Jethro Tull LYRICS

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Jethro Tull - 17 - lyrics

I remember when we had a lot of things to do ---
Impressed by all the words we read
And the heroes that we knew.
Climb on your your dream --- a dream of our own making
To find a place that we could later lose
To whatever time would bring.
We were seventeen and the cakeman was affecting you ---
Moving you to greater things (in a lesser way)
You had to prove.
The clock struck summertime. you were going round in circles now.
Wishing you were seventeen. at twenty-one, it was a long time gone.
And now here you are. youre locked in your own excuse.
The circles getting smaller every day.
Youre busy planning the next fifty years.
So stay the way you are and keep your head down to the same old ground.
Just paint your picture boy until you find
A closed circles better than an open line.
Yes stay the way you are. I got a circle thats the same as yours.
It may be bigger, but Ive more to lose.
Who is the luckier man --- me or you?

Jethro Tull - A Minstrel In The Gallery - lyrics

The Minstrel in the Gallery looked down upon the smiling faces.
He met the gazes - observed the spaces between the old men's cackle.
He brewed a song of love and hatred - oblique suggestions - and he waited.
He polarized the pumpkin-eaters - static-humming panel-beaters - freshly
day-glo'd factory cheaters (salaried and collar-scrubbing).
He titillated men-of-action - belly warming, hands still rubbing on the
parts they never mention.
He pacified the nappy-suffering, infant-bleating one-line jokers - T.V.
documentary makers (over-fed and undertakers).
Sunday paper backgammon players - family-scarred and women-haters.
Then he called the band down to the stage and he looked at all the friends
he'd made.
[Instrumental]
The Minstrel in the Gallery looked down upon the smiling faces.
He met the gazes - observed the spaces in between the old men's cackle.
And he brewed a song of love and hatred - oblique suggestions - and he
waited.
He polarized the pumpkin-eaters - static-humming panel-beaters.
The Minstrel in the Gallery looked down on the rabbit-run.
And threw away his looking-glass - saw his face in everyone.
Hey!
He titillated men-of-action - belly warming, hands still rubbing on the
parts they never mention (salaried and collar-scrubbing).
He pacified the nappy-suffering, infant-bleating one-line jokers - T.V.
documentary makers (over-fed and undertakers).
Sunday paper backgammon players - family-scarred and women-haters.
Then he called the band down to the stage and he looked at all the friends
he'd made.
The Minstrel in the Gallery looked down on the rabbit-run.
And he threw away his looking-glass and saw his face in everyone.
Hey!
The Minstrel in the Gallery. Yes!
Looked down upon the smiling faces.
He met the gazes. Yeah!
Mm. The Minstrel in the Gallery

Jethro Tull - ... & The Mouse Police Never Sleeps - lyrics

Muscled, black with steel-green eye
Swishing through the rye grass
With thoughts of mouse-and-apple pie.
Tail balancing at half-mast.
...and the mouse police never sleeps ---
Lying in the cherry tree.
Savage bed foot-warmer of purest feline ancestry.
Look out, little furry folk!
Hes the all-night working cat.
Eats but one in every ten ---
Leaves the others on the mat.
...and the mouse police never sleeps ---
Waiting by the cellar door.
Window-box town crier;
Birth and death registrar.
With claws that rake a furrow red ---
Licensed to multilate.
From warm milk on a lazy day
To dawn patrol on hungry hate.
...no, the mouse police never sleeps ---
Climbing on the ivy.
Windy roof-top weather*****.
Warm-blooded night on a cold tile.

Jethro Tull - A Better Moon - lyrics

I see you better now, shaded in deeper blue.
Hardly needing to carry the find-your-way lamp
Down to the river.
Tonight flies a better moon.
Sad water buffalo lie fast near the shallows;
A splash revealing the fly-catching fishes.
Dark gods silently watching.
Tonight flies a better moon.
I guess youve known lovers here, compliant in passion;
Softly laid in the old reed bed, harshly
Lit in the noon sun.
Tonight flies a better moon.
Now cloaked in this milky light, new as the virgin dawn,
Shrouded sweetly in all kinds of mystery,
You turn, smile and then are gone.
Tonight flies a better moon.

Jethro Tull - A Small Cigar - lyrics

A small cigar can change the world
I know, Ive done it frequently at parties
Where Ive won all the guests attention
With my generosity and suave gentlemanly bearing
A little flat tin case is all you need
Breast-pocket conversation opener
And one of those ciggie lighters that look rather good
You can throw away when empty
Must be declared a great success
My small cigars all vanish within minutes
Excuse me, mine host, that I may visit
A nearby tobacconist
To replenish my supply of small cigars
And make the party swing again
I know my clothes seem shabby
And dont fit this hampstead soiree
Where unread copies of rolling stone
Well-thumbed playboys
Decorate the hi-fi stereo record shelves
If you ask me theyre on their way
To upper-middle-class oblivion
The stupid twits, they roll their only
One cigarette between them
My small cigars redundant now
In the haze of smoking pleasure
Call it a day
Get the hell away
Go down the cafe
For a cup of real tea
By the tube station, theres a drunk old fool
Who sells papers in the rush hour
I hand to him ten small cigars
He smiles, says, ``son, God bless you
A small cigar
Has changed his world, my friend
A small cigar
Has changed the world again
A small cigar . . .

Jethro Tull - 4.w.d. - lyrics

Met a man just the other day ---
Said his name was jim. boy, won't you take a look!
Got a car for you --- it's a real steal
Cleaned it right down --- new brakes, clutch and here's the hook
Yes, it's a 4.w.d. (low ratio)
Cash to jim. i took it home
Through the deep mud. plugged happy as a boy in sand
Fitted wide tyres, spotlight, a winch as well
And some brush bars up front to complete the plan
Now it's really a 4.w.d. (low ratio)
Take you down to the edge of town
Where the road stops, we start to hold the ground
Well, i'm blessed! got traction in a special way
Hold the roll bar, slide back, feel me pull it round
Let me show you my 4.w.d. (low ratio)

Jethro Tull - A Gift Of Roses - lyrics

I count the hours: you count the days.
Together, we count the minutes in this passion play.
Walk dusty miles. and I ride that train
On a first class ticket, just to be with you again.
Picking up tired feet. back from a far horizon.
Cleaned up and brushed down. dressed to look the part.
Fresh from gods garden, I bring a gift of roses:
To stand in sweet spring water and press them to your heart.
Like the kipling cat, I walk alone -
Never inviting trouble, never casting the stone.
But this badge of honour is of tarnished tin.
Lightyour guiding beacon to bring this fisher in.

Jethro Tull - 4.W.D. (Low Ratio) - lyrics

Met a man just the other day ---
said his name was Jim. Boy, won't you take a look!
Got a car for you --- it's a real steal
Cleaned it right down --- new brakes, clutch and here's the hook
Yes, it's a 4.W.D. (low ratio)
Cash to Jim. I took it home
through the deep mud. Plugged happy as a boy in sand
Fitted wide tyres, spotlight, a winch as well
and some brush bars up front to complete the plan
Now it's really a 4.W.D. (low ratio)
Take you down to the edge of town
Where the road stops, we start to hold the ground
Well, I'm blessed! Got traction in a special way
Hold the roll bar, slide back, feel me pull it round
Let me show you my 4.W.D. (low ratio)

Jethro Tull - A Christmas Song - lyrics

Once in a royal David's city
Stood a lonely cattle shed
Where a mother held her baby.
You'd do well to remember the things he later said.
When you're stuffing yourselves at the Christmas parties
You'll just laugh when I tell you to take a running jump.
You're missing the point I'm sure does not need making:
The Christmas spirit is not what you drink.
So how can you laugh when your own mother's hungry,
And how can you smile when the reasons for smiling are wrong?
And if I've just messed up your thoughtless pleasures
Remember, if you wish, this is just a Christmas song.
(Hey! Santa! Pass us that bottle, will you

Jethro Tull - A Passion Play - lyrics

``do you still see me even here?
(the silver cord lies on the ground.)
``and so Im dead, the young man said --- over the hill
(not a wish away).
My friends (as one) all stand aligned although their taxis came
Too late.
There was / a rush along the fulham road.
There was / a hush in the passion play.
Such a sense of glowing in the aftermath / ripe with rich attainments
All imagined / sad misdeeds in disarray / the sore thumb screams aloud,
Echoing out of the passion play.
All the old familiar choruses come crowding in a different key:
Melodies decaying in sweet dissonance.
There was a rush / along the fulham road / into the ever-passion play.
And who comes here to wish me well?
A sweetly-scented angel fell.
She laid her head upon my disbelief and bathed me with her ever-smile.
And with a howl across the sand I go escorted by a band of gentlemen
In leather bound -- no-one (but someone to be found).
All along the icy wastes there are faces smiling in the gloom.
Roll up roll down,
Feeling unwound? -- step into the viewing room.
The cameras were all around.
Weve got you taped -- youre in the play.
Heres your i.d.
(ideal for identifying one and all.)
Invest your life in the memory bank -- ours the interest and we
Thank you.
The ice-cream lady wet her drawers, to see you in the passion play.
Take the prize for instant pleasure
Captain of the cricket team
Public speaking in all weathers
A knighthood from a queen.
All your best friends telephones never cooled from the heat of your hand.
Theres / a line in a front-page story / 13 horses that also-ran.
Climb in your old umbrella.
Does it have a nasty tear in the dome?
But / the rain only gets in sometimes and / the sun never leaves you alone.
Lover of the black and white -- its your first night.
The passion play / goes all the way / spoils your insight.
Tell me / how the babys made / how the ladys laid / why the old
Dog howls in sadness.
And your little sisters immaculate virginity wings away on the bony
Shoulders of a young horse named george who stole surreptitiously
Into her geography revision.
(the examining body examined her body.)
Actor of the low-high q, lets hear your view.
Peek at the lines upon your sleeves since your memory wont do.
Tell me / how the babys graded / how the ladys faded / why the old dogs
Howl with madness.
All of this and some of thats the only way to skin the cat.
And now youve lost a skin or two -- youre for us and we for you.
The dressing room is right behind
Weve got you taped -- youre in the play.
How does it feel to be in the play?
How does it feel to play the play?
How does it feel to be the play?
Man of passion rise again, we wont cross you out -- for we do love
You like a son -- of that theres no doubt.
Tell us / is it you who are here for our good cheer?
Or / are we here / for the glory / for the story / for the gory satisfaction
Of telling you how absolutely awful you really are?
There was / a rush along the fulham road.
There was / a hush in the passion play.
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