I am a member of Generation X. Known for being independent, cynical, loyal and less career-oriented, that mostly describes me.
But I often feel out-of-kilter with those in my generation. Many times Gen X memes focus on growing up with '80s and '90s music, 1980s movies and late '80s/early '90s TV shows. That's not me. While I generally enjoy the grunge era of music from the '90s, it's not my preferred listening and I grew up with '70s variety shows on the TV. I like 1980s cards a lot. But I prefer the '70s.
That might be explained by being an older Gen X guy, just one year away from being a "boomer". But I don't relate to them either from a pop culture standpoint. I don't think Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd are the be-all of rock music. I have never liked progressive music, that meandering, way-too-damn-long style. I gravitated instead to short, sharp, new wave tunes. Even today I prefer that. Any song from a new album that crosses 6 minutes feels like homework.
That (finally) brings me to "Breakfast in America" by Supertramp. No, it's not new wave, but it's often looked down on by fans of earlier Supertramp as being "too slick," "too commerical".
That's why I like it. It's my favorite Supertramp album. It's the Supertramp album that arrived as I became a teenager. I love it, and those commenters on youtube music channels consistently putting "Crime of the Century" ahead of it, don't get my perspective. (I understand "Crime of the Century" is great, but it's from 1974 and early '70s rock music -- as revered as it is -- just isn't my bag).
So, with that kind of history, it's about time I dedicated a Match the Song Title post to "Breakfast in America". It's been more than a year since I've done one of these, and the timing (*looks around*) is right.
Settle in. Here's the tracklist.
Match the Song Title: Breakfast in America - Supertramp
Track 1: Gone Hollywood
An easy pick as the arrival of Southern Cal kids Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis in Dodgers uniforms didn't go as planned. Even the subject in "Gone Hollywood" fared better than these two did in L.A.
Track 2: The Logical Song
The first song released from Breakfast in America and it may have been my introduction to Supertramp. You're going to have to play along with me on why I chose Josh Bard.
My main memory of this song and the album is when we went on an end-of-the-school year trip to a state park. I was in eighth grade. It was June. "The Logical Song" was on the charts and a hit song. It's all about the disillusionment Roger Hodgson felt going to boarding school for 10 years. Now imagine those lyrics playing at the state park for 13-year-olds who went to a parochial school. It was a quiet revolt.
Anyway, the state park was in Ithaca, N.Y., and that's where Josh Bard is from.
Track 3: Goodbye Stranger
My favorite song, musically, on this album. Heck, my favorite Supertramp song. It's a song about independence with no attachments, which naturally appeals to a Gen X kid.
Mallex Smith spent just 77 minutes as a member of the Seattle Mariners in 2017. He was traded from the Braves to the Mariners and 77 minutes later swapped to the Tampa Bay Rays. Smith could have easily said "Goodbye Stranger" to Seattle. But he returned to the Mariners in 2019 and played for them for a couple years.
Track 4: Breakfast in America
The title track. "Take a look at my girlfriend ..." This song made the Top 10 in the United Kingdom but didn't even reach the top 40 in the U.S. It is a very British-sounding song and it's about a British person wondering what it's like in America.
One thing I can tell people who still wonder about us is that we like bacon for breakfast.
Track 5: Oh Darling
A song about trying to hold on to a fading relationship.
The Beatles are too connected to this song title for me to think about anything else.
Track 6: Take the Long Way Home
The final song released off the album and the third top 10 hit in the U.S. For some reason I associate this song with delivering newspapers as a youngster. The song came out more than a year before I got my paper route but maybe I hummed it to myself while trudging through the snow on my route.
One of the longest road trips in MLB history was in 1992 when the Houston Astros took a 26-game road trip because the Republican National Convention was in the Astrodome. The trip began on July 27 in Atlanta and went to Cincinnati, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago, St. Louis and Philadelphia, covering 9,186 miles. Amazingly, they managed an OK 12-14 record during trip.
Track 7: Lord Is It Mine
The most difficult song to match with a card. It's a song about personal reflection and the search for inner peace and spiritual inspiration. Was that in Jerald Clark's mind as he looked off into the distance as the member of a new expansion team? Sure, let's say it was.
Track 8: Just Another Nervous Wreck
Song written about a divorce but is generally about change and how to approach it. Whenever I think about "nervous wrecks" in baseball, I think of fans. But managers often look nervous, too. They just sit there, hoping their team does the right things on the field. Mostly they sit still in their nervousness. At least Earl Weaver would duck down into the corner and have a smoke.
Track 9: Casual Conversations
A song written by Ray Davies about his inability to communicate with bandmate Roger Hodgson. Generally the two got along during the recording of Breakfast in America and they were happy (I can ear it in the album, it's generally upbeat and one of the reasons why I like it). But they'd eventually split up.
I like combo cards like this, they're a bit more interesting than what Topps usually produces.
Track 10: Child of Vision
The longest song on the album and the only one over 6 minutes at 7:24 (Breakfast in America is actually longer than Crime of the Century but it doesn't feel like it as Crime of the Century has three songs over six minutes).
The song -- with a pretty great piano solo -- is a criticism of American consumerism and spending just to spend. When I extend that to professional athletes I naturally think of football players and all of the stuff the NFL's skill players buy. But I couldn't settle on just one famous overspending player. There are so many. So I just picked Tom Brady because he's spent a crazy amount on his homes alone.
And that's where the needle comes off the record. This album is so much more than coming up with conspiracy theories about the Twin Towers image on the cover.
Obviously everyone has their own tastes in music and they can pick whatever album they want as their favorite. But as a member of Generation X it seems we're always being shouted down by either the generation before us or the generations that came after. There just isn't as many of us. Or more likely, it's that we just can't be bothered to care that much.
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