Aqualung (song)


"Aqualung" is a song by the British progressive rock band Jethro Tull, and the title track from their Aqualung album. The song was written by the band's frontman, Ian Anderson, and his then-wife Jennie Franks.
While this track was never a single, its eponymous album Aqualung was Jethro Tull's first American Top 10 album, reaching number seven in June 1971.

Lyrics

The lyrics convey a story of a homeless man named Aqualung. In stanzas 1 and 2, he is shown as a dirty tramp, who can't but evoke a sense of hopelessness and disgust, as not a single person in the world would ever help him. Aqualung is alone and sick, doomed to "bend to pick a dog-end". In stanza 3, he sees a light of hope for compassion, arising in encounter of the very storyteller. But still, in stanza 4, Aqualung is "snatch rattling last breaths". The indifference to grief is nevertheless reigning on earth, "and the flowers bloom like madness in the spring".
The lyrics compare the tramp's unhealthy breathing to "deep sea diver sounds", referring to the actual aqualung device.

Recording

The original recording runs for 6:34. In an interview with singer Ian Anderson in the September 1999 Guitar World, he said:
The Aqualung character is also mentioned in "Cross-Eyed Mary", the next song on the album.
In a 2015 interview, Martin Barre recounted an interesting situation with Led Zeppelin while recording the song's solo.
An alternative mix of "Aqualung", with a very different echo effect on Anderson's vocal, appears on the compilation M.U. – The Best of Jethro Tull. This version also has different acoustic guitar and vocal parts during the first part of the song, but then reverts to the regular mix at. This is most likely due to the fact that all the tracks from Aqualung on M.U. – The Best of Jethro Tull were taken from the original quad-mix of the LP.
The track was not released as a single. As Ian Anderson explained during an interview with Songfacts:

Recorded appearances

  • Aqualung
  • M.U. – The Best of Jethro Tull
  • Bursting Out
  • Slipstream
  • A Classic Case
  • Original Masters
  • 20 Years of Jethro Tull
  • The Very Best of Jethro Tull
  • Living with the Past
  • A New Day Yesterday
  • Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull
  • Aqualung Live

    Personnel

;Jethro Tull
;Additional Personnel
  • Terry Ellis - producer

    In popular culture

  • The song is referenced in the 2004 film : Burgundy plays a jazz flute solo incorporating the beginning of the song.
  • The opening lyric and riff of "Aqualung" are muttered by Tony Soprano as he comes into the kitchen in episode #71 of the TV series The Sopranos.
  • The rendered character of Icarus in God of War II was inspired by Aqualung found on the cover of the album.
  • The song is featured as a playable song in.