| Jethro Tull – Aqualung Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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It certainly revolves around the same themes; a criticism of english society at the time. It's not a "concept" (not as much as ONE long song, or a double album about a puerto rican immigrant, or about a man who tries to kill himself and enters a coma, or a play, or comparing mankind to animals, or the story of a man's descent into madness... you get the point) but it is not a pop album (medley of unrelated songs) either. And part of the album is a criticism of outcast position of some people, like Cross-eyed Mary and Aqualung. The way I think of it, Ian has always been dealing with the tensions between return to old values and a radical schism with the past. I don't know if he accuses the church of England not to be taking care of indigents seriously (catholic churches used to be in charge of this in Quebec, don't know about the church of England) or if he's trying to convince us that these outcasts are casted out by US and that WE are in charge of making their lives better. But it's still a great song. Remember Jethro Tull is a FOLK ROCK band before being prog... Folk... I believe this is not so ironic, it shows the ambivalence of the man Ian ANDERSON. |
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| Jethro Tull – Cheap Day Return Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Yeah, but what has Aqualung itself have to do with God? And Cross-eyed mary? This is actually NOT a concept album, Ian has made it very clear that he didn't intend it to be and if I remember correctly it is one of the reasons why they made THICK AS A BRICK (aka A musical revolution in rock music). What is this about? I think it speaks by itself. Ian Anderson, as seen in the album HEAVY HORSES (mainly in the song of the same name) isn't a conservative but holds some interesting thoughts about how we might have flushed out the baby with the water (does this make sense? As an example, how we sometimes cut off with the past and lose more than what was negative, like a side effect to progress: freedom and individualism in the 18th-19th centuries for example destroyed part of respect for authority and sense of community). As he points out that nowadays domesticated horses have not much of a meaning, and that farming has lost most of what made it sort of a communion with nature, I think he is talking here about retirement houses and how we kinda throw away our old people and go on with our own lives. He might express remorse or simply concern about how his old man is taken care of by a nurse, while back in the days the kids would be in charge of their parents while they grow old. Maybe I am overinterpreting this too. |
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| Jethro Tull – Wond'ring Aloud Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Forgot to point out how the two previous posters' names seem to be references to my favorite band. Wish the Mars Volta's lyrics were a bit like Ian's... meaning you don't need to invest 40hours+ to understand them. Anyways. I need to add that this is by far my favorite Tull song. |
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| Jethro Tull – Wond'ring Aloud Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Thanks for pointing out the link with the other Tull song "Wondering Again" and reproduction, this has really helped. However I feel your interpretation is missing a great point within the lines: "We are our own saviours as we start both our hearts beating life into each other" I never thought of this song as being about intercourse, maybe because english is not my first language. What this means to me is that you give your lover a meaning in life and the lover gives you this meaning in return (a reason to exist). This is emphasized by Ian's "We are our own saviours", as if we had to be saved from the lack of sense in life. "Wondering aloud, will the years treat us well?" seems spoken so softly, so lightly that this doesn't even remotely sound like an important question, but the fact that it is the only question aside from "how we feel today" could also mean that Ian considers this an important matter, but it does not need to be answered as what really matters in this song is the feeling of the moment. "Wondering Again"'s reference to infancy might be a sign of Ian maturing and now considering having kids as a new meaning in life, which is certainly a change in thoughts that many adults experience. It sounds to me as the appendage to this song, which is focusing on the present, the "now" and the feeling, and representing the future and carrying a bit of a hopeful message. Remember Ian has a tradition of singing lightly about very heavy topics, see "Cheap Day Return", so this could seem like a feelgood song and carry a second meaning, which is according to my interpretation surprisingly optimistic in this song (as opposed to many other songs by Jethro Tull). ...and it's only the giving that makes you what you are... Maybe an opening to the infant thing in "Wondering again", or just Anderson's two cents about individualism that is the main caracteristic of modern and post-modern eras as opposed to his vision of life shared with somebody else. |
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