Take the Long Way Home (Supertramp song)
| "Take the Long Way Home" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:TakeTheLongWayHome.jpg | ||||
| Single by Supertramp | ||||
| from the album Breakfast in America | ||||
| B-side | "From Now On" | |||
| Released | October 1979 | |||
| Recorded | 1978 | |||
| Studio | The Village Recorder/Studio B, Los Angeles, California | |||
| Genre | Rock, progressive rock | |||
| Length | 5:08 4:06 (Single Version) | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Roger Hodgson | |||
| Producer(s) | Supertramp, Peter Henderson | |||
| Supertramp singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Take the Long Way Home" is the fourth single and sixth track of Supertramp's 1979 album Breakfast in America. It was the last song written for the album, being penned during the nine-month recording cycle.[1] 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."[2]
The single reached number 10 on the U.S. charts.[3]
Charts
| Chart (1979–80) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Top Singles (RPM)[4] | 4 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[5] | 32 |
| Invalid chart entered Germany2 | 53 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[6] | 10 |
| Year-end chart (1980) | Rank |
|---|---|
| US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[7] | 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. [citation needed]
- Alternative rock band Lazlo Bane covered the song for their 2007 cover album Guilty Pleasures.[8]
References
- ^ Buskin, Richard (July 2005). CLASSIC TRACKS: Supertramp's 'Logical Song', Sound on Sound.
- ^ The Eye of the Acoustic Storm: Supertramp/Roger Hodgson
- ^ "Take the Long Way Home" chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
- ^ "RPM100: Hit Tracks & Where to Find Them". RPM. 32 (13). Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada. 22 December 1979. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ^ "Supertramp – Take the Long Way Home (Live Version)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
- ^ "Supertramp Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
- ^ "1980 Talent in Action – Year End Charts : Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 92, no. 51. 20 December 1980. p. TIA-10. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ^ "Lazlo Bane's Guilty Pleasures". cdbaby.com. Retrieved 10 January 2017.