not only shares a title with the Beatles track on Abbey Road, but it shares most of my feelings towards it- it's quite good, but doesn't particularly stand out to me.
Another hit, and the first song played at the Roger Hodgson concert I saw. This is another of my favourites on the album, especially the live version- there's so much emotion in the song. As far as I can tell, it's about someone living a fairly dull life at home, with their wife considering them "part of the furniture", and being "the joke of the neighbourhood". There's a good message in this song, though- don't focus too much on trying to make a big deal of yourself, and dwelling on missed opportunities, but instead, focus on enjoying life. All that poetic stuff aside, the song is very catchy, and if it comes on the radio, a great excuse to spend a little extra time driving around listening to music.
Roger Hodgson described this as being basically a prayer in the form of a song. There aren't many songs in this format (piano and vocals with little accompaniment) that I really like, but this one is definitely an exception. Essentially, he's asking for a little bit of peace, and somewhere he can go to get away from all the troubles in the world. Honestly, it seems to me like a very deep, personal song, and not one I can do a satisfactory analysis of, but it's definitely one worth listening to.
I'm gonna be completely honest- I don't fully understand what this song is about. My best guess would be that it's about being overwhelmed with stress, but trying to fight your way through it. It's still a really good song though (though truth be told, I didn't even know half the lyrics until I looked them up just now- the chorus isn't the easiest to understand). There's one particular line in this song I've always liked- "Everyone's a nervous wreck". I definitely feel there's some truth to this, though I don't know exactly how much.
I've heard this described as being Rick Davies' point of view about the troubles going on in the group, and how he feels like everything he says about it is ignored. On the one hand, he's sad that it's come to this, but on the other, there's a certain happiness that things will be changing soon, and they can get out of this situation ("Should feel sad, but I really believe that I'm glad"). Lyrics aside, it's a nice relaxing tune- a little melancholy, but not overly dark.
Like the previous song, I've heard that this is about the conflict within the band, but from Roger Hodgson's point of view (but again, I'm not certain of this). If I were to guess, though, I'd say this song is about the youth in the modern world- polluting the world, living an unhealthy life, and enjoying luxuries like wine, Coca-Cola and television. If anything, this message is even more relevant now than when it was written. Either way, it's a pretty catchy song- a little heavy, and with a bit of the feeling of urgency I mentioned in the first song, but not so much that it isn't enjoyable.
Anyways, that's gonna be it for today- hopefully you enjoyed this post!
