The Homeless in YOU – Aqualung Analysis

 

I promised more Jethro Tull was coming your way… so let’s dig in to Tull’s most popular album,

 

Aqualung

 

 

I WOULD HIGHLY ENCOURAGE taking a quick listen to the song before reading this blog, listen to it on Spotify through the link HERE

 

Many people recognize the rugged-looking man on the cover, of who many assume is supposed to be the band’s leader, songwriter and front-flautist Ian Anderson. While there is some resemblance, the meaning of the cover is revealed upon digging deeper into the creation of the album and the first song.

 

 

Ian and his then wife, INSERT NAME, had photographed the homeless around London. One particular image stood out to Anderson: the image that inspired the art of the album cover. The idea that the homeless exist, in the background of the rest of human society, holding the commonplace image of filth and the rejection of success, became the meaning of the cover.

 

The first song, also titled Aqualung, encapsulates this concept that society’s image of the homeless in 1971 symbolized the evil urges and disappointment in all of us.

 

 

The song begins with a riff that many call iconic in the world of rock and roll: If people recognize any Tull, it’s either Thick as a Brick or Aqaulung. After the thunderous riff from the Marshall amp from guitarist Sir Martin Barre, Anderson comes into the song with the words.

 

“Sitting on the park bench! Eyeing little girls with bad intent!”

 

This line immediately depicts a person of terrible intent. Specifically the homeless, who are being depicted as crawling around metropolitan areas plotting the worst for those more favorable than themselves.

 

“Snots running down his nose, greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes! Oh, Aqualung…”

 

The continuous development of a person who is disgusting, greasy and not clean enough for mainstream society furthers this idea of rejected thoughts and evil lurking within our own communities.

 

After a couple more lines of description and Englishness, the hard rock beginning of the song transitions to a much calmer setting.

 

“Aqualung my friend, don’t you start away uneasy, you poor old sod, you see its only me.”

 

This is the line that really sticks with you emotionally – the narrator, or in this case Ian Anderson, who is describing these filthy creatures like they are so removed from society, suddenly becomes sympathetic for them and comforts them.

 

 

The song moves from the heavy guitar and high energy that casts out the homeless to a quieter place where every musician plays lighter and the tone becomes more relaxed. In terms of functionality, this movement of style serves to relay to the audience that they should relate to “Aqualung” character. In the recent live performances of the song I’ve seen, the lyrics are changed to “Aqualung my shadow…” implying that we all have an Aqualung figure following us where we go and reminding us of our failures. Specifically as a society, the welfare of citizens fails when people cannot afford to live and are forced onto the streets. The homeless – Aqualung – represent both societal and individual failure.

 

 

An Aqualung is a respiratory device used by scuba divers to regulate their breathing – to keep them alive in deadly conditions. Despite the conditions of the homeless and the effects of peoples’ failures, most manage to stay afloat in the cruel world we all have to live in. This is the true meaning of Aqualung – we all have things we wished we had never seen, things we had never done or thought of. But the truth is that we have these thoughts and regretful actions from our past or even present, and the only way we can survive is to look back at your past self and say “you poor old sod, you see it’s only me.”

 

 

This song shaped me for many reasons. Besides for its meaning, the fluctuation of moods excited me and its heavy intro riff as well as the guitar solo always inspired to play with as much energy and enthusiasm as I could. The meaning of the song I always found to be self-reflective in nature, and usually causes to me think about my recent actions and the effects they have had on me and those around me.

 

Stay safe out there, and always care for the Aqualung in your life, which after all is only a part of yourself.

 

 

Have some tea and a stroll through Leicester Square for me – JF

WOAH Black Betty… you-made-my-band

 

I have entertained you all with tales of the exalted School of Rock for long enough. This quest may have been the catalyst for my musical odyssey, but ‘twas not my most impressive venture.

 

 

While many people know “someone in high school who was in a band,” not many people realize what it takes to get an independent project (whether it be a rock band or not) up and running. It is so easy for one member of the band, after a week or two of trying to learn songs to say “I do not have time for this, …” or “I am not really sure if I can make this commitment…” because they do not want to add one more activity to their never-ending list of chores life has put on their schedule. Without a system forcing young people to do something, like in school or at home, it is easy to let something go.

 

 

To my surprise, when I asked a few of my friends to help me record a song I wrote, one being from School of Rock and two being a friend and a friend of a friend, they accepted! After we made a very raw, Garageband recording in my high school’s recording studio, we thought that the “song that peaked the gains and always came out too distorted” was good enough (in terms of composition at least) to start a real band.

 

 

 

Under my WISE recommendation (sarcasm), I recommended that the first song the group should try and play together was Black Betty by Ram Jam. I’m sure you’ve all heard the “Oh Black Betty, bam-l-lam” in a Sheetz before, but just in case here’s a link:

 

 

As we practiced the song in our bassist (Vishal)’s basement, we soon came to realize that the song was much more challenging than high school sophomore’s could handle on their first attempt at playing together.

 

 

Around 1:30 in the song, the timing loses ITS MIND. To this day I cannot pinpoint the time signature or where the up and down beats lie in this portion of the song. I challenge everyone to listen from 1:25 – 1:45 and try to count along with the beat. If you can do it, I’ll give you a hug and my never-ending friendship.

 

 

Upon the discovery of these technical obstacles, I thought we were doomed as a band. The unnamed group of young teenagers with hopes and dreams of musical success would be shot down right then and there, in that moment, solely because of a poor first song choice.

 

 

However, instead of cracking under failure and disbanding, we laughed through it. We burst into fits every time we messed up instead of getting frustrated, and we broke out into absolute musical insanity by the 10^th mistake-ridden run-through. I think this more than anything defined my band as well as my outlook on life – rather than seeing defeat as a soul-crushing obstacle, see it as a place for improvement and humorous chaos.

 

This environment is where Elastic Blur was born.

 

 

More to come about my band and all things music!

 

Stay safe out there, it’s chilling. – JF