Aqualung (song)

Infobox Song
Name = Aqualung


SorA = album
Artist = Jethro Tull
Album = Aqualung
Released = March 19, 1971
track_no = 1
Recorded = December 1970 - February 1971 at Island Studios, London
Genre = Progressive rock
Length = 6:32
Writer = Ian Anderson/Jennie Anderson
Composer =
Label = Reprise(original US) Chrysalis/Capitol (US re-issue)
Producer = Ian Anderson and Terry Ellis
Chart position =
prev = None
prev_no =
next = "Cross-Eyed Mary"
next_no = 2

"Aqualung" is a song by English progressive rock band Jethro Tull, the title track from their first U.S. Top 10 album, "Aqualung", which reached #7 in June 1971 [Rock Movers & Shakers by Dafydd Rees & Luke Crampton, 1991 Billboard Books.] . The song was written by the band's frontman, Ian Anderson, and his then-wife, Jennie Franks. The original recording runs for 6 minutes and 32 seconds. Like many of Jethro Tull's songs, "Aqualung" tells a story —in this case, the story of a homeless man. The opening lyrics are "Sitting on a park bench / Eying little girls with bad intent".

In an interview with Ian Anderson in the September 1999 Guitar World he said:

Aqualung wasn't a concept album, although a lot of people thought so. The idea came about from a photograph my wife at the time took of a tramp in London. I had feelings of guilt about the homeless, as well as fear and insecurity with people like that who seem a little scary. And I suppose all of that was combined with a slightly romanticized picture of the person who is homeless but yet a free spirit, who either won't or can't join in society's prescribed formats.

So from that photograph and those sentiments, I began writing the words to 'Aqualung.' I can remember sitting in a hotel room in L.A., working out the chord structure for the verses. It's quite a tortured tangle of chords, but it was meant to really drag you here and there and then set you down into the more gentle acoustic section of the song. [ [http://www.tullpress.com/gwsept99.htm Jethro Tull Press: Guitar World, September 1999 ] ]

Reportedly, Jimmy Page entered the studio while Martin Barre was recording the guitar solo. It was during the first take, Martin didn't know Jimmy much, and was a little ashamed. Jimmy waved to Martin from the control room while he was playing, and Martin stopped playing for a short second, and waved with his right hand, while still sustaining the sound with the left hand. The solo on the record is actually this first take. Indeed, there is a short sustain with feedback during the solo. Anderson once joked that if you turn up the volume you can even hear Martin waving.Fact|date=October 2007

The Aqualung character is later mentioned in "Cross-Eyed Mary", which follows this song on the album.

The song is a playable track on "Rock Band 2".

Recorded appearances

* "Aqualung" (1971)
* "Bursting Out" (1978)
* "Slipstream" (1981)
* "A Classic Case" (1985)
* "Original Masters" (1985)
* "20 Years of Jethro Tull" (1988)
* "" (1988)
* "The Very Best of Jethro Tull" (2001)
* "Living with the Past" (2002)
* "A New Day Yesterday" (2003)
* "Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull" (2005)
* "Aqualung Live" (2005)

References

External links

*
* [http://remus.rutgers.edu/JethroTull/Albums/Aqualung-lyrics.html Aqualung Lyrics]
* [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1422 Songfacts "Aqualung" entry]