A flower?

Genesis - 'Supper's Ready (Foxtrot - 1972)

Welcome back; due to a work trip to Chicago last week, we had to pause briefly - as a result, our focus on epics will extend into November, longer than intended.

In the world of the DJ, playing an extended track to take a brief break, often to use the toilet, is an open secret. Like other professionals who perform for extended periods, DJs sometimes need to step away from their equipment, and the music is expected to keep playing. Playing a long track—perhaps one that runs for more than seven or eight minutes—gives the DJ enough time to leave the DJ booth, attend to personal matters, and return without disrupting the event flow. One can only imagine what DJs who played ‘Supper’s Ready’ by Genesis were taking care of; it was probably hard work.

‘Supper's Ready’, from their 1972 album Foxtrot, is so long that throwing a term at it like epic seems redundant. This a song so long that many episodes of The Simpsons, Frasier and Friends come in at shorter than this song. It was written primarily by Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks, with contributions from the other band members; the song is divided into 7 (SEVEN) distinct sections, each contributing to the pieces’ overall narrative and musical landscape.

The song’s first section, ‘Lover's Leap’¹, sets the scene with a domestic snapshot in which two lovers are lost in each other's eyes, and that immediately spirals into the mystical. From there, the song weaves through different musical and lyrical themes that explore everything from Biblical revelations to flower power, incorporating a blend of musical styles that range from pastoral folk to driving rock. Notable sections like ‘Apocalypse in 9/8’ offer intricate instrumental arrangements juxtaposed against haunting lyrics inspired by visions of the end times.

The lyrical content of ‘Supper's Ready’ is enigmatic, drawing on various references from Christian eschatology to Greek mythology. Gabriel's theatrical delivery of the lyrics adds to the song's dramatic intensity, and he would often accompany live performances with elaborate costumes and storytelling, making it a highlight of their live shows.

This is why we had punk, I guess

It tells of a fantastical journey; two lovers traverse various surreal landscapes, encountering characters such as The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man, who leads a deceptive religious sect and a band of underground warriors. They witness a battle, experience multiple reality shifts, and even become seeds waiting for Spring. Their adventure culminates in a glimpse of the Apocalypse of St John, leading them to question the very fabric of their existence. The narrative explores deception, transformation, and the quest for eternal life. Popular music had gone on quite a journey from ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ in a decade.

Musically, ‘Supper's Ready’’ showcases the band's collective talents. Steve Hackett's expressive guitar playing complements the intricate keyboard work by Banks. Mike Rutherford's multi-instrumental abilities shine through, particularly on the bass and twelve-string guitar. Before stepping into the role of the band’s frontman and eventually a solo artist, Phil Collins provides drumming that navigates and weaves a path through the song's complex time signatures and dynamic shifts.

Keyboardist Banks explained in a 2018 interview with Songfacts;

It still really works for me. It’s one of those things when we were playing along, it seemed to have a direction. The early part, the acoustic part, was a piece that I’d written on the guitar and I thought it had great atmosphere and it could go somewhere else. We’d already done the song ‘The Musical Box’ on the previous album, and the idea was perhaps this to be the follow-up of ‘The Musical Box’. But, we were going along, and it was doing some nice stuff, and then we had this other song, it was a song of Peter’s called ‘Willow Farm’ that was a separate song. We were doing this pretty little bit in the middle of ‘Supper’s Ready’, and I thought, wouldn’t it be fantastic if we stopped the song suddenly and just go into this “Willow Farm“, really ugly little downward chord sequence that happens at the front of it. I thought it would just be such a great contrast.
Once we’d done that, it took on a whole other level. The drums were in there playing heavily and it became such a big thing. And, I think particularly, the climax which occurs with the ‘Apocalypse in 9/8,’ which is a sort of extended keyboard solo that ends in massive chords with fantastic vocal performance from Peter, it still really works. It’s 25 minutes, and I think if you’ve got the patience – unfortunately, not many people have the patience anymore – but if you’ve got the patience I think it’s still rewarding now.

What’s interesting about the song and how it sits on the album is that the rest of the album starts with shorter, more straightforward tracks and gradually builds in complexity, culminating in this extravagant piece. This arrangement creates a sense of narrative and thematic crescendo, as though the preceding songs were warm-ups or preparatory chapters leading to this grand statement. In a way, placing ‘Supper's Ready’ at the album’s end serves a function similar to that of the closing track in a live set in the way that Field Music mentioned last month.

The song climaxes with the final section, ‘As Sure as Eggs is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet)’, culminating in an ecstatic, almost spiritual resolution. The title ‘Supper's Ready’ suggests both the mundane and the cosmic, drawing from the Biblical story of the Last Supper and implying that something grand and final is about to happen, whether it's merely dinner or the Apocalypse.

The Run Out Grooves Infinite Loops

The only other featured song that has topped 23 minutes.

1. In 1972 and 1973, Gabriel provided extra explanations for each section of the song, which were included in programmes sold to concert attendees.