Artist: Jethro Tull Album: Songs From The Wood {1977}

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

Have you seen Jack-In-The-Green
With his long tail hanging down
He quietly sits under every tree
In the folds of his velvet gown
He drinks from the empty acorn cup
The dew that dawn sweetly bestows
And taps his cane upon the ground
Signals the snowdrops it's time to grow

It's no fun being Jack-In-The-Green
No place to dance, no time for song
He wears the colors of a summer soldier
Carries the green flag all the winter long

Jack, do you never sleep
Does the green still run deep in your heart
Or will these changing times
Motorways, powerlines, keep us apart
Well, I don't think so
I saw some grass growing through the pavements today

The rowan, the oak and the holly tree
Are the charges left for you to groom

Each blade of grass whispers Jack-In-The-Green
Oh, Jack, please help me through my winter's night
And we are the berries on the holly tree
Oh, the mistlethrush is coming, Jack, put out the light

May I make my fond excuses for the lateness of the hour
But we accept your invitation and we bring you Beltane's flower
For the May Day is the great day, sung along the old straight track
And those who ancient lines did lay will heed the song that calls them back
Pass the word and pass the lady, pass the plate to all who hunger
Pass the wit of ancient wisdom, pass the cup of crimson wonder
Pass the cup of crimson wonder

Ask the green man where he comes from, ask the cup that fills with red
Ask the old grey standing stones that show the sun its way to bed
Question all as to their ways and learn the secrets that they hold
Walk the lines of nature's palm crossed with silver and with gold
Pass the cup and pass the lady, pass the plate to all who hunger
Pass the wit of ancient wisdom, pass the cup of crimson wonder
Pass the cup of crimson wonder

Join in black December's sadness, lie in August's welcome corn
Stir the cup that's ever-filling with the blood of all that's born
But the May Day is the great day, sung along the old straight track
And those who ancient lines did lay will heed this song that calls them back
Pass the word and pass the lady, pass the plate to all who hunger
Pass the wit of ancient wisdom, pass the cup of crimson wonder
Pass the cup of crimson wonder

One day I walked the road and crossed a field
To go by where the hounds ran hard
And on the master raced, behind the hunters chased
To where the path was barred
One fine young lady's horse refused the fence to clear
I unlocked the gate but she did wait until the pack had disappeared

Crop handle carved in bone
Sat high upon a throne of finest English leather - leather
The queen of all the pack
This joker raised his hat and talked about the weather - weather
All should be warned about this high born hunting girl
She took this simple man's downfall in hand
I raised the flag that she unfurled

Boot leather flashing with spurnecks the size of my thumb
This highborn hunter had tastes as strange as they come, come

Unbridled passion, I took the bit in my teeth
Her standing over, me on my knees underneath, underneath
La, la, la, la

My lady, be discrete, I must get to my feet
And go back to the farm
Whilst I appreciate you are no deviate
I might come to some harm
I'm not inclined to acts refined, if that's how it goes
Oh, high born hunting girl, I'm just a normal low born so and so

Now is the solstice of the year
Winter is the glad song that you hear
Seven maids move in seven time
Have the lads up ready in a line

Ring out these bells
Ring out, ring solstice bells
Ring solstice bells

Join together 'neath the mistletoe
By the holy oak whereon it grows
Seven druids dance in seven time
Sing the song the bells call, loudly chiming

Ring out these bells
Ring out, ring solstice bells
Ring solstice bells
Ring out, ring out those solstice bells
Ring out, ring out those solstice bells

Praise be to the distant sister sun
Joyful as the silver planets run
Seven maids move in seven time
Sing the song the bells call, loudly chiming

Ring out those bells
Ring out, ring solstice bells
Ring solstice bells
Ring on, ring out
Ring on, ring out
Ring on, ring out
Ring on, ring out

Walking on velvet green, Scots pine growing
Isn't it rare to be taking the air, singing
Walking on velvet green

Walking on velvet green, distant cows lowing
Never a care with your legs in the air, loving
Walking on velvet green

Won't you have my company, yes, take it in your hands
Go down on velvet green with a country man
Who's a young girl's fancy and an old maid's dream
Tell your mother that you walked all night on velvet green

One dusky half-hour's ride up to the north
There lies your reputation, all that you're worth
Where the scent of wild roses turns the milk to cream
Tell your mother that you walked all night on velvet green

And the long grass blows in the evening cool
And August's rare delight may be April's fool
But think not of that, my love, I'm tight against the seam
And I'm growing up to meet you down on velvet green
One, two, three, four

Now, I may tell you that it's love and not just lust
And if we live the lie, let's lie in trust
On golden daffodils, to catch the silver stream
That washes out the wild oat seed on velvet green

We'll dream as lovers under the stars
Of civilizations raging afar
And the ragged dawn breaks on your battle scars
As you walk home cold and alone upon velvet green

Walking on velvet green, Scots pine growing
Isn't it rare to be taking the air, singing
Walking on velvet green

Walking on velvet green, distant cows lowing
Never a care with your legs in the air, loving
Walking on velvet green

I'll buy you six bay mares to put in your stable
Six golden apples bought with my pay
I am the first piper who calls the sweet tune
But I must be gone by the seventh day
So, come on, I'm the whistler
I have a fife and a drum to play
Get ready for the whistler
I whistle along on the seventh day
Whistle along on the seventh day

All kinds of sadness I've left behind me
Many's the day when I have done wrong
But I'll be yours for ever and ever
Climb in the saddle and whistle along
So, come on, I'm the whistler
I have a fife and a drum to play
Get ready for the whistler
I whistle along on the seventh day
Whistle along on the seventh day

Deep red are the sunsets in mystical places
Black are the nights on Summerday Sands
We'll find the speck of truth in each riddle
Hold the first grain of love in our hands
So, come on, I'm the whistler
I have a fife and a drum to play
Get ready for the whistler
I whistle along on the seventh day
So, come on, I'm the whistler
I have a fife and a drum to play
Get ready for the whistler
I whistle along on the seventh day
Whistle along on the seventh day

There's a light in the house
In the wood in the valley
There's a thought in the head of the man
Who carries his dreams
Like the coat slung on his shoulder
Bringing you love in the cap in his hand

And each step he takes
Is one half of a lifetime
No word he would say that you understand
So, he bundles his regrets
Into a gesture of sorrow
Bringing you love, cap in hand

Catching breath
As he looks through the dining room window
Candle lit table for two has been laid
Strange slippers by the fire
Strange boots in the hallway
Put my cap on my head, I turn and walk away, hey

I believe in fires at midnight when the dogs have all been fed
A golden toddy on the mantle, a broken gun beneath the bed
Silken mist outside the window, frogs and newts slip in the dark
Too much hurry ruins the body, I'll sit easy, fan the spark
Kindled by the dying embers of another working day
Go upstairs, take off your makeup, fold your clothes neatly away
Me, I'll sit and write this love song as I all too seldom do
Build a little fire this midnight, it's good to be back home with you

Kindled by the dying embers of another working day
Go upstairs, take off your makeup, fold your clothes neatly away
Me, I'll sit and write this love song as I all too seldom do
Build a little fire this midnight, it's good to be back home with you