Observations placeholder
Hodgson, Roger – Breakfast in America - Lord is it Mine?
Identifier
027546
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Jeb: Breakfast in America won two Grammy’s but wasn’t the album very difficult to make?
Roger: All albums are hard to complete. That one took eight months to complete. For the last two months I was actually sleeping in the studio. I parked my camper outside the door and at four o’clock in the morning I would collapse in the camper and then at ten o’clock in the morning we would start again. We were trying to get done before the tour started, which was looming in front of us.
I was tenacious and I couldn’t rest until we got the mixes right. Back in those days, we didn’t have computers; we did everything manually. We had to keep at it until we got it right.
Jeb: Did you perceive Breakfast in America was going to be the album to break Supertramp in a huge way?
Roger: I think we all had a sense. There was expectancy and we were poised for this album. We had done a lot of touring and we were primed for it. It was a time where radio was king and with this particular collection of songs we felt that we had the songs that would get on the radio. That is why I fought to really get it right. We all had our different roles. I was really the main producer and the driving force. I was the last one that was to say that it was done. I think everyone else trusted that I knew what I was doing because I had come up with the goods up to that point. We had to keep going until I said that we got it.
Jeb: Did the new level of success with Breakfast in America change the dynamics of Supertramp?
Roger: Yes, it did. There were a lot of other things also happening. On the Breakfast in America tour I had my first child. Shortly afterward, I had my second child and suddenly I had a family. Other band members were also going through a lot of changes like that.
I have always tried to follow my heart and my instincts in life. When I made the decision to leave the band, three years later, it was because my heart was telling me to stop because I needed to learn how to be a father. I was wanting to step away from the music business for a while in order to have a more simple lifestyle. This was at the peak of Supertramp’s success, so it was a difficult decision but I just knew I had to do it in order to be at home with my children as they grew up.
Supertramp had been my baby. It had been my passion for 14 years but my heart was telling me that this was more important than to continue with Supertramp at that time. Looking back, I do not regret my decision. My kids have grown up and I was able to learn a lot and give to them while they were growing up. I believe my absence from the music business at that time is why I am still in my prime, creatively, today.
A description of the experience
Lord Is It Mine
I know that there's a reason why I need to be alone
I need to find a silent place that I can call my own
Is it mine, Lord is it mine?
When everything's dark and nothing seems right,
There's nothing to win and there's no need to fight
I never cease to wonder at the cruelty of this land
But it seems a time of sadness is a time to understand
Is it mine, Lord is it mine?
When everything's dark and nothing seems right,
You don't have to win and there's no need to fight
If only I could find a way
To feel your sweetness through the day
The love that shines around me could be mine.
So give us an answer, won't you,
We know what we have to do,
There must be a thousand voices trying to get through