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Bends Like A Willow Lyrics

She's catching the wind: the gentlest of breezes.
It's a sensitive passage she's sailing -
Through stormy straits, navigates my unfathomable failings.
She rises before me, reading me clearly.
Empty nest left pressed in the pillow.
She can shift, she can sway
and bend like a willow.

I'm swept in the riptide, caught in a fish trap.
Gift-wrapped in my soft self centre.
Summer sun leaves me as one who can only taste winter.
She's a good, a good God-send: she can bend like a willow.

With a fully armed angel to cover me quickly.
I'm cool under enemy fire.
If I fall, she can crawl right under the wire.

When I'm caustic and cold, she might dare to be bold -
ease me round to her warm way of thinking:
fill me up from the cup of love that she's drinking.
And I find, given time. I can bend like a willow.
She bends like a willow
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Cover art for Bends Like A Willow lyrics by Jethro Tull

Pretty straight forward - a man talking about how set he is/rigid/cold and his woman that is flexible/adaptable/warm - she improves him.

If you've ever seen a giant weeping willow (tree) you'd understand fully. They are beautiful elements in nature with their long branches that sway in the wind. I grew up around many weeping willows; we used to play sports and games with them overhead, but we were told by our elders never to climb them. They were very special trees. Sorry for the uninvited lesson; today is a day of reminiscing.

Cover art for Bends Like A Willow lyrics by Jethro Tull

just adding a bit of elder wisdom here...having just taken a basketmaking class from Julia Parker, i learned that willow is incredibly flexible. and strong. (it was the favored material for several types of working baskets-for fishing and trapping-even gathering). it is difficult to split by hand without a lot of practice. she was an expert at splitting the willow. in fact, her book that just came out is titled, "Scrape the Willow until it Sings". love the song- one can imagine many additional & subtle interpretations along these lines.

Cover art for Bends Like A Willow lyrics by Jethro Tull

I' d like Tull fans to express their opinions about the following verses:

''..With a fully armed angel to cover me quickly. I'm cool under enemy fire. If I fall, she can crawl right under the wire. ''

So in my opinion she can crawl right under the wire to continue the mission doing that not so straightforwardly, as a man can do. But a female friend of mine while discussing the song with me has said, that she d' rather think of kinda sister of mercy who will save her wounded friend from the battlefield. What conception seem to be more relevant for you personally: mine ( continuation of the mission) or my friend's ( rescuing a wounded friend and lover). Does the interpretation from your point of view depend of the listener's gender? Everyone is welcome to express his/her opinioin/

 
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