Breakfast in America

“Breakfast in America” is the incredible slow rock song from English rock band Supertramp, released in June 1979. Written by members Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson, the song became a hit around the world and still remains a classic to this day. Supertramp also produced the track, along with Peter Henderson, and the song appears on their sixth studio album of the same name.

“Breakfast in America” tells the story of an individual who is fantasizing about moving over to America. In an interview with Jeff Parets from Acoustic Storm in 2010, Roger Hodgson spoke about the success of the track and his dreams before writing it:

“Well, when I wrote “Breakfast in America,” I mean obviously, I had a lot of dreams. One of them was to go to America, and the America that we saw on the television was very different to the America that we’re very much more connected to today. I mean, it was very archetypal in a way, “everyone in Texas is a millionaire,” for example. So a lot of my thoughts, you know, want to “see the girls in California,“ it was just a playful song, (part of) I think dreaming of going to America. I think The Beatles maybe had just gone to America. Maybe that affected it but, again, I was dreaming and having fun one day and this song just flowed out. I think the lyric was written in about an hour, so I didn’t even stop to think what I was writing. It just came out of me.”

There was never an official music video for “Breakfast in America”, but via Roger Hodgson’s YouTube channel, there is a video of the group performing the song live. Uploaded to his channel in July 2013, the video now has almost 14 million views with 65 thousand likes.

Release Date: June 1979

Songwriter/s: Rick Davies & Roger Hodgson

Producer/s: Supertramp & Peter Henderson

Label: A&M

Chart Rankings & Certifications: “Breakfast in America” charted in the following locations after its release in 1979:

– #16 in Austria
– #18 in Belgium
– #23 in Germany
– #6 in Ireland
– #14 in the Netherlands
– #9 in South Africa
– #9 in the UK Singles Chart
– #62 on the US Billboard Hot 100

The lyrics to “Breakfast in America” can be accessed here: LINK

Find “Breakfast in America” on Spotify: LINK

Find “Breakfast in America” on Apple Music: LINK