Talk:Breakfast in America

Untitled

The Peter Henderson link doesn't go to the producer of this album, I don't believe.--12.28.101.34 15:46, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

#16

the single breakfast in america has a peek at #16 in it's own page but #62 in this album page... i removed #62 and put #16. ok??

--Mysterious Spy 15:19, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

Concept album

several of the tracks such as Gone Hollywood, Breakfast in America (song), and Child of Vision have critical lyrics about america, and most of the other songs have themes of leaving or unfulfillment. I think these would classify this album as a concept album. Isn't that what you'd expect from a progressive rock band?--72.71.251.182 (talk) 23:08, 28 April 2009 (UTC)

I would definitely agree that Breakfast in America is a concept album. It tells the story of a man who has be longing to go to America, so it should be defined as a concept album. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.98.29.113 (talk) 15:10, 1 September 2011 (UTC)

It is a concept album and obviously presents a cohesive vision, even if the band members and songwriters deny that such a vision was intentional. In the same way that you don't rely on Herman Melville to interpret Moby Dick, you shouldn't rely on band members to articulate what an album is "about," because they're very likely to be coy and just say, "Oh, no, it was purely coincidental." Surely someone can add a bit of criticism to contradict what Hodgson and others say. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.69.204.131 (talk) 17:50, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

No, there's no "cohesive vision". The only song which fits into "the story of a man who has be longing to go to America" is the title track, so saying Breakfast in America is a concept album about someone wanting to go to America is like saying that Abbey Road is a concept album about a young man killing people with a silver hammer. It's particularly illogical when you consider that all the songs were already written by the time they settled on a title and theme for the album.--NukeofEarl (talk) 14:55, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

Well, I don't agree that it tells the story of one man or anything like that, but it's a concept album in terms of presenting a certain critique of America and its values at the time. Not every song is about that specifically, but the idea holds up overall and all the songs contribute in one way or another. Maybe Supertramp didn't consciously intend for it to be a concept album, and maybe that's enough to disqualify it, but still think it's a good idea to include some dissenting views if sourced. Just going with the band's official word is the job of a PR firm. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.69.204.131 (talk) 18:46, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

Again, it's not just going by the band's word; only three of the songs have to do with America, and most (e.g. "The Logical Song", "Lord Is it Mine", "Casual Conversations") can't be linked to an American theme by any stretch of the imagination. But even if it were just the band's word, it wouldn't make a difference. Fan opinion is not considered a more reliable authority on a person's intentions than the person themselves.--NukeofEarl (talk) 14:46, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

Indeed. And the application of the idiom "Just going with the band's official word is the job of a PR firm" to the subject of the band's intentions for an album reflects a frighteningly poor grasp of reality.--Martin IIIa (talk) 11:16, 14 October 2014 (UTC)

Also, I'll do you one better on the American theme: None of the songs on the album are about the USA. "Gone Hollywood", "Breakfast in America", and "Child of Vision" all make passing reference to places or things in the USA, but none of them present the USA as their theme. This is quite clear not only from the lyrics themselves, but from Davies and Hodgson's comments on the meanings of those songs in interviews.--Martin IIIa (talk) 18:28, 14 October 2014 (UTC)

There's no need to question my grasp on reality, Martin. I had provided a link to a professional review that called into question the songwriters' sincerity on the point of the album being intended as satire, but it was deleted. But if all we're interested in is the band's intentions, that's fine. I'll waste no more time on this.65.69.204.131 (talk) 16:02, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Well, you didn't mention any link in your post, so I naturally assumed that you were suggesting it was your personal opinion which we should bow to. If I misunderstood you, then I apologize.

I certainly wouldn't say that all we're interested in is the band's intentions. However, if the link you're referring to is the one NukeofEarl recently reverted, that isn't to a "professional review"; it's to a magazine article which draws on an interview with the band. It's not a critical analysis, and the bit you cited in particular is an offhand and probably tongue-in-cheek remark, of the sort that music magazines of the time are loaded with. Moreover, the comment is clearly addressing Heliwell's remarks about the individual songs, not the assertions of the band as a whole that Breakfast in America is not a concept album. I've read through the linked article before (and, as you can see, have cited it a few times in this article), and I never even gave that one-liner a second thought. It frankly seems like you're trying to read your own wish that Breakfast in America were a concept album into the article. Incidentally, I've moved your post into chronological order with the rest of this thread, as I think that makes it less confusing to read.--[[User:Martin IIIa with 65.69.204.131's addition is that it was phrased to indicate that Wikipedia supports his hypothesis. Per WP:NPOV, Wikipedia articles can report unsubstantiated claims made by notable sources, but cannot favor one over another.--NukeofEarl (talk) 13:13, 20 October 2014 (UTC)

By the numbers?

Did "Lord is it Mine" really not chart? It seemed to get quite a bit of airplay in Canada... TREKphiler ^{any time you're ready, Uhura} 09:59, 26 March 2010 (UTC)

Belated response, but so far as I can tell "Lord Is it Mine" was never released as a single. Without a single release, a song can't chart regardless of how much airplay it gets.--NukeofEarl (talk) 15:02, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

Merger proposal

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section. A summary of the conclusions reached follows.

The result of this discussion was to Merge. Martin IIIa (talk) 13:48, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

---

I propose that Gone Hollywood and Child of Vision be merged into Breakfast in America. Both articles have little content, no references whatsoever, and most importantly, fail to meet WP: NSONGS since they have no notability outside of the album itself. The best way to save the content on both articles is to merge them into Breakfast in America, where more editors will be maintaining and improving the content.--Martin IIIa (talk) 16:42, 19 November 2011 (UTC)

Both quotes must be sourced (I think it's WP:BLP that stipulates this), but are copyright infringements regardless at such length (per Wikipedia:QUOTE#Copyrighted material and fair use). What's left is "X is the Yth track of Supertramp's 1979 album Breakfast in America. Written by Z, [insert my interpretation of what the song means]." As such I Support this merger. - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 16:59, 19 November 2011 (UTC)

Ah, I was concerned about the lack of sources for those quotes, but didn't realize that sort of thing was covered under WP:BLP rules. Thanks for taking care of that.

Anyway, support for the merge is unanimous thus far, and it doesn't look like we're going to get any further discussion, so I'll go ahead and perform the merge.--Martin IIIa (talk) 13:44, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Revisions

I altered the 'lead vocals' description for the studio rendition of "Goodbye Stranger" to "Davies and Hodgson", in line with the description given in that song's article, which says each of them sings one of the "two voices". However, the Rick Davies article says that he sometimes sang falsetto, so perhaps there was no involvement by Hodgson in the lead vocals of that song. Harfarhs (talk) 20:03, 20 December 2017 (UTC)

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Tracks

I have an original UK vinyl version of the record. On the inner sleeve marked AMLK 63708 and printed in England it states writing credits for each song as

Gone Hollywood Rick Davies Logical Song Roger Hodgson Goodbye Stranger Rick Davies Breakfast in America Rick Davies Oh Darling Rick Davies Take the long way home Roger Hodgson Lord is it Mine Roger Hodgson Just another nervous wreck Rick Davies Casual Conversations Rick Davies Child of vision Roger Hodgson — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.26.251.70 (talk • contribs)

Looks like the one different listing is "Breakfast in America" which we list as Hodgson. I will correct it. Binksternet (talk) 15:32, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

The UK is not a country

The UK is not a country 119.77.75.4 (talk) 01:31, 5 November 2022 (UTC)