Supertramp: Take the Long Way Home Meaning

Song Released: 1979

Get "Take the Long Way Home" on MP3:

Get MP3 from iTunes

Take the Long Way Home Lyrics

So you think you're a Romeo, playing a part in a picture-show
We take the long way home, take the long way home
Cos you're the joke of the neighbourhood, why should you care if you're feeling good
Take the long way home, take the long way...

1. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Mar 1st, 09:49 report

   Get married, wait a couple of years and you'll understand this song. Over time Marriage beats the shit out of you.
2. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Mar 2nd 2018 report

   it's about a man who has vices... By the time he's ready to overcome his issues, it's too late. His family has given up after years of needing him with them. He took the Long Way Home too many times.
3. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Sep 28th 2017 report

   Its about a person who likes too drive around in his black 280zx turbo listening too the song...not because it has too have a meaning!! because he can relate the lyrics to the feelings he had in his life at that exact moment in time and space..
4. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jun 21st 2017 report

   It's sounds like the guy is having a mid life crisis. Coupled with the fact his wife is a nag and and to her frustration sees the man she married is now in a rut and isn't leading the marriage. The guy is obviously a dreamer like most men which in and of itself is not a bad thing but this guy is just lost.
5. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jun 5th 2017 report

   My interpretation of the song is about a man who commits suicide. The why's are not really clear.
6. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 18th 2017 report

   It's a VERY sad song sounding as if it's a happy song! It somewhat reminds me of the 1999 Japanese horror film "Audition". I think the song is about where a man who thinks he can get all the girls, thinking he's a Romeo. He ends up flirting with a girl who has a bad history that she keeps a secret. They fall in love with each other and get married! The man gets bullied by everybody in the neighborhood, being the joke of the neighborhood, and being told that his wife will use him! Over the course of the marriage, the wife ends up using him which causes lots of aggressive arguments! They go to court to get a divorce, only for the man to realize that it's gonna to him a long time to escape from his wife even if they do get a divorce and go back home with his family where there's no depression! After the divorce, suicide comes into the man's head! He ends up going into a mental hospital and ends up thinking about all the other girls he knew that he could've ended up marrying!
7. TheGenius1234

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Oct 12th 2016 report

   This is one of the saddest songs i've recently understood. The song states to grow up, not focused on social life alone, but on the logical side of life that will get you somewhere someday. If this does happen, just "Take the long way home" or enjoy life while you can, see the world. This person, which I asume is the song writer, grew up as a "Romeo" or really social with girls. Later in his life he gets married and starts to see his life crumble but stays on the same path, his wife is very mean to him, "Then your wife thinks you're part of the furniture. Ohh it's peculiar, she used to be so nice". Your life gets worse as,"Lonely days turn to lonely nights" but you still keep ignoring your wrong path in life. Your wife then countinues to hate you and she lives life around her,"Then your wife seems to think you're losing your sanity". You finally realize your fail in life but it's too late now, "Oh, is there no way out?". You see your life is a catastrophe and you look back on what you did wrong, what you could have done and been,"Does it feel that your life has become a catastrophe? Oh, it has to be for you to grow, boy. When you look through the years and you see what you could've been, oh what you might have been, if you'd had more time". The last line means, if you'd known it would end up like this you could have fixed it with the more time you had. You finally realize to just live life and enjoy what you have. "So, when the day comes to settle down, who's to blame if you're not around. You took the long way home." This is truely a sad song when you think about it. You listen to it and dont really think what it means, when you do realize what it means you almost cry.