Annotations
Bungle in The Jungle
It is important to reaffirm Ian's
perception of himself as an outsider. His opinion
of the American counter-culture? "I HATED
the hippies. Love and peace and flower power and
nuts and berries..." (Anderson, 4). This
statement is very reminiscent of Bungle in the
Jungle "Down
by the waterhole - drunk every Friday,eating
their nuts - saving their raisins for
Sunday." The Jungle of the
song is clearly an allegory on city life. The
song could probably best be described as a very
impressionistic criticism of the American urban
population as perceived by Ian Anderson. In 1971
he described America in an interview:
"Everybody is sort of grabbing at something,
out for themselves. Particularly on the East
Coast... You get the feeling that you're in the
midst of some incredible game... everybody is
rude, pushy, grabby..." (Lewis, 24). This
comes through in the line, "I'll write on your
tombstone, 'I thank you for dinner.' This game
that we animals play is a winner."
Also, the rhyming of the title, and the use of
the nonsense word "Bungle" in the
phrase "Let's
Bungle in the Jungle" is
very reminiscent of American slang terms
originating in "bop talk" (Lipsitz
121).
* Judson C. Caswell
Back Door Angels
So in 1974, Ian still doesn't
associate himself with the popular urban culture.
He does access the conventions of that culture to
give form to his criticisms, however. This is
possible for him because of his security in his
own growing sense of individual identity. Clues
to the nature of this identity are found in a
number of places on the album. First off, in the
song 'Back Door Angels' he offers the
proposition, "Think I'll sit down and
invent some fool - some Grand Court Jester."
This is the first verbalization of that
particular image, though that has been the
approximate content of his stage performance all
along. He reminds the listener of his role as an
entertainer and subversive commentator. But right
away he describes the limitations of this jester.
The next time this jester, he has invented, casts
the dice, "he'll
throw a six or two" referring to
craps where a first rolel of a two is a loss and
a six gives you a chance to continue. Anderson
doesn't offer any easy chances or quick fixes.
Any change in the environment that he sees as
bringing out the worst in us will come about over
a long period of time and perhaps only with much
effort. We will see how this theme will reoccur
esp. on 'Songs From The Wood' and on
'Stormwatch'.
* Judson C. Caswell
Ian Anderson in his
'court jester' outfit during the Warchild tour 1974/1975.
But there is more
in this beautiful song that needs to be
discussed. The song is in my opinion about the
happiness we all are looking for and the hope for
a better life, symbolized as "back-door
angels", who
sneak in and out and who are beyond our control.
We want to lure these angels into our lives but
they can't be forced into it ("they didn't
see me wink my eye"), since they only grace our lives when
they please to do so ("she smiled and
I thing she winked her eye"). They bring calmness and rest ( " 'Tis said
they put we men to sleep with just a
whisper"), light
and enlightment ("they light the dark
hours") joy,
quality and beauty in our lives ("They grow all
their roses red, and paint our skies blue"). However, not all of us are granted
with fortune: these angels "drop one penny
in every second bowl", which is very confusing for it makes "half the
beggars lose".
Then our narrator shows us what those who are
unfortunate do to reconcile themselves with their
fate: they turn to religion or concepts that give
them the strength to go on: "why do the
faithful have such a will to believe in
something? And call it the name they choose". Whether it is God, some idol,
socialism or whatever, they will discover in the
end that it will not solve their problems or give
them satisfaction or relief from "the
tension of the fray": "having chosen
nothing". The
imagery here brings us close to the critique on
organized religion as expressed on 'Aqualung'.
* Jan Voorbij
Something I've learned about the
lyrics of Ian Anderson is to take nothing for
granted. Every word he writes is there for a
reason. For this reason I feel that there
is yet more to the song "Back Door
Angels". Let us not overlook the fact that
Ian uses the word "angel".
I think that the back door angel is the messenger
of "evil" whereas the front door angel
is the operative of "good". I use
quotes because Ian says in the intro that God is
not all good and Satan is not all bad. I think
that, in fact, is the theme of this song. The
back door angels come in the front door because
we accept the fact that evil can be fun! Ian
notes how a bit of vice can perhaps "put we men to
sleep" (keeping them content and
secure -- i.e. escapism), "make
dying dogs linger" (for example:
medicinal marajuana?), and such activities.
People who are having a llittle fun see life in a
better way, hence the red roses and blue skies.
But some people begging for fun end up as simply
alcoholics or crackheads, et al. ("half the beggars lose").
The second half of the song is about
"good". The Court Jester, while it may
very well be IA, is God. As we all know, good
doesn't really triumph over evil, they both
continue to go at it ("he'll
roll a six or two"). Note the
gambling reference; gambling is considered a
vice, but even God gambles. This becomes clear in
the final lines: the lone front door angel has to
come in the back door, because the good is no
fun. She is indistinguishable from the back-door
angel, with hair a golden brown. She winks her
eye: this is the beggar's way of beckoning the
back door angel. Even the "good"
indulge in the bad sometimes. Notice that there
is only one front door angel but twelve back door
angels. There is more bad than good, says Ian.
* Ian MacFarland
Only Solitaire
He describes his persona through
the eyes of a rock critic in the song 'Only
Solitaire'. This songs not only clearly defines
him in Court Jester terms, it also serves to show
his sense of isolation from the rock music world,
particularly when he poses the question, of
himself, "Well,
who the hell can he be when he's never had V.D.,
and he doesn't even sit on toilet seats?"
These are his perceptions of the prerequisites
for belonging to a rock culture, and hence he is
not interested in being a part. He refers to his "oratory
prowess" and contrasts that
with his "lame-brained
antics". He concludes, "And
every night his act's the same and so it must be
all a game of chess he's playing..."
The final retort? "But you're wrong,
Steve: you see, it's Only Solitaire".
The song clearly shows a disdain for the values
of the culture, a strong self-image modeled after
a jester, and an strong individualism.
Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of The New
Day
The final theme voiced on
Warchild is the historical dislocation of
society. This requiem for the loss of historical
perspective is the ever-popular 'Skating Away on
the Thin Ice of the New Day'. The opening line, "Meanwhile
back in the year one, when you belonged to
no-one" alludes to a lack of
personal autonomy: you didn't used to belong to
someone, but now you do. This is reiterated. "You
were bred for humanity", and
could expect the rights of humanity, until you
are, "sold
to society", at which time
you no longer belong to yourself. You are, "a
million generations removed from expectations of
being who you really want to be".
You have no control over who you are or what you
do, because you have no past, no tradition to
hold on to. You are "spinning in your
emptiness" and feel the need
to pray. He speaks of a need to ground ourselves
in some greater scheme, "Looking for a sign the
the Universal Mind has written you into the
Passion Play". Living each
new day in the present tense, lacking the
orientation of history is like skating out and
away on thin ice: "The story is too damn
real and in the present tense".
* Judson C.
Caswell
The Third Hoorah
'The Third Hoorah' sort of sounds
like a pep-rally type of inspirational speech,
obviously playing to the audience's good side ("Sweet
child how do you do today?").
It sounds like a man trying to recruit more
soldiers ("Dance
with the WarChild, the WarChild, Hoorah! ").
It's kind of suggesting that part of us wants to
get dirty and kill some people ("In the heart of your
heart, there's the tiniest part of an urge to
live to the death"), that
life itself is a battle so why shy away ("Seek
that which lies within lies waiting to begin the
fight of your life that is everyday").
However, to let us on to his real meaning, Ian
has included several double entendres: on
inspection: "live
to the death" is a rather
preposterous phrase, almost saying we want to
die. Also, "to
strike life in the inner child's breast"
sounds like you're awakening a part of yourself
that needs to be expressed, but it also can mean
to pierce a young boy's heart with your sword.
Again, like the title song, possibly another
veiled anti-war statement.
* Ian MacFarland
Two Fingers
'Two Fingers' is an adaptation of
the powerfull and imaginative 'Lick
Your Fingers Clean', that originally was
recorded during the Aqualung-sessions (1971), but
Ian decided that 'Wind Up' was a more appropriate
finale for that album. The adaptation consists of
a different musical phrasing and choice of
instruments and a variation of time schemes. The
lyrics were changed to fit in with the WarChild
context:
"Take your mind
off your election and try to get it straight.
And don't pretend perfection: you'll be crucified
too late."
was skipped, while the verselines:
"the hard-headed
social worker who bathes his hands in blood,
will welcome you with arms held high and cover
you with mud"
were replaced by:
"the hard-headed
miracle worker who bathes his hand in blood,
will welcome you to the final nod and cover you
with mud".
Eventually 'Lick Your Fingers Clean'
made it to the '20 Years Of Jethro Tull' album
(1988), classed among the 'Flawed Gems And The
Other Side Of Tull'.
* Jan Voorbij
This song is fairly obviously and
with tongue in cheek about death and Judgement
Day, "the
Weighing-In", but it is also
(surprise!) a criticism of the church. The
beginning of the song is about when everybody
comes together at wherever and prepares to be
judged. Then there is the "miracle worker",
Jesus, representing the church as a whole in a
rather sarcastic way. Jesus passes the hat, and
says, "better pay up." The 'parable'
about the man fallling on the
train tracks is a subtle way of saying
"if you don't want to die a horrible death
and go to hell, better give to the church".
The phrase "you'd
better lick two fingers clean"
is a very, very subtle message: stay with me
here. If you want to clean your first two fingers
by licking them, you lick them and then wipe off
whatever grime with your thumb. Now, rubbing your
first two fingers with your thumb is a sign that
means "pay up" (I don't know if it's
universal, but we have it here in America and
England). So the very last line "lick two fingers clean
before you shake his hand" means
if you want to meet God, pay up. Obviously this
is a jab at the church business: god doesn't need
money, he just wants good people.
* Ian MacFarland
In the sense of Lloyd's quote, Ian has
truly established himself as a minstrel. His disdain for
the popular icons and his irreverent and coarse stage
presence, as well as the acoustic music that he tends to
favor, all qualify him for that image. His acceptance of
that role gives him a grounding in English history. And
with the realization of a sympathetic grounding in
English history, it was only a short time before the
music began to follow ever closer to the themes, images,
and styles of English folk song as we will see on 'Songs
From The Wood'.
* Judson C.Caswell
(SCC, vol. 4, issue 32, December 1993) ; adaptation and
additional information Jan Voorbij and John Benninghouse;
Works Cited:1. Anderson, Ian. "Trouser Press
Magazine." Autodiscography, (Oct. 1982), 1-13.; 2.
Densflow, Robin. "Rolling Stone." Jethro Tull's
Ian Anderson Plans a Movie; He'll Play God, (11/8/73), 14
; 3. Hardy, Phil and Dave Laing Ed. Encyclopedia of Rock,
New York: Schirmer Books, 1987; 4. Lewis, Grover.
"Rolling Stone." Hopping, Grimacing, Twitching,
Gasping, Lurching, Rolling, Paradiddling, Flinging,
Gnawing and Gibbering with Jethro Tull. (7/22/71), 24-27;
5. Lipsitz, George. Time Passages. Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press, 1990 ; 6. Lloyd, A.L. Folk
Song in England. New York: International Publishers, 1967
; 7. Sims, Judith. "Rolling Stone." Tull on
Top: Ian Anderson Speaks His Mind, (3/27/75), 12; 8.
Stewart, Bob. Pagan Imagery in English Folksong. N.J.:
Humanities Press Inc. 1977. 9. Torres, Ben Fong.
"Rolling Stone." Jethro Tull and His Fabulous
Tool, (4/19/69); 10. Rees, David. Minstrels In The
Gallery, A History Of Jethro Tull, Firefly Publ.,
Wembley, 1998, 62-67. 11. Gaines, Steve. "Circus
Rraves Magazine", Nov. 1974.
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