Gratitude ~ Jethro Tull

Greetings Dear Reader,

I am grateful for music in general.  It helps me feel things that I avoid feeling.  It is solace in times of woe.  It can punctuate my celebrations with exclamation beyond my skills.

Since I was nine a man and a band have been my favorite.  It helps that the man is the leader of the band.  I speak of the band Jethro Tull and the man Ian Anderson.  His music danced into my life just as my Grandfather heeded the call of the piper to that undiscovered country.  The music I first encountered was from the album Aqualung.  It is a fine place to start if you are seeking to acquaint yourself with this very fine music.

One of the things for which I am grateful is the depth of this music.  Fifty years later I still find new thoughts and new questions as I listen to the various albums.  When I was nine I was already reacting to the pains in my life by asking hard questions.  With my Grandfather gone no one seemed inclined to listen or give me real answers.  Songs like Hymn 43 and Wind Up posed and answered some of them.

The later albums tilled the soil of my mind for the vital encounter that would come five years down the road.  The music of Tull also required me to keep thinking instead of choosing and closing my mind.  As the years slipped through the glass the band and the man continue to challenge me to think.  The music remains complex and the lyrics require one to pay attention.  One does not passively listen to Tull.

The band is still together.  They will be in my state this summer.  I do not think a day passes where a Tull song does not dance through my thoughts.  I am most grateful for the lessons they teach me about God.  He is not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays.  What music reaches you Dear Reader?

Wind Up  – Ian Anderson

When I was young and they packed me off to school

And taught me how not to play the game,

I didn't mind if they groomed me for success,

Or if they said that I was just a fool.

So I left there in the morning

With their God tucked underneath my arm

Their half-assed smiles and the book of rules.

So I asked this God a question

And by way of firm reply,

He said -- I'm not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays.

So to my old headmaster (and to anyone who cares):

Before I'm through I'd like to say my prayers --

I don't believe you:

You had the whole damn thing all wrong

He's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays.

Well you can excommunicate me on my way to Sunday school

And have all the bishops harmonize these lines

How do you dare tell me that I'm my father's son,

When that was just an accident of birth.

I'd rather look around me -- compose a better song

'Cause that's the honest measure of my worth.

In your pomp and all your glory you're a poorer man than me,

As you lick the boots of death born out of fear.

When I was young and they packed me off to school

And taught me how not to play the game,

I didn't mind if they groomed me for success,

Or if they said that I was just a fool.

So I left there in the morning

With their God under my arm

Their half-assed smiles and the book of rules.

Well you can excommunicate me on my way to Sunday school

And have all the bishops harmonize these lines --

When I was young and they packed me off to school

And taught me how not to play the game,

I didn't mind if they groomed me for success,

Or if they said that I was just a fool.

So to my old headmaster (and to anyone who cares):

Before I'm through I'd like to say my prayers –

Well you can excommunicate me on my way to Sunday school

And have all the bishops harmonize these lines --

I don't believe you:

You had the whole damn thing all wrong --

He's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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