1. It’s 23 minutes long
It fits on one side of an LP record and runs for 22.54 minutes. This is story telling at it’s best, with enough space to include a love song and an adventure into strange new worlds. Sometimes it’s nice to sit down and enjoy a seven course meal, rather than a quick burger. The atmosphere of the song is electric. The best 23 minutes you’ll ever spend.
Supper’s Ready Illustrated by Nathaniel Barlam
2. It’s a concept piece
We all love stories, and Supper’s Ready really takes advantage of an interesting narrative and concept, just like a great book or movie. It is divided into seven sections and tells the story of two lovers who travel to strange worlds, eventually returning to their world only to witness the Apocalypse. Essentially it is a story of good versus evil, with some surreal parts, and a lot of biblical and literary references.
3. The Music
This is the most addictive song ever, and will never get boring on repeated listens. In fact new elements, sounds, references are found on each new listen. The mix of instrumental virtuosity, unpredictability and catchy melodies is absolutely astonishing. What style or sound do you like? It’s Progressive Rock, so it will include everything: fast, slow, hard, soft, acoustic, electric, folk, ballad, odd time signatures, and high-energy instrumentals. This song has it all! The song encapsulates everything great about Genesis during this era. Become lost in this labyrinthine music.
4. It was written by Genesis
Five of the best song-writers/musicians ever, composed and performed the best music ever written. They are good, collectively and individually, just look at their output.
5. Willow Farm
Part 4 of the song cuts short and is taken over by one of Gabriel’s most iconic moments – “A Flower?”. You didn’t see that coming! This is the beginning of “Willow Farm”, in which live, we see Gabriel appear in a “flower mask”. It’s very much a Python-esque scene dealing with the absurd English psyche. This medium-tempo funny rock part full of plays on words was seen as a light relief in the middle of this epic number.
6. It’s a religious experience when played live
“Six six six is no longer alone!” When Gabriel shrieks this live during the Apocalypse section, you really feel the devil has entered the room. Genesis is a live act. This song goes into another dimension live.
7. Peter Gabriel’s Costumes
As you can see from this website, we absolutely love the costumes 🙂 Why not dress up to add to the music? Theatre and movies do it! See our Lego costumes here
8. Apocalypse in 9/8
The piece moves on to “Apocalypse in 9/8,” a frightening and powerful section that is gradually built up on an unusual time signature. The musical climax of the suite features a complex organ solo played against a 9/8 rhythm section.
9. Apocalypse in 9/8
I know this part has been mentioned in number 8, but it deserves to be mentioned twice. In 9 and 8!
10.The Ending
This along with the Apocalypse section are so emotionally up-lifting, a real ‘hairs on the back of your neck standing up’ moment. During live performances a magnesium flash would reveal the previously black-clothed Magog masked Gabriel now all dressed in white and holding a neon light in front of him for the majestic finale. The piece ended with a fadeout both on record and on stage, usually leaving the audience breathless. What a way to close a song and an album.
Steve Hackett: ‘Supper’s Ready’
Listen to the Genesis revisited version of Supper’s Ready from 2012. Steve Hackett along with a fantastic group of singers and musicians reworked this classic. The personnel includes: Steve Hackett, Mikael Akerfeldt, Conrad Keely, Simon Collins, Lee Pomeroy Roger King, Dave Kerzner, Francis Dunnery, and Jeremy Stacey.
25 comments
You forgot the best reason!
The fast organ solo in Apocalypse in 9/8 is just a repetition of the same notes as chords in the chord progression of the whole song leading up to this point. It sounds bizarre yet familiar when hearing it done fast and on 9/8 time.
What? Really? How did you find out that? It is really interesting.
That YouTube video has been removed… I HOPE you know another one of that same video
Here’s one, better download it quick — https://youtu.be/_FBcz3tBH74?t=34m32s
My all all all time favorite, not only from Genesis but allover!!! How often did I listen to it, for more then 40 years. Love it, from beginning till the end!!! And was there when they played it live a few times. My life would ot have been the same without this song!!!
I 100% agree. I have heard the song, played much of it literally 100’s of times and to this day still get chills an several parts of the song. It is beyond a doubt the best song ever written.
My all time favorite song… Not just Genesis, but all time… Now in the age of internet jukeboxes, I love playing this while out at a bar, can’t tell you how many time’s, from surrounding tables, I have heard “when is this song going to end???” That is usually about the time we hear those amazing two words…” A Flower”… 🙂 Hilarious every time…
First heard it when I was 14, in the late 70’s, and loved it instantly.
Just played it tonight for the millionth time and it sounded even better than that.
Best song ever written undoubtedly.
It makes ‘Stairway to Heaven’ sound like shit, mere child’s play.
Yeah – this is an epic…..
It’s truly a sustainable flash in the brain. Just ingenious… and a lifetime companion.
We without a dought the Greatestnest,bbbbbaddasssinest,mmost incrediblestnest song..,…,..
….eeeevvvvvvvvverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,¡!!!!
One of the best songs ever. And the best longer than 10 bzw 20 minutes
But you must mention the singer on the Todmobile version, which I agree is by far the best version of this song ever: Eythor Ingi Gunnlaugsson. He absolutely nailed every note and brought it to life. Utterly brilliant.
By the way I’m pretty sure the rock band line up in the Todmobile version isn’t as you say in the piece! I really can’t see the members of Hackett’s touring band at the time – King and Pomeroy, and I’m not sure about the others either.
My favorite song of all time. Live or studio a classic. Whenever I need to escape into a another realm or feel a great story this is my go to. Since the 70’s the greatest Prog story ever told.
I just can’t get over these Lego Genesis figures. So glad to see Genesis immortalized somehow!
haha great review! Not sure if it’s the greatest song ever, but it is a masterpiece without a doubt. The Seconds Out performance IMO is the best, really out of this world.
Totally agree. The Seconds Out version is superb. I was fortunate to see them perform it in the 70s in Chicago, at about the same period that Seconds Out was recorded in Paris. By then, Phil Collins was frontman, and did a fantastic job with the lyrics.
Watch the Steve Hackett version on Youtube. Absolutely mind-blowing. Nothing will ever beat it. Just perfection!
The lyrics of this song are litterary bad done, the story and message are ridiculous, laughing matter…. but the music are superb, awsome…. don´t pay attention to the “spiritual” and “religious” sense of the lyrics (made by Gabriel) and enjoy the musisc (made by Banks, Hackett and Rutheford)….
Yes this is inevitably the best piece of the XXth century music. And of course still not surpassed
The lyrics are superb and the message is as deep and moving as has been addressed in any rock/prog song.
I totally agree, the lyrics are amazing; the literature and message fantastic, but just as haters going to hate, dumb people are going to fail to grasp the spiritual and religious side of this amazing song. In some ways I’m glad that there’s so many dumb people out in the world who will never have the intellectual capacity to see anything other than “ridiculous lyrics” to be dismissed. It gives me faith in humanity that there’s such a divide in the world, a divide between those with imagination and those who have the peasant-mentality required for things like repetitive manual labour. Thank you for your stupidity and crassness, you give me hope for the future.