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| Ian Anderson Source |
I've been listening to this fellow's music for a very long time, over fifty years as a matter of fact. The founder and leader of Jethro Tull (the band not the agriculturist), Ian Anderson was born in Scotland and what attracted me to the band's music was that he plays the flute.
Flute? In a rock band?
Well, Jethro Tull is far more than a rock band. Their music has evolved over the years and has always gotten my attention. Their music got me through some very rough times in the '70s, and for that I will always love them.
Give this one a listen, and give it some thought, the source under Ian's photo has a good article on this song, one of my favorites.
There's a sadness to it, but it's also of great comfort.
The lyrics:
Life's a Long Song
Ian Anderson
When you're falling awake
And you take stock of the new day
And you hear your voice croak
As you choke on what you need to say
Well, don't you fret, don't you fear
I will give you good cheer
Life's a long song
Life's a long song
Life's a long song
If you wait then your plate I will fill
As the verses unfold
And your soul suffers the long day
And the twelve o'clock gloom, spins the room
You struggle on your way
Well, don't you sigh, don't you cry
Lick the dust from your eye
Life's a long song
Life's a long song
Life's a long song
We will meet in the sweet light of dawn
As the Baker Street train spills your pain
All over your new dress
And the symphony sounds underground
Put you under duress
Well, don't you squeal as the heel
Grinds you under the wheels
Life's a long song
Life's a long song
Life's a long song
But the tune ends too soon for us all
But the tune ends too soon for us all
Sometimes far too soon.
All that being said, I am feeling better.
Very glad to hear you're feeling better. Travel and enjoying those sweet little germ factories tends to get the bug going.
ReplyDeleteInteresting your posting. I'm re-reading Heinlein's Time Enough for Love and instead of chapters it's in musical coda.
SNIP A coda is a passage at the end of a piece of music that brings the music to a close. It can be as simple as a few measures or as complex as an entire section. It is based on extensions or reelaborations of thematic material previously heard. A coda is also a musical symbol with crosshairs used to organize complex musical repetitions. The term coda comes from the Latin word cauda, which means “tail”
I do enjoy Heinlein.
DeleteGood tune forthis old man this morning! I've been enjoying Ian's work since 1960-something. He's gotten better with age.
ReplyDeleteHe has indeed.
DeleteAs most of have.
DeleteNot all.
Delete"I am feeling better" - Thanks...now I have to go to Youtube and look up that "Holy Grrrrrail" scene. But, good to hear that you weathered the Kiddy Krud.
ReplyDelete"Jethro Tull," mpw there's a band I haven't thought of in a long time. I'm terrible with name of bands, song titles, and especially coming the two. I'll hear a piece of music that I like, check to see what band it was, and be surprised by it being "Jethro Tull." Surprised? Why surprised? One of the first pieces of music by Jethro Tull that I heard I really didn't like (see above about song titles), and set in my mind "I don't like this band." The shallowness of youth. Aslo, for some reason (see above comment about above above comments) I conflate "Jethro Tull with "Canned Heat." Must be the flute.
Canned Heat, haven't heard that name in a while, I know them for one song.
DeleteJetro Tull was/is one of my favorite bands growing up. Thanks for a bit of the history.
ReplyDeleteGlad you’re feeling better..
juvat
On the mend, better today, still weak as a congresscritter's intellect, but improving.
DeleteGlad you are feeling better as well, Sarge.
ReplyDeleteOn a lark, yesterday I used my fancy smartphone to create a countdown calendar of what I anticipate my lifespan to be based on male relatives and their lifespans (barring the unexpected, of course). It is a long shorter than one might like and a very good reminder of the brevity of life and that, for everyone, the song too soon for all of us.
Some folks are interested in how long they might live, I'm not. The timeline ends when it ends, don't care much when. Longer is better, but it's all good.
DeleteAh, Jethro Tull! I got hooked on them back in the 1970s back when I was in university. Still have a number of vinyls that I get out and play on occasion.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the length of life, I am one month away from my father's age when he died just shy of 73. One grandfather died when he was 37(1936) and the other when he was 66. Makes me a little nervous as I still have a few things to wrap up so that my wife who is 7 years younger will not have a lot to deal with. I have live my 3 score and 10 and am on borrowed time. I am a Christian so I do have that comfort.
God is in charge.
DeleteAh, Jethro Tull.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a micro-segment in the movie "Armageddon." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuobVyj1MIc
The past and passing is sad, the things that get left behind.
Glad you're feeling better.
I'd forgotten that clip, 'tis a good one.
DeleteJethro Tull, the author of 'Horse Hoe Husbandry' which I remember from studying history at secondary school in the UK. Jethro Tull the band, as we used to say back in the 70's 'lay some of the Tull on me man'.
ReplyDeleteBTW someone upthread mentioned Robert Heinlein. Try 'If this goes on '. Written in 1940 and later revised it's startlingly prophetic.
Retired
I shall seek that Heinlein volume.
DeleteSo glad you're feeling better! I had the delight of seeing Jethro Tull live back in the 1980's. Such a pleasure!! Now I'm off to look up that Heinlein mentioned above!! I do love this clan/group! I'm always finding new gems!
DeleteGoogle won't let me sign in as myself.
Mary F.
Mary F.
Google wouldn't let me answer your comment yesterday!
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