‘Bloody Well Right’ is a song by English rock band Supertramp from their 1974 album Crime of the Century. It appeared as the B-side of the single ‘Dreamer’ in 1974. Listeners in the United States preferred it to the A-side, and ‘Bloody Well Right’ became their breakthrough hit in the country, peaking at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100.’"Bloody Well Right’ was Supertramp's first charting hit in the US, while it failed to chart in the UK. One theory on why the song didn't chart in their UK homeland has it that Brits were still offended by the adjective "bloody" in 1975. These days it is considered a mild expletive at best all around the world.
Davies consciously linked the song to the album's opening track ‘School’ with the line "So you think your schooling is phoney", helping to perpetuate the false impression that Crime of the Century is a concept album. According to Hodgson, any unifying thread beyond that was left to the listener's imagination. Ultimate Classic Rock critic Nick DeRiso stated ‘Bloody Well Right’ shares the theme with ‘School’ of "questioning the education system."
Written by Supertramp leaders Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson, Davies sings lead on this one. The song deals with youthful confusion, class warfare, and forced conformity in the British school system (kind of like Pink Floyd's ‘Another Brick in The Wall (part II)’). This anti-establishment take was a theme of the album.
The song has a unique structure, with a 51-second piano solo at the start that meanders around, playing the ‘Locomotive Breath’ trick of starting out vaguely recognizable and giving people plenty of time to guess who and which song this is before the more familiar parts kick in. Then a grinding power guitar riff thunders by, making you think this is going to be heavy metal. Nope, guess again - the light piano and suddenly chipper lyrics on the chorus take us back to pop rock.
Label – A&M
Songwriters – Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson
Producers – Supertramp, Ken Scott
SONG LYRICS
[Intro][Verse 1]
So you think your schooling is phony
I guess it's hard not to agree
You say it all depends on money
And who is in your family tree
[Hook]
Right, (Right), you're bloody well right
You got a bloody right to say
Right, you're bloody well right
You know you got a right to say
Ha-ha, you're bloody well right
You know you're right to say
Yeah, yeah, you're bloody well right
You know you're right to say
Me, I don't care anyway
[Instrumental Bridge]
[Verse 2]
Write your problems down in detail
Take them to a higher place
You've had your cry, no, I shouldn't say wail
In the meantime, hush your face
[Hook]
Right, (Quite right), you're bloody well right
You got a bloody right to say
Right, you're bloody well right
You know you got a right to say
Ha-ha, you're bloody well right
You know you're right to say
Yeah, yeah, you're bloody well right
You know you got a right to say
[Outro]
You got a bloody right to say
You got a bloody right to say
You got a bloody right to say
You got a bloody right to say, yeah