Minstrel In The Gallery

The minstrel in the gallery is actually Ian Anderson himself... In order for you tocomprehend the image this song is describing, take a look at the cover art of "Minstrel in the Gallery"

This song describes all the everyday people, with their weakness and their ignorance, but in a loving way. The minstrel is just an observer, watching them in apathy, trying to understand them as well as tease them (just like when you tease someone in order to make him think, or just to get a chance to check their reaction)

In the end of the song, the minstrel doesn't need any looking glass to know himself. A stare at the people faces is just as efficient

The song is about self realisation...how we look down at people and scorn them...the Minstrel does this to his audience, But throughout the gig he watches the audience and sees himself in them. He realises...as we should that we are all equal and the same.

to me, the minstrel in the gallery is a metaphor for the "god that lives in you and me" mentioned in "My God" on the aqualung album

the gallery is the upper landing so to speak and the minstrel is the upper you so to speak

up in the gallery observing looking down from on high, the ancient metaphor that your conciousness is really god having an experience in your body, he is thus the minstrel in the gallery, he makes the music, he leads the band it's all metaphor.

he looks down on the "rabbit run" referenced in the song "skating away" in the line "you're a rabbit on the run" a metaphor for someone lost in their lower self so they are "on the run" or in fear as they are not understanding their own fears and terrors while lost in a lower mode of conciousness so to speak

he throws away his looking glass

he "falls awake" he wakens or rather we waken to him in us

and we realise that he is in fact all of us

once we let go of our attachment to the separateness of body and ego etc etc we learn that we are indeed all one, god having a separate experience in all of us but that ultimately

he will call the band down to the stage and look on all the friends he made

like the lyric

when all is one and one is all

or here in this lyric

the pretender is barred & cannot enter while the true son is welcome anytime two men in the field but only one has a hope the other is blind and has more than enough rope when push comes to shove you'll know who is who but wrap your mind around this both of them are you!

yes minstrel in the gallery to me is masterful metaphor for the idea that we are part animal part god

and this minstrel, this god in us, look at what he does in the song

through all the quirky ugliness and ambiguity of life he brings forth his son

his band of merry men

his friends

his very own

Great album.

The word "Overfed" should be in brackets as it describes the TV documentary makers, whereas "undertakers" doesn't. Some places have "overfed and undertakers" in brackets but this would be grammatically incorrect, and Ian was a stickler for correct grammar. It's just the same as saying TV documentary makers and undertakers, but a couple of extra syllables are needed. "Overfed" is a means of filling the verse.

Interestingly, if you do an internet search for "overfed and undertakers" it returns only references to this song. The phrase is not used in any other context anywhere in literature of any kind.

OMG, I love this song!!! The part where he says, "He pulverized the pumkin-eaters" always makes me smile. I think it's the way he laughs when he says "pumpkin-eaters". = )