Supper’s Ready Lyrics

[Part I: Lover's Leap]

[Verse 1]
Walking across the sitting room
I turn the television off
Sitting beside you
I look into your eyes
As the sound of motor cars
Fades in the nighttime
I swear I saw your face change
It didn't seem quite right

[Chorus]
And it's, "Hello, babe
With your guardian eyes so blue
Hey, my baby
Don't you know our love is true?"

[Verse 2]
Coming closer with our eyes
A distance falls around our bodies
Out in the garden
The moon seems very bright
Six saintly shrouded men
Move across the lawn slowly
The seventh walks in front
With a cross held high in hand
[Chorus]
And it's, "Hey, babe
Your supper's waiting for you
Hey, my baby
Don't you know our love is true?"

[Post-Chorus]
I've been so far from here
Far from your warm arms
It's good to feel you again
It's been a long, long time, hasn't it?
(Ahh-ahh-ah-ah-ahh)
(Ahh-ahh-ah-ah-ahh)
(Ahh-ahh-ah-ah-ahh)
(Ahh-ahh-ah-ah-ahh-ah-ah-ah-ah-ahh)

[Instrumental Break]

[Part II: The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man]

[Intro]
I know a farmer who looks after the farm
With water clear, he cares for all his harvest

I know a fireman who looks after the fire, ahh

[Verse 3]
You, can't you see he's fooled you all?
Yes, he's here again
Can't you see he's fooled you all?
Share his peace, sign the lease
He's a supersonic scientist
He's a guaranteed eternal sanctuary man
[Verse 4]
"Look, look into my mouth," he cries
"And all the children lost down many paths
I bet my life you'll walk inside"

Hand in hand, gland in gland
With a spoonful of miracle
He's the guaranteed eternal sanctuary—

[Outro]
(We will rock you, rock you little snake)
(We will keep you snug and warm)

[Part III: Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men]

[Intro]
Wearing feelings on our faces
While our faces took a rest
We walked across the fields
To see the children of the West
But we saw a host of dark-skinned warriors
Standing still below the ground
Waiting for battle!

[Verse 5]
Fight's begun, they've been released
Killing foe for peace
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang
And they're giving me a wonderful potion
'Cause I cannot contain my emotion
And even though I'm feeling good
Something tells me I'd better
Activate my prayer capsule
[Instrumental Break]
[Guitar Solo]

[Outro]
Today is a day to celebrate
The foe have met their fate
The order for rejoicing and dancing
Has come from our warlord

[Instrumental Break]

[Part IV: How Dare I Be So Beautiful?]

[Verse 6]
Wandering in the chaos the battle has left
We climb up a mountain of human flesh
To a plateau of green grass
And green trees full of life
A young figure sits still by a pool
He's been stamped "Human Bacon"
By some butchery tool, he is you
Social Security took care of this lad
We watch in reverence as Narcissus is turned to a flower
(A flower?)

[Part V. Willow Farm]

[Verse 7]
If you go down to Willow Farm
To look for butterflies
Or flutter-byes or gutter-flies
Open your eyes, it's full of surprise, everyone lies
Like the fox on the rocks
And the musical box
Oh, there's mum and dad (Ahh-ah-ahh)
And good and bad
And everyone's happy to be here (Ahh-ah-ahh)

[Verse 8]
There's Winston Churchill dressed in drag
He used to be a British flag
Plastic bag, what a drag
The frog was a prince
The prince was a brick, the brick was an egg
The egg was a bird
(Fly away, you sweet little thing, they're hard on your tail)
Haven't you heard?
(They're going to change you into a human being! *laughter*)
Yes, we're happy as fish (Ooh-na-na-na)
And gorgeous as geese
And wonderfully clean in the morning (Ooh-na-na-na-na-na)

[Bridge]
We've got everything, we're growing everything
We've got some in, we've got some out
We've got some wild things floating about
Everyone, we're changing everyone
You name them all, we've had them here
And the real stars are still to appear
(*whistle* All change!)

[Verse 9]
Feel your body melt
Mum to mud to mad to dad
Dad-diddley-office, dad-diddley-office
You're all full of ball
Dad to dam to dum to mum

Mum-diddley-washing, mum-diddley-washing
Woo, you're all full of ball
Let me hear your lies
We're living this up to the eyes-ooey-ooey-ahh
Ooh-ah-ah-ahh, na-na-na
Mama, I want you now (Na)

[Verse 10]
And as you listen to my voice (Ooh-na-na)
To look for hidden doors (Na-na-na-na)
Tidy floors, more applause (Na-na)
You've been here all the time (Ooh-ah)
Like it or not, like what you got (Ooh-ah, ooh-ah)
You're under the soil (Ooh-ah)
(The soil, the soil)
Yes, deep in the soil
(The soil, the soil, the soil, the soil)
So we'll end with a whistle (*whistle*) (Ooh-wah)
And end with a bang (*bang*)
And all of us fit in our places (Ooh-wah)

[Part VI: Apocalypse in 9/8 (Co-Starring the Delicious Talents of Gabble Ratchet)]

[Instrumental Intro]
[Flute Solo]

[Verse 11]
With the guards of Magog swarming around
The Pied Piper takes his children underground
Dragons coming out of the sea
Shimmering silver head of wisdom looking at me
He brings down the fire from the skies
You can tell he's doing well by the look in human eyes
Better not compromise, it won't be easy

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 12]
666 is no longer alone
He's getting out the marrow in your backbone
And the seven trumpets blowing sweet rock 'n' roll
Gonna blow right down inside your soul
Pythagoras with the looking glass reflects the full moon
In blood, he's writing the lyrics of a brand new tune

[Chorus]
And it's, "Hey, babe
With your guardian eyes so blue
Hey, my baby
Don't you know our love is true?"

[Post-Chorus]
I've been so far from here
Far from your loving arms
Now, I'm back again
And babe, it's gonna work out fine

[Part VII: As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet)]

[Verse 13]
Can't you feel our souls ignite?
Shedding ever-changing colours
In the darkness of the fading night
Like the river joins the ocean
As the germ in a seed grows
We've finally been freed to get back home

[Verse 14]
There's an angel standing in the Sun
And he's crying with a loud voice
"This is the supper of the mighty one"

Lord of lords, king of kings
Has returned to lead his children home
To take them to the New Jerusalem!

[Instrumental Outro]

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About

Genius Annotation

Written and composed by Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, and Michael Rutherford.
Personnel: Tony Banks – Keyboards, 12-string guitar
Phil Collins – Percussion, backing vocals
Peter Gabriel – Vocals, flute, tambourine
Steve Hackett – Electric guitar, 12-string guitar
Michael Rutherford – Bass, 12-string guitar
Album: Foxtrot (1972)

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Genesis say about "Supper's Ready"?
Genius Answer

In an interview, Peter Gabriel summed up “Supper’s Ready” as “a personal journey which ends up walking through scenes from Revelation in the Bible….I’ll leave it at that”.

How was the song made?
Genius Answer

Keyboardist Tony 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.

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