08-02-2022, 09:27
Ok – I listened, and this is my take on the album. Ian Anderson is super bright and super competent – could be described as a bit of a zealot himself. He’s obviously steeped in biblical lore, (one does not suck this kind of thing out of one’s thumb suddenly) and to me, has imbued the whole thing with that censorious Old Testament vibe. I did think that had I listened to this in my teens, I’d have mulled over it for days and perhaps even gone into rhapsodies about it, however, at this time, it feels heavy, and archaic (which makes total sense – the subject matter is such after all, even if modern parallels have been drawn) and I’m not enchanted with the actual music - on first listening.
The lyrics do make you stop and think and I’m not sure I’m clever enough to figure out exactly what he’s trying to put across all the time, but I do know that it all sounds a little bucolic to my ears. Nothing wrong with it per se, but nothing new and enticing either. Am I mistaken or did I hear some U2 ish moments on Mrs Tibbets?! It that a reference d’ya think?? Considering their atomic/nuclear mentions? Or is it ironic? Would have thought that never the twain would meet!
There was one number that stood out head and shoulders above all the others, I thought - “Mine is the Mountain” – clearly about Moses and the ten commandments – and then the second that had some pull was “Barren Beth, Wild Desert John”. Maybe something to do with the fact that these are such striking figures in the whole narrative. Both zealots too, I’d have said – Moses definitely – a charismatic one too – how else would he have managed to convince people to follow him blindly around in a desert for 40 years! Then there’s the monastic life and ghastly fate of the Baptist - so dark, as was his cousin’s. Hmmm …. maybe it requires further listening and I should not be judgmental myself, after all old and jaded could apply to me too, lol! Will have another whirl …
The lyrics do make you stop and think and I’m not sure I’m clever enough to figure out exactly what he’s trying to put across all the time, but I do know that it all sounds a little bucolic to my ears. Nothing wrong with it per se, but nothing new and enticing either. Am I mistaken or did I hear some U2 ish moments on Mrs Tibbets?! It that a reference d’ya think?? Considering their atomic/nuclear mentions? Or is it ironic? Would have thought that never the twain would meet!
There was one number that stood out head and shoulders above all the others, I thought - “Mine is the Mountain” – clearly about Moses and the ten commandments – and then the second that had some pull was “Barren Beth, Wild Desert John”. Maybe something to do with the fact that these are such striking figures in the whole narrative. Both zealots too, I’d have said – Moses definitely – a charismatic one too – how else would he have managed to convince people to follow him blindly around in a desert for 40 years! Then there’s the monastic life and ghastly fate of the Baptist - so dark, as was his cousin’s. Hmmm …. maybe it requires further listening and I should not be judgmental myself, after all old and jaded could apply to me too, lol! Will have another whirl …
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson