Rick Davies from Supertramp is dead – an obituary

On September 6, 25, Rick Davies died. He was 80 years old. The best Supertramp songs were by him, and I loved listening to them. His songs weren’t as catchy as Roger Hodgson’s, but they had a lasting impact. I found an old flyer from CLV about Supertramp in my notes, which inspired me to write this article.

The Lyrics – An Escape into Interiority

After the cultural revolution of the 1960s, the 1970s and early 1980s brought an escape into interiority to rock music, a wistful retreat into the emotional world. An example: Put on your old brown shoes (1982):

“You and I, we are helpless, don’t you see? We have to get out of here, have to travel on, take the next train. And for the rest of our lives, we will be free.”

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A longing for freedom, for a bit of happiness is one side of Supertramp.

The Lyrics – From One Illusion to Another

The other side of Supertramp is the escape from disappointment with political, philosophical, and musical pseudo-messiahs. They realized: ultimately, it’s often just a blind race from one illusion to another. This comes across quite well in “Waiting so long”: “The Blindness goes on”:

“Did you get all that you wanted?
Did you see the whole show?
But then where’s the fun we used to know?
While the memories fade and on the horizon they go
I wished those old days would come back to you.

I’ve been waiting so long, I don’t feel so strong.

Did you say what you meant?
Do you mean what you say?
As for this new scene, is this really the way?
But the blindness goes on, the blindness goes on.
You say it’s not so, but what do you know?

There’s nothing new, it’s just the same old story,
and I have to sing these old funeral songs again.
Angry music, words of fire, painted faces full of rage,
but even then they sound so tired. (…)

Yes, I’ve been waiting for so long, just for something that sounds real.
Now I’d rather taste the old wine than bother with something new.

And the blindness goes on,
the blindness goes on.

Waiting so long (Supertramp 1982, from the album “Famous last words”)

This text really moves me. How sad, this cry: “I’ve been waiting for so long for something that sounds real. Now I’d rather taste the old wine” – and the blindness goes on. NO, I want to call out to you, it doesn’t have to be like this. There is “new wine” after all, there is something true.

Supertramp – Something Is Not Right – “Crazy”

Yes, in the song “Crazy,” Supertramp gets to the point: salvation does not lie within ourselves, not in an escape from reality:

“‘Cause it seems that the situation is getting serious.
Right when you win, wrong when you lose.
Well, something is not right, but nothing is done.
It’s pointless to wait for a place in the sun.
Because something is not right at the moment.
Can something be wrong with me?
Oh brother, why does it have to be so crazy…
Oh, something is wrong with me.
Oh brother, why does it have to be so crazy.

from: “Crazy” (Supertramp 1982)

As long as we only lash out at those around us, we will not be healed by it, and if we expose false leaders and role models as blind seducers, we will not become sighted ourselves for a long time. First and foremost, we have to unmask ourselves:

Crime of the Century – It Can’t Be True: – It’s Me!

Because you and I, we personally, are behind the evil in the world that we so love to denounce. This is brilliantly described in the song “Crime of the Century”:

“Now they’re plotting the crime of the century,
well, what will it be?
Read all about their plans and schemes,
it’s really worth it.
So come here and see,
how they rape the universe.
How they progress from bad to worse.
Who are these men full of lust, greed and ambition?
Let’s rip their masks off, we want to see!
But – that’s not true – oh no, what’s wrong?
It’s you, and it’s me.
That can’t be true!!”

from: “Crime of the Century” (Supertramp, 1974)

It’s me. That’s the diagnosis. You and I, all of us, we need forgiveness and something that lies outside of us: a new life. We find both in the message of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, this is so often watered down by man-made dogmas and added teachings. This is not theoretical talk, but experienced reality. God can lead us out of this blindness and selfishness that Supertramp recognized and give us new overflowing life. That’s what this website is about.

Good bye, Rick Davies. I so wish that you found the solution in your life.

Source note: Some thoughts to the songs come from an old flyer by CLV “Supertramp – and the blindness goes on…”