Album: Even in the Quietest Moments
Year: 1977
. . .
In the mid-1970s few bands played both sides of the AM/FM divide better than Supertramp, aiming singles at the AM market while their longer, artier cuts got played on FM stations. Nowhere was this more pronounced than on their fifth album, 1977’s “Even in The Quietest Moments,” which featured their first top U.S. Top 20 single, the perfectly serviceable “Give A Little Bit,” but also FM fare like “Lover Boy” and the utterly gorgeous title track, which I only came to love decades later, even though I’m pretty sure I heard it all the time on stations like KFIG and Rock 96FM.
“Even in the Quietest Moments” is anchored by Roger Hodgson’s acoustic 12-string guitar, over which he sings most of the first verse, after a longish clarinet interlude by John Heliwell.
Even in the quietest moments
I wish I knew what I had to do
And even though the sun is shining
Well I feel the rain, here it comes again, dear
And even when you showed me
My heart was out of tune
For there’s a shadow of doubt that’s not letting me find you too soon
The music that you gave me
The language of my soul
Oh Lord, I want to be with you.
Won’t you let me come in from the cold?
And while drummer Bob Siebenberg eschews an actual beat, keeping time with what sounds like weirdly tuned floor tom, “Even in The Quietest Moments” keeps your attention with a lot of weird quick little overdubs: Rick Davies keyboard textures, Dougie Thompson bass runs, harmony vocals, and so it’s always moving forward, until it starts circling back on itself even while adding more texture. Also helping, Hodgson’s multi-tracked vocals getting ever more intense (I mean, for Supertramp intense, this ain’t punk rock) as he hits the climax of what is either a prayer, a love song, or both.
Don’t you let the sun disappear
Don’t you let the sun disappear
Don’t you let the sun be leaving
No, you can’t be leaving my life
Say that you won’t be leaving my life
Say that you won’t be leaving my life
Say won’t you please, stay won’t you please
Say won’t you please, stay won’t you please
Lord, won’t you come and get into my life
Lord, won’t you come and get into my life
Say won’t you please, stay won’t you please
Say won’t you please, stay won’t you please
Lord, don’t go
Y’all know that I’m a sucker for repetition, and as Siebenberg finally plays a straight beat, all hell — relatively speaking, once again this is Supertramp — breaks loose. First, somebody starts chanting what I think is “Come on, let the sun fade and go” — it’s kinda unintelligible, and it’s not on the lyric sheet (and subsequently, all of the million lyrics sites) — over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over world without end amen while vocal snatches, sound effects and every other thing in the world pops in and out of the mix.
And. It. Is. Gorgeous. Beyond. Belief.
Eventually, after nearly not long enough of this (relative) madness, it climaxes with what for all the world sounds like Hodgson singing “halllleluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu” until it eventually collapses into the last verse.
And even when the song is over
Where have I been, was it just a dream?
And though your door is always open
Where do I begin, may I please come in, dear?
I have no idea how I felt about this song back in 1977 — I’m guessing that it was probably too wimpy or some shit — but 45 years later, it has revealed itself to be of of my favorite Supertramp songs, a perfect example how their pop hooks and prog ambitions worked together.
“Even in the Quietest Moments”
“Even In The Quietest Moments” Live in Paris, 1979
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