music.wikisort.org - Composition

"Take the Long Way Home" is the third US single and sixth track of English rock band Supertramp's 1979 album Breakfast in America. It was the last song written for the album, being penned during the nine-month recording cycle.[3] In 1980, the live version from Paris became a minor hit in various European countries.

"Take the Long Way Home"
Cover of the 1980 UK live single
Single by Supertramp
from the album Breakfast in America
B-side	"From Now On"
Released	October 1979 (US) 3 October 1980 (live version) [1]
Recorded	1978
Studio	The Village Recorder/Studio B, Los Angeles, California
Genre	Pop[2]
Length	5:08 4:06 (single version)
Label	A&M
Songwriter(s)	Roger Hodgson
Producer(s)	Supertramp, Peter Henderson
Supertramp singles chronology
"Goodbye Stranger" (1979) "Take the Long Way Home" (1979) "Dreamer (live)" (1980)
Official audio
"Take the Long Way Home" on YouTube

Background

According to its composer Roger Hodgson, the song deals with how the desire to go home can go both ways:

I'm talking about not wanting to go home to the wife, take the long way home to the wife because she treats you like part of the furniture, but there's a deeper level to the song, too. I really believe we all want to find our home, find that place in us where we feel at home, and to me, home is in the heart and that is really, when we are in touch with our heart and we're living our life from our heart, then we do feel like we found our home."[4]

This was the last song composed for Breakfast in America.[5]

Reception

Billboard magazine contributor David Farrell praised the "convincing melody with a crafty hook", although he felt the music contrasted with the "pessimistic lyric about man's loss of identity in an increasingly complex world."[6] Cash Box called it "a bouncy, uptempo number, laden with pop-symphonic instrumentals, highpitched vocals and harmonies and a jaunty harmonic figure"[7] Ultimate Classic Rock critic Nick DeRiso rated it as Supertramp's 8th best song.[5] Gary Graff of Billboard rated "Take the Long Way Home" as Supertramp's 7th best song, noting its "bouncy melody awash with keyboards" and the "rich sax-and-harmonica exchange between [John] Helliwell and [Rick] Davies."[8]

The single reached number 10 on the U.S. charts[9] and number 4 in the Canadian charts.

Charts

Chart (1979–80)	Peak position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[10]	4
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[11]	32
Germany (Official German Charts)[12]	53
US Billboard Hot 100[13]	10

Year-end chart (1980)	Rank
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[14]	86

Personnel

• Roger Hodgson — vocals, piano, electric guitar
• Rick Davies — harmonica, Hammond organ, synthesizers
• Dougie Thomson — bass guitar
• Bob C. Benberg — drums, tambourine
• John Helliwell — synthesizer, clarinet solo

Other versions

• The band Trixter included a version of the song on their 1994 release Undercovers.[15]
• Alternative rock band Lazlo Bane covered the song for their 2007 cover album Guilty Pleasures.[16]

References

External links

• Supertramp - Take the Long Way Home

На других языках

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[de] Take the Long Way Home

Take the Long Way Home ist ein Lied der englischen Rockband Supertramp von dem 1979 erschienenen Album Breakfast in America.

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- [en] Take the Long Way Home (Supertramp song)

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