What is the Tull song about?
What is the Tull song about?
Personally (and I'm not the only person who has thought this), the song seems to me to be an allegorical story of a man who has lost control of his life -- as symbolized by the runaway train that he, the conductor, is unable to stop. Several of the lines, like his friends one-by-one jumping off at the stations they pass (friends throughout his life abandoning him), and his girlfriend/wife (infidelity), are conducive to the idea as well.
At least, that's my humble opinion.
The fun thing is, it can be interpreted more ways than one. What do you think it's about?
Edit: After seeing the lyrics posted below, I realized I had gotten it wrong -- it's his children jumping off the train, not his friends. My mistake.
Last edited by aith01; 01-14-2014 at 11:02 PM.
sounds about right
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A gentleman is defined as someone who knows how to play the accordion, and doesn't.
In the shuffling madness of the locomotive breath
runs the alltime 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 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 his knees
Old Charlie stole the handle
and the train
it won't stop going no way to slow down, eh eh.
He hears the silence howling
Catches angels as they fall
And the alltime winner has got him by the balls. Oh.
He picks up Gideon's Bible; open at page one
I said God he stole the handle
and the train
it won't stop going though it could slow down
It seems pregnant with allegory. The train is a metaphor for the protagonist's life, but the protagonist seems a symbolic character himself. Who is old Charlie? Who is the All-time Winner? What is the role of God? What actually happens to the protagonist in the end? How does the song relate to the religion theme of Aqualung Side 2?
In an interview of a couple of years ago Ian said it was about over-population.
Last edited by Homburg; 01-14-2014 at 11:41 AM.
I always figured the guy had locomotive breath because he didn't chew-chew-chew his food enough! HI-YO!<rimshot>
"Corn Flakes pissed in. You ranted. Mission accomplished. Thread closed."
-Cozy 3:16-
Clearly, this illustrates, in some part, why JT will likely never make it into the HOF. The material is just too damned smart.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
When you're done, maybe you can explain what the mid-70s pop radio "the alltime winner has got him by the fun" version means.
LOL - did they really change that?Originally Posted by Dave (in MA)
Obscure does not equal smart.
Not sure what makes the lyrics obscure and not smart.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Yep, but it didn't get much AM radio play anyway. FM played it uncensored.
Stupid melonfarmers.
Definitely! Maybe the protagonist is meant to represent something as well. I won't pretend to have the slightest clue as to what Ian wrote it to be about, but it's fun to think about it.
Some of the best art and literature can be enjoyed on multiple levels, and Jethro Tull is no exception.
I won't pretend to have the slightest clue as to what Ian wrote it to be about, but it's fun to think about it.
Some of the best art and literature can be enjoyed on multiple levels, and Jethro Tull is no exception.Somewhere between these two sentiments.
I appreciate some ultimate clarity. Maybe clarity you have to work to detect, maybe a clarity that allows a variety of interpretations and levels of interpretation, but something tighter than a collection of images which each listener can make of what they will and which don't all fit together clearly. If I sense that perhaps the writer hasn't really worked out a definite meaning for themselves, or that he hasn't succeeded in communicating some complicated thought or vision, that feels a weakness in the work.
Any other takes on the actual meaning of the lyrics?
Uh ... maybe it's about a train and an engineer with halitosis.
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A gentleman is defined as someone who knows how to play the accordion, and doesn't.
Watch Runaway Train with the sound off,play this song before the climax and you'll understand.
Yeah, I see what you're saying. However, the lyrics are not obscure or impenetrable -- the song forms a clear narrative even when taken at face value. We aren't exactly talking about The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway here. If a potential deeper meaning remains unclear, it isn't necessarily a shortcoming. Maybe the song is only about a guy on a runaway train. This is by the same guy who wrote Thick As A Brick in response to assertions about Aqualung being a concept album after all, right?
Last edited by aith01; 01-15-2014 at 09:19 AM.
It always was pretty clearly a metaphor for an out-of-control life to me.
It might also be a song about a guy who intends on committing suicide (or is on a self-destructive dive) because of how much a loser he is. Its not that the train is out of his control, its that he is taking it toward destruction so everyone around him is abandoning him.
Charlie, as I seem to remember reading once is Charles Darwin. I could be wrong.
Here's a link to cupofwonder, the annotated Tull website: http://www.cupofwonder.com/aqua3.html#loco
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It's about an out-of-control life but what happens as the lyric progresses, and what symbolic significance does it have?
Now we're getting somewhere. Good link.
I suppose the Aqualung title track also has a breath theme. Who says it's not a concept album?
Now that's an interesting thought, we can make this work with a little reordering of the song order I think. Lets's explore ...
Aqualung - the after effects of an out of control life, living in the gutter
Cross Eyed Mary - the people you meet when living on the street
Cheap Day Return - the "rich guy" walking past your neighborhood, unseeing of your life in the gutter
Mother Goose - the rich guy's country club life
Wond'ring Aloud - the rich guy's love life/girlfriend
Up To Me - the poor guy's start of his downfall (should be up front in the lineup)
My God - the poor guy ranting about God abandoning him
Hymn 43 - the rich guy praying for God to help him out of a jam
Slipstream - ther rich guy coming to the end of his rich life (probably going to join the poor guy in the gutter)
Locomotive Breath - both the rich and poor guys downward tumble into self-destruction
Wind Up - the rich guys early childhood and schooling
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A gentleman is defined as someone who knows how to play the accordion, and doesn't.
I don't think there's anything all that deep going on with it. The lyrics seem rather tossed-together, but it's OK, since the riffs are so good.
I agree, but that doesn't keep it from being a good lyric, imo. It's not deep, and I suspect he wrote it quickly, but there's great imagery and, as we have seen, it promotes thought and discussion. A lyric doesn't have to be labored and precious to work well
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