Did Supertramp’s Breakfast in America foretell 9/11

The history of classic rock is littered with albums whose covers have been scrutinised for hidden meanings, most famously about Beatles member “Paul McCartney is dead” rumour that led fans to look for clues on the Beatles album, Abbey Road (1969).

However, the latest conspiracy theory that appeared in the media last month suggests that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in the U.S. was, in reality, a plot hatched by a secret society, and it goes as far back as 1979 with reference to the cover of Supertramp’s Grammy-winning album, Breakfast In America which, incidentally, became the largest selling English language album in France!

As the theory goes, the album’s famous cover is a depiction of the New York City skyline as seen from an airplane, with a waitress named “Libby” from a diner substituting for the Statue Of Liberty, and holding a glass of orange juice on a small plate instead of the torch. The juice is positioned in front of the Twin Towers and just happens to be in the same colour as fire! But the strongest “evidence” here is that if you hold the record in front of a mirror — a reflective action required for almost every rock conspiracy theory that probably exists — the “u” and “p” in ‘Supertramp’ look like a “9” and an “11”, respectively.

And even the title of the album, Breakfast In America, apparently provided an indication when the attacks would occur; the first plane struck One World Trade Center at 8.45am Eastern Time (U.S.). If these “facts” are not enough evidence, the lower right corner of the back cover depicts a plane flying towards the skyline.

None of these clues, however, explain why it took 22 years after the release of Breakfast In America for the culmination of the 9/11 plot.

Meanwhile, returning to the Beatles, the long-running conspiracy theories about the “real” Paul McCartney dying in 1966 and being replaced by a look-alike occurred when McCartney is pictured without shoes, which is often used as “evidence” that McCartney was dead at the time Abbey Road was released in 1969. Then there is the registration plate on the Volkswagen Beetle, on the cover of the album, that reads as LMW 28IF””, which is apparently reference to the fact that McCartney would have been 28-years-old at the time had he still been alive. For the record, Paul McCartney is indeed alive, and is currently on his ‘One On One’ tour effective April 13.

But it was not merely The Beatles who were “involved” in conspiracy theories, so was another musically heavyweight band, Pink Floyd. The theory propagated speaks of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973) having been apparently written to be played in synch with the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz, and is one of the most widespread and enduring in pop music culture.

It has appeared in movies, DVDs, YouTube videos, and websites, resulting in countless college students spending their weekends fascinated by watching a 77-year-old family movie! Even cinema halls in the past have featured The Wizard Of Oz set to the music of The Dark Side Of The Moon, and Turner Classic Movies even aired the movie in the year 2000 with Pink Floyd’s album offered as an alternate track.

And having undertaken a bit of research myself during the release of a Pink Floyd box set in September 2011, Discovery, that contained all their albums supported by the Why Pink Floyd... re-release campaign, I must admit that some parts of The Dark Side Of The Moon do synch surprisingly well with the characters’ movements within the film. Meanwhile, while I did not come across this as I had lost patience in monitoring the parallel movements of music with the movie by then, someone informed me that the word “which” is uttered precisely at the moment that a witch appears in the movie!

Incidentally, The Dark Side Of The Moon engineer Alan Parsons — who I have seen perform live in Mumbai on two occasions, once for the One Tree Festival and, the other, for the Johnnie Walker Journey event — explained to Rolling Stone magazine in 2003 how impossible it would have been to synch the tracks even if they wanted to.

But will these be the last of the conspiracy theories that we will hear during our lifetime Most unlikely as long as people propagate thoughts as a matter of faith rather than as a matter of proof!

The writer has been part of the media and entertainment business for over 23 years. He still continues to pursue his hobby, and earns an income out of it.