"I am the wind to fill your sail.
I am the cross to take your nail:
A singer of these ageless times.
With kitchen prose and gutter rhymes.
Songs from the wood make you feel much better."
The song's a social satire on a public view of artists and songwriters. Of course it's mainly just a nice intro thingo, but yeah, 'I am the cross to take your nail' might even be seen as a comment to groups like songmeanings.net (yeah i know the internet was not around back then) that strikes me as an observation of how music is generally just a board on which to post your own interpretations, the fact that he alludes to religion is probably because he doesn't like dogma and is voicing a distaste for the way people use music to get their points across (in an extreme way Charles Manson comes to mind)
'Songs from the wood' is his name for stock music which people throw ideas at, and 'make you feel much better' can be taken at face value: unloading hangups and voicing opinions through criticism makes you feel Much better.
Songs from the Wood is probably a reference to 'beer from the wood', i.e. the real thing (See CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, who saved decent beer in Britain from tatseless too-cold fizz)
Songs from the Wood is probably a reference to 'beer from the wood', i.e. the real thing (See CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, who saved decent beer in Britain from tatseless too-cold fizz)
I'm not sure Ian would disapprove of using music to make a point, he did that quite a lot. On the Aqualung record, on "Queen and Country" and "Back Door Angels" from War Child, Thick As A Brick and A Passion Play, and "Farm on the Freeway" from Crest of a Knave are examples.
I'm not sure Ian would disapprove of using music to make a point, he did that quite a lot. On the Aqualung record, on "Queen and Country" and "Back Door Angels" from War Child, Thick As A Brick and A Passion Play, and "Farm on the Freeway" from Crest of a Knave are examples.
"I am the wind to fill your sail. I am the cross to take your nail: A singer of these ageless times. With kitchen prose and gutter rhymes. Songs from the wood make you feel much better." The song's a social satire on a public view of artists and songwriters. Of course it's mainly just a nice intro thingo, but yeah, 'I am the cross to take your nail' might even be seen as a comment to groups like songmeanings.net (yeah i know the internet was not around back then) that strikes me as an observation of how music is generally just a board on which to post your own interpretations, the fact that he alludes to religion is probably because he doesn't like dogma and is voicing a distaste for the way people use music to get their points across (in an extreme way Charles Manson comes to mind) 'Songs from the wood' is his name for stock music which people throw ideas at, and 'make you feel much better' can be taken at face value: unloading hangups and voicing opinions through criticism makes you feel Much better.
Songs from the Wood is probably a reference to 'beer from the wood', i.e. the real thing (See CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, who saved decent beer in Britain from tatseless too-cold fizz)
Songs from the Wood is probably a reference to 'beer from the wood', i.e. the real thing (See CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, who saved decent beer in Britain from tatseless too-cold fizz)
@urprobablyright
@urprobablyright
I'm not sure Ian would disapprove of using music to make a point, he did that quite a lot. On the Aqualung record, on "Queen and Country" and "Back Door Angels" from War Child, Thick As A Brick and A Passion Play, and "Farm on the Freeway" from Crest of a Knave are examples.
I'm not sure Ian would disapprove of using music to make a point, he did that quite a lot. On the Aqualung record, on "Queen and Country" and "Back Door Angels" from War Child, Thick As A Brick and A Passion Play, and "Farm on the Freeway" from Crest of a Knave are examples.