Artist: Jethro Tull Album: Original Masters {1985}

Happy and I'm smiling, walk a mile to drink your water
You know I'd love to love you and above you there's no other
We'll go walking out while others shout of war's disaster
Oh, we won't give in, let's go living in the past

Once I used to join in, every boy and girl was my friend
Now there's revolution but they don't know what they're fighting
Let us close our eyes, outside their lives go on much faster
Oh, we won't give in, we'll keep living in the past

Oh, we won't give in, let's go living in the past
Oh, no, no, we won't give in, let's go living in the past

Sitting on a park bench, eyeing little girls with bad intent
Snot running down his nose, greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes - hey, Aqualung
Drying in the cold sun, watching as the frilly panties run - hey, Aqualung
Feeling like a dead duck, spitting out pieces of his broken luck - oh, Aqualung

Sun streaking cold, an old man wandering lonely
Taking time the only way he knows
Leg hurting bad as he bends to pick a dog-end
He goes down to the bog and warms his feet
Feeling alone, the army's up the road
Salvation � la mode and a cup of tea
Aqualung, my friend, don't start away uneasy
You poor old sod, you see, it's only me

Do you still remember December's foggy freeze
When the ice that clings on to your beard was screaming agony, hey
And you snatch your rattling last breaths with deep-sea-diver sounds
And the flowers bloom like madness in the spring

Sun streaking cold, an old man wandering lonely
Taking time the only way he knows
Leg hurting bad as he bends to pick a dog-end
He goes down to the bog and warms his feet, whoa-o-o
Feeling alone, the army's up the road
Salvation � la mode and a cup of tea
Aqualung, my friend, don't start away uneasy
You poor old sod, you see, it's only me, me, whoa-o-o

Aqualung, my friend, don't start away uneasy
You poor old sod, you see, it's only me, yeah

Sitting on a park bench, eyeing little girls with bad intent
Snot running down his nose, greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes - hey, Aqualung
Drying in the cold sun, watching as the frilly panties run - hey, Aqualung
Feeling like a dead duck, spitting out pieces of his broken luck - hey, Aqualung

Whoa-o-o, Aqualung

The old rocker wore his hair too long, wore his trouser cuffs too tight
Unfashionable to the end, drank his ale too light
Death's head belt buckle, yesterday's dreams, the transport caf' prophet of doom
Ringing no change in his double-sewn seams in his post-war babe gloom

Now, he's too old to rock 'n' roll but he's too young to die
Yes, he's too old to rock 'n' roll but he's too young to die

He once owned a Harley Davidson and a Triumph Bonneville
Counted his friends in burned-out spark plugs, prays that he always will
But he's the last of the blue blood greaser boys and all of his mates are doing time
Married with three kids up by the ring road, sold their souls straight down the line
And some of them own little sports cars and meet at the tennis club do's
For drinks on a Sunday, work on Monday, they've thrown away their blue suede shoes

Now, they're too old to rock 'n' roll and they're too young to die
Now, yes, they're too old to rock 'n' roll and they're too young to die

So, the old rocker gets out his bike to make a ton before he takes his leave
Up on the A1 by Scotch Corner, just like it used to be
And as he flies, tears in his eyes, his wind-whipped words echo the final take
And he hits the trunk road doing around a hundred and twenty with no room left to brake

And he was too old to rock 'n' roll and he was too young to die
Oh, he was too old to rock 'n' roll and he was too young to die
No, you are never too old to rock 'n' roll if you�re too young to die
No, you are never too old to rock 'n' roll, but he was too young to die

In the shuffling madness of the locomotive breath
Runs the all-time loser, headlong to his death, oh
He feels the piston scraping, steam breaking on his brow
Old Charlie stole the handle and the train, it won't stop going
No way to slow down, oh

He sees his children jumping off at stations one by one
His woman and his best friend, in bed and having fun, oh
He's crawling down the corridor on his hands and knees
Old Charlie stole the handle and the train, it won't stop going
No way to slow down, yeah

He hears the silence howling, catches angels as they fall
And the all-time winner has got him by the balls, oh
He picks up Gideon's Bible, open at page one
I think that God, He stole the handle and the train, it won't stop going
No way to slow down, no way to slow down, no way to slow down, no way to slow down
No way to slow down, no way to slow down, no way to slow down

Meanwhile back in the year one
When you belonged to no one
You didn't stand a chance, son
If your pants were undone
Cos you were bred for humanity
And sold to society
One day you'll wake up in the present day
A million generations removed from expectations
Of being who you really want to be

Skating away, skating away
Skating away on the thin ice of the new day

So, as you push off from the shore
Won't you turn your head once more
And make your peace with everyone
For those who choose to stay
Will live just one more day
To do the things they should have done
And as you cross the wilderness, spinning in your emptiness
You feel you have to pray
Looking for a sign that the Universal Mind
Has written you into the Passion Play

Skating away, skating away
Skating away on the thin ice of the new day

And as you cross the circle line
Well, the ice-wall creaks behind
You're a rabbit on the run
And the silver splinters fly
In the corner of your eye
Shining in the setting sun
Well, do you ever get the feeling that the story's too damn real
And in the present tense
Or that everybody's on the stage and it seems like you're the only
Person sitting in the audience

Skating away, skating away
Skating away on the thin ice of the new day
Skating away, skating away, skating away

Walking through forests of palm tree apartments
Scoff at the monkeys who live in their dark tents
Down by the waterhole, drunk every Friday
Eating their nuts, saving their raisins for Sunday
Lions and tigers who wait in the shadows
They're fast but they're lazy and sleep in green meadows

Well, let's bungle in the jungle
Well, that's all right by me, yes
Well, I'm a tiger when I want love
But I'm a snake if we disagree

Just say a word and the boys will be right there
With claws at your back to send a chill through the night air
Is it so frightening to have me at your shoulder
Thunder and lightning couldn't be bolder
I'll write on your tombstone, "I thank you for dinner."
This game that we animals play is a winner

Well, let's bungle in the jungle
Well, that's all right by me, yes
I'm a tiger when I want love
I'm a snake if we disagree, yes

The rivers are full of crocodile nasties
And He who made kittens put snakes in the grass
He's a lover of life, but a player of pawns, yes
The King on His sunset lies waiting for dawn
To light up His jungle as play is resumed
The monkeys seem willing to strike up the tune

Well, let's bungle in the jungle
Well, that's all right by me, yes
Well, I'm a tiger when I want love
But I'm a snake when we disagree, yes
Let's bungle in the jungle
Well, that's all right by me, yes
Well, I'm a tiger when I want love
And I'm a snake when we disagree, yeah
Well, let's bungle in the jungle
Well, that's all right by me, yes
Well, I'm a tiger when I want love

You'll hear me calling in your sweet dream
Can't hear your daddy's warning cry
You're going back to be all the things you want to be
While in sweet dreams you softly sigh
You hear my voice is calling to be mine again
Live the rest of your life in a day

Get out and get what you can
While your mommy's at home a-sleeping
No time to understand
Cos they lost what they thought they were keeping

No one can see us in your sweet dream
Don't hear you leave to start the car
All wrapped up tightly in the coat you borrowed from me
Your place of resting is not far
You'll hear my voice is calling to be mine again
Live the rest of your life in a day

Get out and get what you can
While your mommy's at home a-sleeping
No time to understand
Cos they lost what they thought they were keeping

Get out and get what you can
While your mommy's at home a-sleeping
No time to understand
Cos they lost what they thought they were keeping

Let me bring you songs from the wood
To make you feel much better than you could know - better than you could know
Dust you down from tip to toe - dust you down from tip to toe
Show you how the garden grows - show you how the garden grows
Hold you steady as you go - hold you steady as you
Join the chorus if you can
It'll make of you an honest man

Let me bring you love from the field
Poppies red and roses filled with summer rain
To heal the wound, to still the pain
That threatens again and again
As you drag down every lover's lane
Life's long celebration's here
I'll toast you all in penny cheer

Let me bring you all things refined
Galliards and lute songs served in chilling ale
Greetings, well met fellow, hail
I am the wind to fill your sail
I am the cross to take your nail
A singer of these ageless times
With kitchen prose and gutter rhymes

Songs from the wood, make you feel much better
Songs from the wood, make you feel much better

Songs from the wood - songs from the wood

Let me bring you love from the field
Poppies red and roses filled with summer rain
To heal the wound, to still the pain
That threatens again and again
As you drag down every lover's lane
Life's long celebration's here
I'll toast you all in penny cheer

Songs from the wood, make you feel much better
Songs from the wood, make you feel much better

Lend me your ear while I call you a fool
You were kissed by a witch one night in the wood
And later insisted your feelings were true
The witch's promise was coming
Believing, he listened, while laughing you flew

Leaves falling red, yellow, brown - all are the same
And the love you have found lay outside in the rain
Washed clean by the water, but nursing its pain
The witch's promise was coming
And you're looking elsewhere for your own selfish gain

Keep looking, keep looking for somewhere to be
Well, you're wasting your time, they're not stupid like he is
Meanwhile leaves are still falling, you're too blind to see

You won't find it easy, now, it's only fair
He was willing to give to you, you didn't care
You're waiting for more but you've already had your share
The witch's promise is turning
So, don't you wait up for him, he's going to be late

Really don't mind if you sit this one out
My words but a whisper, your deafness a shout
I may make you feel but I can't make you think
Your sperm's in the gutter, your love's in the sink
So, you ride yourselves over the fields
And you make all your animal deals
And your wise men don't know how it feels
To be thick as a brick

And the sand-castle virtues are all swept away
In the tidal destruction, the moral melee
The elastic retreat rings the close of play
As the last wave uncovers the newfangled way
But your new shoes are worn at the heels
And your suntan does rapidly peel
And your wise men don't know how it feels
To be thick as a brick

And the love that I feel is so far away
I'm a bad dream that I just had today
And you shake your head and said it's a shame

Spin me back down the years and the days of my youth
Draw the lace and black curtains and shut out the whole truth
Spin me down the long ages, let them sing the song

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-glow'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, overfed and undertakers
Sunday paper backgammon players, family-scarred and women-haters
And 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 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 he threw away his looking-glass and saw his face in everyone, hey
Titillated men of action, belly warming, hands still rubbing
On the parts they never mention, salaried and collar-scrubbing, yeah

He pacified the nappy-suffering, infant-bleating one-line jokers
T.V. documentary makers, overfed and undertakers
Sunday paper backgammon players, family-scarred and women-haters
And 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, yeah, yes
Looked down upon the smiling faces
Met the gazes, yeah
The minstrel in the gallery
Then he waited, yeah

When you're falling awake and you take stock of the new day
And you hear your voice croak as you choke on what you need to say
Well, don't you fret, don't you fear - I will give you good cheer
Life's a long song, life's a long song, life's a long song
If you wait then your plate I will fill

As the verses unfold and your soul suffers the long day
And the twelve o'clock gloom spins the room, you struggle on your way
Well, don't you sigh, don't you cry, lick the dust from your eye
Life's a long song, life's a long song, life's a long song
We will meet in the sweet light of dawn

As the Baker Street train spills your pain all over your new dress
And the symphony sounds underground put you under duress
Well, don't you squeal as the heel grinds you under the wheels
Life's a long song, life's a long song, life's a long song
But the tune ends too soon for us all

But the tune ends too soon for us all