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Dun Ringill Lyrics
Clear light on a slick palm
as I mis-deal the day
Slip the night from a shaved pack
make a marked card play
Call twilight hours down
from a heaven home
high above the highest bidder
for the good Lord's throne
In the wee hours I'll meet you
down by Dun Ringill -
watch the old gods play
by Dun Ringill
We'll wait in stone circles
'til the force comes through
lines joint in faint discord
and the Stormwatch brews
a concert of Kings
as the white sea snaps
at the heels of a soft prayer
whispered
In the wee hours I'll meet you
down by Dun Ringill -
take you quickly
by Dun Ringill
as I mis-deal the day
Slip the night from a shaved pack
make a marked card play
Call twilight hours down
from a heaven home
high above the highest bidder
for the good Lord's throne
In the wee hours I'll meet you
down by Dun Ringill -
watch the old gods play
by Dun Ringill
'til the force comes through
lines joint in faint discord
and the Stormwatch brews
a concert of Kings
as the white sea snaps
at the heels of a soft prayer
whispered
In the wee hours I'll meet you
down by Dun Ringill -
take you quickly
by Dun Ringill
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Dun Ringill, as I have just found out, is a real place. It is the ruins of a fort near where Ian Anderson had just moved (this move also inspired much of Heavy Horses, and maybe Songs From the Wood, too).
Deteriation of society, perhaps, is the meaning of this song. Easily the best on Stormwatch.
Two people are deciding whether to meet in the early morning hours at an old Scottish fortress from centuries ago to watch as a North Sea Storm comes over the horizon. One is urging the other to join him. The initial references to cheating at cards is basically saying "Fuck it. Let's take a chance and do it." Watching the old gods play is a reference to the thunder, lightening, and heavy seas the storm will bring. He is urging his friend "C'mon, don't chicken out on me." The stone circles are the remnants of the fortress and the lines joining in faint discord is what the sky will begin to look like as the storm nears. This interpretation is also suggested by the mock weather report at the beginning that states some of the lines in the song.
@charlesszb Excellent food for thought. Thank you!
@charlesszb Excellent food for thought. Thank you!
@charlesszb This is one of many Jethro Tull songs that I think of as "gems": shortish songs with just one verse and a chorus or maybe two - still they are complete, due to the lyrics and music creating a really unique scene, atmosphere, feeling.
@charlesszb This is one of many Jethro Tull songs that I think of as "gems": shortish songs with just one verse and a chorus or maybe two - still they are complete, due to the lyrics and music creating a really unique scene, atmosphere, feeling.
@charlesszb Listening to it again, the references to cheating at cards at the beginning might mean the two people are "cheating", especially given the last line.
@charlesszb Listening to it again, the references to cheating at cards at the beginning might mean the two people are "cheating", especially given the last line.
After listening and playing this song for more than forty years I am more convinced than ever that majority of the lyrics pertain to a Druidic ritual involving human sacrifice. \n"We wait in stone circles" refers to the "fairy rings" that are found all throughout England, Scotland and parts of Western Europe.\n"Lines join faint discord..." possibly refers to Leylines, reputed to hold magical and mystical powers.\n"Oh, I\'ll take you quickly" is meant as a reassurance that the person being sacrificed won\'t suffer.
How did I have to add this song.
???
I'd love to go there and recreate the video with a big beard!