There are artists who stand out, whether it’s about a unique look or career choices that sets artists apart from the long list of musicians. For Supertramp‘s Roger Hodgson, the decision to decline a large sum so that their track ‘Take The Long Way’ would not be featured in bus commercials stood out as an outlandish move.
It’s hard to wrap our heads around some rock stars’ choices, but maybe that’s what makes them more appealing and interesting. For instance, ZZ Top‘s Billy Gibbons has been rocking his black sunglasses and a chest-length beard since 1979. When an artist is associated with a signature appearance, it’s no wonder that when Gillette offered him a campaign alongside Dusty Hill to shave their beards for $1,000,000, the musicians immediately refused as their long beards had become a part of their persona as artists.
When Supertramp was offered a $5 million offer from the Greyhound company to use this song in bus commercials, Hodgson was not interested in the deal. Even though Superstramp’s decision to decline such a massive sum had nothing to do with their looks as musicians, it was more so about the track and what it meant.
When talking about the track at a press meeting for their ‘Breakfast In America’ album, Hodgson had shared that the song ‘Take The Long Way’ had come out of nowhere just before they went in the studio to record the album. To the musician, it was a track with a dual meaning and a message for two types of scenarios.
On the one hand, it was about a man not wanting to go home to his wife because he didn’t feel any value in the relationship; where it represented a broken marriage, while in a more meaningful approach, it represented the longing for somewhere to call home and a place where as a man he wholeheartedly belonged without any reservations.
Roger Hodgson’s words about the track read:
“Talking about not wanting to go home to the wife, take the long way home to the wife because she treats you like part of the furniture, but there’s a deeper level to the song, too. We all want to find our home, find that place in us where we feel at home. Home is in the heart, and that is really, when we are in touch with our heart and living our life from our heart, then we feel like we found our home.”
Although it isn’t as crystal clear in regards to why the band refused the large sum with no hesitations as it wasn’t like in Gibbons’ situation where it was a part of his identity, apparently the song had a deep routed meaning or something special that Supertramp didn’t want the piece to be used in bus commercials for an extended period without any control over the direction.
