PERCHANCE TO DREAM: Fool's Overture

Supertramp - Even in the Quietest Moments( 1977, fifth album)

Track list

1. "Give a Little Bit" – 4:13

2. "Lover Boy" – 6:49

3. "Even in the Quietest Moments" – 6:31

4. "Downstream" – 4:04

5. "Babaji" – 4:51

6. "From Now On" – 6:21

7. "Fool's Overture" – 10:52 (selected song for this post)

Members

* Roger Hodgson - vocals, guitar, keyboards

* Dougie Thomson - bass

* Rick Davies - vocals, keyboards

* Bob C. Benberg - drums, percussion

* John Anthony Helliwell - saxophones, vocals, clarinet,

Roger Hodgson (ex Supertramp) - Fool's Overture.

This song is a collage of progressive instrumentation and sound samples. First there are excerpts of Winston Churchill's famous June 4, 1940 House of Commons speech regarding Britain's involvement in World War II ("Never Surrender"), and later sounds of police cars and church bells are heard. Piano and saxophone parts from Traffic's song 'No Time to Live' are slightly altered as well during the slow parts. The flageolet-sounding instrument plays an excerpt from Gustav Holst's "Venus", from his orchestral suite The Planets. There is also a reading of the first verse of William Blake's poem "And did those feet in ancient time" (more commonly known as "Jerusalem"), ended by a short sample of the band's song "Dreamer".

Lyrics

History recalls how great the fall can be

While everybody's sleeping, the boats put out to sea

Borne on the wings of time

It seemed the answers were so easy to find

"Too late," the prophets cry

The island's sinking, let's take to the sky

Called the man a fool, striped him of his pride

Everyone was laughing up until the day he died

And though the wound went deep

Still he's calling us out of our sleep

My friends, we're not alone