I threw out a random comment on social media saying that the “supper” in the Genesis concept track Supper’s Ready from their 1972 album Foxtrot is an allusion to the Biblical Last Supper. The only comment it got was from someone to say this was nonsense and that there is no concept and that it’s just a load of random bits and pieces they threw together and then labelled as a concept…well…
It is likely that they pulled together several ideas and perhaps reverse engineered the concept, but that doesn’t detract from my assertion that it is referring to the Last Supper and the Supper of the Lamb in Revelation. Gabriel even sings that it is in the finale of side one of that album:
There’s an angel standing in the Sun
And he’s crying with a loud voice
“This is the supper of the mighty one”
Lord of lords, king of kings
Has returned to lead his children home
To take them to the New Jerusalem!
I mean can you get more obvious? It’s not as if their first album, the one without the band name wasn’t called From Genesis to Revelation. Of course, the bits and pieces that make up most of side one of the album might have other references and allusions. Indeed, the television scene is purportedly a reference to some supernatural experience Gabriel and his missus Jill had. But, that said, Hackett tells that it was really just about a bad drug trip she had and how they had to talk her back.
We could go deeper and suggest that the statement “Supper’s Ready” is an invitation to partake of a meal and if we’re assuming a sacred meal, then it could be the Eucharist, where bread and wine symbolized the body and blood of Christ at the Last Supper.
Supper’s Ready contains many overt references to Biblical and apocalyptic themes:
A New Jerusalem – a clear reference to Revelation 21:2, which describes the vision of a new, heavenly city at the end of times.
The seven trumpets and the Angel of Revelation: Later in the song, there are allusions to the Book of Revelation, which describes the end times, divine judgment, and the ultimate triumph of good over evil.
Supper’s Ready as narrative describes a cosmic struggle between good and evil, where ultimate sacrifice leads to redemption.
The song’s climactic section, Apocalypse in 9/8 (Co-Starring the Delicious Talents of Gabble Ratchet) suggests a confrontation with divine judgment and the hope for salvation. This echoes the prophetic nature of the Last Supper, where Jesus predicts his own death and resurrection.
Supper’s Ready ends on a note of spiritual reconciliation, with the proclamation, And it’s, it’s gonna be all right.
Guards of Magog strengthens the argument that “Supper’s Ready” has significant Biblical and apocalyptic undertones. Gog and Magog as Apocalyptic Figures ties it to the Book of Revelation (20:7–10) and the Book of Ezekiel (chapters 38–39), where these figures symbolize the final enemies of God.
The phrase seven trumpets blowing sweet rock and roll in Supper’s Ready deepens the song’s connection to Biblical prophecy (Revelation 8–11) and the Last Supper.
The phrase guaranteed eternal sanctuary man is suggestive of a messiah.
The Pied Piper takes his children underground, the devil, the antichrist.
Dragons coming out of the sea, the dragon is a prominent figure in Revelation, often identified as Satan or the embodiment of evil (Revelation 12:3).
666 is no longer alone – The number 666 is synonymous with the Beast in Revelation 13:18, representing the pinnacle of evil and opposition to God. The phrase suggesting that evil is assembling forces for the final confrontation.
Just sayin’…although maybe it’s the supper of the Lamb in Revelation.
There’s a twee bit in the middle called Willow Farm, which has been described as part Teddy Bears’s Picnic, part I am the Walrus. It’s possible this is the bit that Tony Banks imagined as follow-up to The Musical Box, but it turned nasty.