"Aqualung" is a song by the British

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band Jethro Tull, and the title track from their '' Aqualung'' (1971) album. The song was written by the band's frontman, Ian Anderson, and his then-wife

Jennie Franks Jennie Franks is an English playwright and filmmaker. Career Franks co-wrote and directed an educational film about the effects of AIDS in rural Colorado titled ''Soft Smoke, AIDS in the Rural West''.''Denver Rocky Mountain News''. Denver, C ...

. While this track was never a single, its self titled album ''Aqualung'' was Jethro Tull's first American Top 10 album, reaching number seven in June 1971. After "

Locomotive Breath "Locomotive Breath" is a song by British progressive rock band Jethro Tull from their 1971 album, '' Aqualung''. Written as a comment on population growth, "Locomotive Breath" was meant to replicate the chugging rhythm of a train. In addition to ...

", it is the song most often played in concert by Jethro Tull.

Recording

The original recording runs for 6:34. In an interview with singer Ian Anderson in the September 1999 ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

'', he said: The Aqualung character is also mentioned in "

Cross-Eyed Mary "Cross-Eyed Mary" is a song by the British progressive rock band Jethro Tull from their album '' Aqualung'' (1971). The song is about "Cross-Eyed Mary", a schoolgirl prostitute who prefers the company of "leching greys" over her schoolmates. ...

", the next song on the album. In a 2015 interview,

Martin Barre Martin Lancelot Barre (; born 17 November 1946) is an English guitarist best known for his longtime role as lead guitarist of British rock band Jethro Tull, with whom he recorded and toured from 1968 until the band's initial dissolution in 201 ...

recounted an interesting situation with

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

while recording the song's solo. An alternative mix of "Aqualung", with a very different

echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

effect on Anderson's vocal, appears on the compilation '' M.U. – The Best of Jethro Tull'' (1976). This version also has different acoustic guitar and vocal parts during the first part of the song ("sun streaking cold"), but then reverts to the regular mix at ("Aqualung my friend..."). 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'' (1971) * '' M.U. – The Best of Jethro Tull'' (1976) * ''

Bursting Out ''Bursting Out'' is a 1978 live double album by the rock band Jethro Tull. The concert was recorded at the Festhalle in Bern, Switzerland, on 28 May 1978 during the band's European Heavy Horses Tour in May/June of that year. A spelling err ...

'' (1978) * ''

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'' (1981) * ''

A Classic Case ''A Classic Case'' (1985) is an album by Jethro Tull, playing with the London Symphony Orchestra, released in 1985. The music was arranged and conducted by Dee Palmer, who had collaborated with the band from 1968 and had been a full band mem ...

'' (1985) * ''

Original Masters Original Masters is a greatest hits album by Jethro Tull released under Chrysalis Records in 1985. It was the band's third such effort, the first two being '' M.U. - The Best of Jethro Tull'' (1969–75, released 1976) and '' Repeat - The Best ...

'' (1985) * ''

20 Years of Jethro Tull ''20 Years of Jethro Tull'' is a 1988 boxed set which spans the first twenty years of Jethro Tull. It was issued as five LPs: ''Radio Archives'', ''Rare Tracks'', ''Flawed Gems'', ''Other Sides of Tull'', and ''The Essential Tull''. It was s ...

'' (1988) * '' 20 Years of Jethro Tull: Highlights'' (1988) * ''

The Very Best of Jethro Tull ''The Very Best Of'' (2001) is a greatest hits album by Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull. It includes some of the band's biggest hits from 1969 to the present day. Ian Anderson selected the tracks himself, approving edits necessary for timing pur ...

'' (2001) * ''

Living with the Past ''Living with the Past'' is a live album by Jethro Tull. The first half (first LP of the 2019 vinyl reissue) contains material from the Hammersmith Apollo performance on 25 November 2001 and features songs from different eras of Tull's histor ...

'' (2002) * '' A New Day Yesterday'' (2003) * ''

Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull ''Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull'' is a live album and DVD by Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson, featuring the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt, conducted by John O'Hara. The DVD was recorded at the Rosengarten in Mannheim on 8 Decem ...

'' (2005) * ''

Aqualung Live ''Aqualung'' is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released on 19 March 1971, by Chrysalis Records. It is widely regarded as a concept album featuring a central theme of "the distinction between religion and God", ...

'' (2005)

Personnel

;Jethro Tull * Ian Anderson –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, acoustic guitar, producer *

–

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

John Evan John Evan (born John Spencer Evans; born 28 March 1948, in Derby, Derbyshire.) is a British musician and composer. He is best known for having played keyboards for Jethro Tull from April 1970 to June 1980. Evans' father was headmaster at a De ...

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, organ *

Jeffrey Hammond Jeffrey Hammond (born 30 July 1946), often known by his former stage name Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, is an artist and retired musician best known for being the bassist of progressive rock band Jethro Tull from 1971 to 1975. With Jethro Tull, Ha ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Clive Bunker Clive William Bunker (born 30 December 1946) is a British drummer. Bunker is best known as the original drummer of the rock band Jethro Tull, playing in the band from 1967 until 1971. Never a self-professed technical drummer, Bunker engage ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

;Additional Personnel *

Terry Ellis Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albritton (1955–2005), A ...

- producer

In popular culture

* The song is referenced in the 2004 film '' Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'': Burgundy (

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show '' Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 2 ...

) plays a jazz flute solo incorporating the beginning of the song. * The opening lyric and riff of "Aqualung" are muttered by

Tony Soprano Anthony John Soprano is a fictional character and the antihero protagonist in the HBO television drama series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), portrayed by James Gandolfini. Soprano is a member of the Italian-American Mafia and, especially late ...

as he comes into the kitchen in episode #71 ("

Live Free or Die "Live Free or Die" is the official motto of the U.S. state of New Hampshire, adopted by the state in 1945. It is possibly the best-known of all state mottos, partly because it conveys an assertive independence historically found in American po ...

") of the TV series ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

''. * The rendered character of Icarus in the video game ''

God of War II ''God of War II'' is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). First released for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) console on March 13, 2007, it is the second inst ...

'' was inspired by Aqualung found on the cover of the album. *The song is featured as a playable song in the music video games '' Rock Band 2'' (2008) and '' Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock'' (2010).

References

External links

*
Aqualung Lyrics

Songfacts "Aqualung" entry
{{authority control Jethro Tull (band) songs 1971 songs Songs written by Ian Anderson Songs about homelessness Song recordings produced by Ian Anderson Rock ballads 1970s ballads