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Supper's Ready 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.
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, and on stage the band always performed the complete piece in its entirety. 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 much (although certainly not all) of the lyrical content; Collins apparently contributed much to the arrangements and segués from one section to another.
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 - however in contrast Hackett is said to have responded to a fan who enthused "Steve, I saw Jesus 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:
"Lover's Leap"
This section harks backs to the band's folky roots, featuring a gentle arpeggiated guitar backing (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). There are no drums. 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.
"The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man"
This section sees Banks switch to Hammond organ, and Collins entering on drums. When performing the song live, Gabriel would don a "crown of thorns" costume at this point.
"Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men"
This section is much more dynamic than the previous two, with lively drums, a strong elegaic lead electric guitar solo from Hackett, and an 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.
"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. The title is a catchphrase used by the band's early music-business contact, Jonathan King. The lyrics deal with the aftermath of the proceeding battle, and referring to the Greek myth of Narcissus, who turned into a flower.
"Willow Farm" (an unrelated interlude)
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" (perhaps a nod to character in the BBC children's programme The Flowerpot Men. Musically, this section is somewhat bizarre, feature amongst other things: vaudeville-style sections, the Mellotron Mark II's "combined brass" tape set, vocals treated with helium, and musique concrete noises of trains and explosions. Lyrically, it has a pythonesque quality, dealing with elements of the absurd in the English psyche, mentioning Winston Churchill, dressing in drag, and numerous elements of word play, boarding schools and agricultural depravity.
"Apocalypse in 9/8 (Co-Starring the Delicious Talents of Gabble Ratchet)"
The section begins with bass pedal, electric guitar, organ and melllotron drones, then begins to reprise a melody from the start of "Ikhnaton and Itsacon…" on acoustic guitar, flute and oboe. At this point, the drums enter, with the rhythm section of Collins, Hackett and Rutherford striking out a pattern using the highly unusual metre of 9 beats to the bar. 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 metre 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).
"As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet)"
"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 apparrell. He would then perform a maneuver with a fluorescent blacklight tube as though it were a sword, or perhaps some symbol of holiness. During one gig, he infamously attempted flying on a kirby wire, and nearly was strangled. From this point to the end, drums, deep bass pedals and mellotron brass is present, Gabriel singing Blakean lyrics which reference Jerusalem and the Second Coming of Christ, fading out on overdubbing cascading lead electric guitar parts from Hackett. On the original recording this section is in the key of A, but due to Gabriel's inability to properly recreate the same vocal performance onstage due to either hoarseness or tiredness, the band regularly had to change the key to G.
External links
"Supper's Ready"