An introduction to
"The Broadsword And The Beast"
The 'A' album, which was almost symbolic for
Jethro Tull stepping out of the seventies, is generally
considered as an innovative and musically spoken very
interesting album. Many fans however find it lacking the
heart, the subtle humour and the warmth that always
featured the greater Tull albums. Ian must have been
aware of this and also that he somehow alienated himself
from the hardcore of fans, who grumbled over the rude
dismissal of John Evans, David Palmer and Barrie Barlow.
With a complete new line-up and conscious of the need of
change, he looked for a way to compose innovative songs
that however unmistakebly sounded as Jethro Tull songs,
thus trying to catch the attention of a broad-based
audience while catering "the regulars" as well.
In the fall of 1981 the recording sessions
started for a new album. Martin Barre and Dave Pegg
stayed on, while keyboard player Peter-John Vettese and
drummer Gerry Conway joined. Over the four years to come
Peter-John would become a very influential member of the
band who would contribute so much to the new album, that
he was credited for it on the cover. His arrival
coincided with a for Ian very fruitful period of
songwriting.
A few months later a series of twenty songs were
recorded, from which ten were selected for the new album
"The Broadsword And The Beast". Nine of the
unreleased songs would later appear being included on the
"20 Years Of Jethro Tull" box set:
'Jack-A-Lynn', 'Too Many Too', 'Overhang', 'Down At The
End Of Your Road', 'I'm Your Gun', 'Mayhem, Maybe',
'Motoreyes', 'Rhythm In Gold', 'Jack Frost And The Hooded
Crow').
It was the first time Ian used the
assistance of a producer, Paul Samwell-Smith, who could
give an independent view on the songs and the recording.
With the objective in mind of intertwining innovation and
tradition, one of Jethro Tull classic albums was born.
Or, in the words of David Rees: "The new electronic
keyboard sounds that featured so heavily on 'A' were used
more effectively within the traditional Tull elements of
heavy rock and Celtic influences, and the result was a
musical success on two accounts. The media regarded
'Broadsword' as the album that dragged Tull kicking and
screaming into the 80's, and yet the band had achieved
their goal of making what could be regarded as a classic,
traditional Jethro Tull album" (1).
When it comes to the lyrics, one can see Ian
putting his poetical talents to effect once again. To me
this really is an "eighties" album in the sense
that it reflects the general atmosphere of crises that
dominated the late seventies and early eighties: the
feeling of being threatened by economic troubles, the
fear and uncertainty about the future that comes from it,
affecting (stable?) relations and not in the least the
political climate of the era (remember Thatcher and
Reagan) - it can all be traced in most of the songs. He
'reduces' social developments and phenomena to
proportions we can understand, by showing how this all
works out in human relations. As an artist, Ian applies
his art to mirror what was going on in society in those
days, both lyrically: in his imagery, his metaphorical
language and musically: in chosing instruments, keys,
different tempi, all in a combined setting of acoustic
and rock music. I will try to work this point out in the
annotations below.
The music press took a favourable attitude
to the album - for a Tull-album, that is. 'Broadsword'
sold very well in Europe, esp. in Germany and is still
one of the most wanted Tull albums ordered via the
internet. But in the USA the album sales didn't live up
to expectations. However, the album itself and the two
Broadsword tours that subsequently followed, showed a
rejuvenated Jethro Tull, a band that got it's grip on
things again, full of selfconfidence heading for the
future.
*
Jan Voorbij; 1) David Rees: "Minstrels In The
Gallery", Wembley, UK (1998).
The
"Broadsword" tour programme annex production
manual (1982).
By kind permission of Pete McHugh (Electrocutas - The Jethro Tull Archive).
Annotations
Ian Anderson's comments below are quoted
from the 'Chrysalis Biography' (1982), a press release
announcing this album. I'm very grateful to Andy Jackson
who sent them to me. Apart from his illucidations, Ian
talks about working with a producer for the first time,
and how the release of the album was delayed because they
couldn't find a suitable guy to work with. Then a
couple of pages follow with information about Gerry
Conway and Peter Vettese. The whole press release was
written by Ian Anderson.
*
Chrysalis Biography, Buckinghamshire, March 1982.
Beastie
"All of us have some kind of
private fear that we don't like to talk about, and
this song is about those fears. When I was
a boy growing up in
Scotland, we called anything that was
particularly nasty that we didn't like a
Beastie".
* Ian Anderson, Chrysalis Press release,
1982.
"There's a beast upon my shoulder
and a fiend upon my back"
A very rare picture taken during the Broadsword tour
(1982) from an unknown magazine, borrowed from Ina
Hacker. Ian used two versions of this beastie while
performing this song.
The Clasp
"A song about people who shy
away from physical contact. The word 'clasp'
is used in the sense of a handshake, and the song
is just exploring some of the ideas and attitudes
behind the embrace of shaking hands, and saying
wouldn't it be amusing and perhaps a little
profitable to go up to a complete stranger and
shake hands with him and say, "Hello, how
are you, pleased to meet you." Ironically
the handshake, when it is offered, is very often
a forced gesture, far removed from its origin
which was a way of demonstrating that you had no
weapon in your hand and that you were offering
your open hand to someone in peace".
* Ian Anderson, Chrysalis Press
release, 1982.
I'm afraid Ian doesn't reveal
everything about this song in this quote. I think
the song is not only "about people who shy
away from physical contact" ("afraid to chance a gentle
touch, afraid to make the clasp"), but is
also meant to be critical towards our society,
were everybody seems to be preoccupied with his
own affairs ("Meeting
as the tall ships do, passing in the
channel") and not
really interested in somebody else. It's everyone
for himself: everybody is rat-racing around ("On ring roads, nose to
bumper crawl commuters in their cages"), thus
isolating oneself ("Double-locked
and belted in") and
working too hard to attain one's end. Though most
people partake in this game, they somehow realize
that it's not fullfilling, hence "the discontent of
ages". This individualism makes
our society into a very impersonal one ("the endless wastes"). The loss
of human bonds and communal sense was previously
critisized on the 'Songs From The Wood' an the
'Thick As A Brick' albums. In situations where
the clasp is made, it seems to be insincere and
meant to manipulate people's opinions: "and meeting as good
statesmen do before the T.V.-eyes of millions,
hand to hand exchange the lie pretend to make the
clasp".
A very interesting part of the song is the third
stanza, in which our narrator advises us to "Let's break the journey
now on some lonely road", make
contact with our fellow-men ("Sit down as strangers
will"). Once the
stress is unloaded and confidential talk has
become possible, we might feel save enough to
talk about our secrets and exchange our feelings
of anxiety and discover we are not the only ones
suffering from them: "share
a dark unspoken fear".
I assume there is an implicit historical and
literary reference in this stanza. We have seen
before that Ian is familiar with English
literature and history and I feel that this
stanza refers to Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury
Tales". In this book we see how
pilgrims travelling to Canterbury in the Middle
Ages group together in the evening, exchanging
stories and experiences, passing the dark hours
together, thus chasing their fears away. It gives
them the reassuring feeling of comfort, of 'being
home' while on the road.
I personally love these verse-lines very much,
not only because they are some of the most
beautiful ones Ian ever wrote, but also because
they are so characterictic for his general
'message' as expressed in his earlier and later
lyrics.
* Jan Voorbij
Fallen On Hard Times
"This song is not meant to be a
political statement, but merely expresses the
disillusionment that most people feel at some
time or other with our political masters.
The tune is a Scottish folk melody in essence,
but it is given a slightly funky rock 'n' roll
treatment which gives it a light-hearted
feel".
* Ian Anderson, Chrysalis Press
release, 1982.
Conceived in the early eighties,
this song perfectly describes what many people
were feeling in those days when looking at the
future. There was a worldwide economical crisis
going on, which started in 1973 with the socalled
'oil-crisis'. Unemployment rose to astronomical
heights in the early eighties affecting the
economical situation of millions. Once again we
see how uncertainty and fear are elements on this
song: "Come
clean, for once, and hit us with the truth" (and) "Looking for sunshine oh
but it's black and it's cold". From the
mid-seventies on political leaders stated over
and over that severe cuts in public expenditures
were a necessity: "handing
us the same line again", in order
to pave the way for better times: "... you say that milk and
honey's just around the bend". In this
way they imposed their political views on the
people, hoping to convince them there was no
alternative and everybody would concur with their
policies: "Go
right ahead and pull the rotten tooth". The here
mentioned "Prime
Minister" (and) "Mr. President" refer to
Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, who being
conservatives both got along very well and shared
the same political ideas on internal and foreign
issues.
* Jan Voorbij
Flying Colours
"This song came about after
witnessing several couples who were going through
a bad patch with their relationships, taking
delight in showing each other up in public. I'm
sure we've all come across them in some sort of
social gathering; they revel in digging up the
dirt in front of an audience".
* Ian Anderson, Chrysalis Press
release, 1982.
The term "Flying
Colours" originates
from naval warfare. At least in the British Navy,
'colours' is the name given to a ship's battle
flag; again in the case of the Royal Navy, it's a
red flag with the a small national flag in the
top left corner. In the days of sailing ships, it
was possible for ships to approach close to one
another without indicating their country of
origin or intentions, but once the colours were
raised, there could be no mistake. Thus, a
ship with the colours flying at its masthead was
being overtly aggressive, and probably about to
attack. To lower, or 'strike' the colours
was the signal of surrender, hence the expression
'nailing the colours to the mast' - the flag
can't be lowered, so there'll be no surrender!
In this song, an argumentative couple have
previously agreed to hide their differences and
not fight in public. However, as the evening
progresses, their irritation builds, and they
begin to exchange snide remarks ("the needle match"), until a
full-blown argument breaks out.
There is perhaps a double meaning in that the
colours could also refer to red-faces, due to
alcohol, anger, and the shame of fighting in
front of their friends.
* Neil Thomason
The way these people are dealing
with eachother is very painful and destructive.
Every occasion is used to hurt one another.
Eventually nothing good will come from it. It
reminds me of the Pinter-esque atmosphere in the
film "Who
is afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (Mike
Nichols, 1966), in which Richard Burton and
Elizabeth Taylor play a middle-aged professor and
his blowsy wife who invite a younger couple to
one of their vicious all-night bickering
sessions.
* Jan Voorbij
Continuation
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Introduction 