I don't think there's much question that this is something of a biographical song about Tull itself, but in a larger sense I see it as a general, slightly wistful nostalgic observation - looking back on how things were when you were young and struggling, just barely getting by, looking desperately for your first break, hoping that things would get better someday -- but not really appreciating that in some ways those times had a happiness that later success would never recapture.
Thematically, I couple this song with The Chequered Flag and more recently as I am in my "golden years" with At Last, Finally as something of a life trilogy. Yeah, I know I'm weird.
I don't think there's much question that this is something of a biographical song about Tull itself, but in a larger sense I see it as a general, slightly wistful nostalgic observation - looking back on how things were when you were young and struggling, just barely getting by, looking desperately for your first break, hoping that things would get better someday -- but not really appreciating that in some ways those times had a happiness that later success would never recapture.
Thematically, I couple this song with The Chequered Flag and more recently as I am in my "golden years" with At Last, Finally as something of a life trilogy. Yeah, I know I'm weird.