Μου είναι δύσκολο να φανταστώ κάτι “βρετανικότερο” από τον ήχο των Jethro Tull στο Songs From The Wood. Ήταν το πρώτο μέρος μιας τριλογίας (Heavy Horses, Stromwatch τα επόμενα) στο πλαίσιο της οποίας η σχέση του γκρουπ με την φολκ γινόταν ουσιαστικότερη και γοητευτικότερη, χωρίς να αποβαίνει σε βάρος του progressive στοιχείου τους – το αντίθετο. Ακούμε δυο κορυφαία κομμάτια του Ian Anderson από το άλμπουμ. 🟡 🟡 It’s hard for me to imagine anything more “British” than the sound of Jethro Tull on Songs from the Wood. It was the first part of a trilogy (with Heavy Horses and Stormwatch following), within which the band’s relationship with folk music became deeper and more enchanting, without detracting from their progressive element – quite the opposite. Here’s two Ian Anderson’s standout tracks from the album.

00:00 SONGS FROM THE WOOD
Let me bring you songs from the wood:
to make you feel much better than you could know.
Dust you down from tip to toe.
Show you how the garden grows.
Hold you steady as you go.
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 and 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.

04:57 THE WHISTLER
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 the 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.