Supertramp very nearly missed out on the chance for rock stardom because of the commercial failure of their first two albums. Luckily, the British rockers broke through in a big way on their third album Crime of the Century, and the inventive track “Bloody Well Right” had a lot to do with that success.
What is the song about? Why was the band so badly in need of a hit? And how did the song give a snapshot of the division of power within the band? Let’s find out all you need to know, and then some, about “Bloody Well Right.”
Scene of the Crime
Rock history is loaded with instances where artists or bands rose to the occasion with a killer third album. But that usually comes after their first two records have been building to that point. In the case of Supertramp, they entered the making of their third album with practically no commercial momentum whatsoever.
Their first two albums, recorded with the help of financing from a Dutch entrepreneur, didn’t sell well, prompting their backer to back out of the picture. Three years passed between their second and third album, as the group tried to keep the lights on through incessant touring. In the first five years of their existence, they went through myriad lineup changes trying to find the right fit.
The one constant was the main songwriting duo of Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson. Their styles were vastly different. Davies tended to write songs with a bluesy edge and a dollop of gallows humor, all of which dovetailed nicely with his gruff vocals. Hodgson’s high-pitched vocals nicely served his songs, which hewed closer to pop music and often pondered weighty philosophical topics.
For the recording of their third album, the band changed up its lineup once more. New to the fold were drummer Bob Siebenberg, horn player John Helliwell, and Dougie Thomson on bass, backing Hodgson on guitar and Davies on piano. The band went into the recording of the album, which would be titled Crime of the Century when released in 1974, knowing it was all or nothing with this release.
It turned out to be all. Davies and Thomson blossomed as songwriters. (Although all songs on the album are credited to both men, they often composed their individual songs on their own.) You can hear the chemistry within the band on “Bloody Well Right,” which begins with some jazzy electric piano noodling by Davies before Helliwell’s saxophone heralds the main portion of the song.
Hodgson gets to indulge in more guitar heroics than was normal for the band, playing both crunching chords and stinging wah-wah leads. Davies sings the song with an aura of gruff, sarcastic authority, and he gets help from the somewhat comical call-and-response vocals in the chorus. It paid off, as the song, along with Hodgson’s “Dreamer,” staked its claim on FM radio and helped establish the band in the U.S. for the first time.
What is the Meaning of “Bloody Well Right”?
If you believe Crime of the Century is a concept album, you can hear “Bloody Well Right” as a kind of answer song to “School,” the opening track on the record sung by Hodgson. So you think you’re schooling’s phony, Davies begins, as if in riposte to what Hodgson had to say with the first song. You say it all depends on money / And who is in your family tree, he continues, suggesting that no amount of education can match birthright when it comes to predicting life success.
But Davies turns on a dime in the second verse to imply the complainer can sometimes be just as insufferable as those about whom they complain. After advising they pray for help (Take them to a higher place), the narrator drops the hammer with a withering putdown: You’ve had your cry, no, I shouldn’t say wail / In the meantime hush your face.
The chorus brings some winking humor into the picture, as Davies and company tell this poor sap to feel free to vent: You got a bloody right to say. But the mischievous tone in Davies’ voice suggests it won’t do them a bit of good. “Bloody Well Right” helped save Supertramp when their backs were against the wall, and set the tone for the dueling points of view from Davies and Hodgson on even bigger hits to come.
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