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TAAB2
Apr 18, 2012 11:12:32 GMT -5
Post by TM on Apr 18, 2012 11:12:32 GMT -5
Hi, I'm Gerald Bostock!
I hope you love my new albumum BRICK AS A THICK 3 !" LOL Mission Accomplished ! Is Bush wearing a Codpiece? Can you say NUCULAR ?Looks like a true corpse-man!
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TAAB2
Apr 18, 2012 12:24:00 GMT -5
Post by TM on Apr 18, 2012 12:24:00 GMT -5
Anybody get Goldmine yet?
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TAAB2
Apr 18, 2012 12:41:41 GMT -5
Post by Jethro Tull FTW on Apr 18, 2012 12:41:41 GMT -5
My dad was in Dublin today and he got TAAB2. I immediately threw it in the 'ol cd player and blasted it out of the speakers, for the whole family to enjoy. I really enjoyed it. It was far better than SLOB and Rupi's. Kismet in Suburbia was damn good. So, was Adrift and Dumbfounded and A Change of Horses. I was kinda' expecting the ending, but I did chuckle when Ian said "..two." I cringed however when in Swing it Far Ian shouted "RIGHT UP YOURS!" Not his best song writing. All and all it's the best thing he's put out this decade and I'm happy. Florian Ophale is an amazing guitarist aswell.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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TAAB2
Apr 18, 2012 13:23:12 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2012 13:23:12 GMT -5
Wow this has got to be the most popular thread I've seen in the General Crossing section. I can also see it has become half insane as well.
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Prompter
Ethnic Piano Accordian-ist
Posts: 113
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TAAB2
Apr 18, 2012 18:56:15 GMT -5
Post by Prompter on Apr 18, 2012 18:56:15 GMT -5
I still think that picture from "Goldmine" was deliberately picked. Naughty naughty ;D
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Zombywoof
Ethnic Piano Accordian-ist
Weird Music Fanatic
Posts: 192
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TAAB2
Apr 18, 2012 21:39:41 GMT -5
Post by Zombywoof on Apr 18, 2012 21:39:41 GMT -5
I cringed however when in Swing it Far Ian shouted "RIGHT UP YOURS!" With me it was "serves the bugger flippin' right". Just seemed a bit inappropriate for Ian, even though he's playing a character. Does anyone really speak like this? Yes, I know they do, but not in serious context, typically.
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TAAB2
Apr 18, 2012 23:51:40 GMT -5
Post by janu on Apr 18, 2012 23:51:40 GMT -5
Finally I got to listen TAAB2 in my car on a nearly two hours long journey. Utterly different from listening it on my headphones at home. Freedom to turn volume up you wish up to shattering my ears, with pleasure of course, and to be able to figure what the hell of good out we have to relish again from IA. The whole is perfectly acted. Banker bets Banker wins, in the very beginning the album, soon raises your temperature and makes you the first goosebumps and so the same all along this materpiece. I can honestly say that yesterday I touched Heaven again, I felt one more time in my life under an ecstasy mood as I'd never got so after a long time ago. Highly recommended. Thanks also to this Board that I could learn how to get my TAAB2 order by online way, and much more appreciated because this release isn't on sale at stores in my city yet. I'm feeling the most fortunate man in town for this. ;D THANKS CHICOS [glow=red,2,300]Serge goes Cruising with TAAB 2 ![/glow] LOL!! UNFORGETTABLE DAY, IT WAS REALLY LIKE YOU DISPLAYED I recommend everyone to do Jim's proposal, travel a short ride by car listening TAAB2 and then expose here her or his experience. It will be certainly a treat for Soul Crank it Up!
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TAAB2
Apr 23, 2012 6:59:35 GMT -5
Post by tootull on Apr 23, 2012 6:59:35 GMT -5
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TAAB2
Apr 23, 2012 11:08:07 GMT -5
Post by tootull on Apr 23, 2012 11:08:07 GMT -5
Ian Anderson Launches Brick Widget Peter Hodgson 04.23.2012Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson has made available a special web widget containing musical selections from his new Thick as a Brick 2 album, as well as interview footage. The widget is available now courtesy of EMI Records and North American syndicated rock radio show In The Studio: The Stories Behind History’s Greatest Rock Bands. The widget is available to preview and embed here. www.inthestudio.net/widget/jethro-tull/preview.htmlwww2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/News/en-us/ian-anderson-launches-brick-widget-0423-2012.aspxAnderson and host Redbeard discussed the 40-year gap between the two bodies of work, including how the themes of the new record were taken from today’s headlines, such as bullying, gay marriage and religious and cultural intolerance, as well as personal discoveries Anderson has made about his own life in revisiting his past artistic work. “We snack on music these days,” Anderson says. “We don’t sit down to a banquet and take two hours of it, we tend to snack and so I think it’s a change in culture that I have to recognize. It’s gonna have about a 50 percent chance of getting approval, and that, in this day and age, is just fine by me. If I can please half of the people, all of the time, I’d be a happy man.”
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Robin
One of the Youngest of the Family
Posts: 55
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TAAB2
Apr 24, 2012 11:12:06 GMT -5
Post by Robin on Apr 24, 2012 11:12:06 GMT -5
Hey guys. New here. Love TAAB 2 as much as part one. Quick question: There is a guest singer credited in the liner notes; where is he heard? I can hear him in the last fast part of "Swing it Far", but I wondered if he's also in the slow section, when the lyrics go "overnight he did a runner" or "on the streets of rude survival". It sounds a bit different, but still kinda like Ian.
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TAAB2
Apr 24, 2012 11:19:17 GMT -5
Post by tootull on Apr 24, 2012 11:19:17 GMT -5
Liner notes: Ryan O'Donnell Additional vocals
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Robin
One of the Youngest of the Family
Posts: 55
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TAAB2
Apr 24, 2012 11:31:53 GMT -5
Post by Robin on Apr 24, 2012 11:31:53 GMT -5
Liner notes: Ryan O'Donnell Additional vocals Well, seems like you didn't actually read my post.
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TAAB2
Apr 24, 2012 11:35:22 GMT -5
Post by tootull on Apr 24, 2012 11:35:22 GMT -5
Liner notes: Ryan O'Donnell Additional vocals Well, seems like you didn't actually read my post. I read your post, I edited my post as to not include your quote (see edit) I was just giving credit, where credit is due.
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TAAB2
Apr 24, 2012 11:39:11 GMT -5
Post by TM on Apr 24, 2012 11:39:11 GMT -5
Hey guys. New here. Love TAAB 2 as much as part one. Quick question: There is a guest singer credited in the liner notes; where is he heard? I can hear him in the last fast part of "Swing it Far", but I wondered if he's also in the slow section, when the lyrics go "overnight he did a runner" or "on the streets of rude survival". It sounds a bit different, but still kinda like Ian. Yes, that him. Ian repeats the line "endless melee", which tricks you into believing it may be him, but it is Ryan.
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TAAB2
Apr 24, 2012 11:45:35 GMT -5
Post by tootull on Apr 24, 2012 11:45:35 GMT -5
Hey guys. New here. Love TAAB 2 as much as part one. Quick question: There is a guest singer credited in the liner notes; where is he heard? I can hear him in the last fast part of "Swing it Far", but I wondered if he's also in the slow section, when the lyrics go "overnight he did a runner" or "on the streets of rude survival". It sounds a bit different, but still kinda like Ian. Yes, that him. Ian repeats the line "endless melee", which tricks you into believing it may be him, but it is Ryan. Yeah, I felt tricked on first listen. the vocal mix is well done. IMO
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Robin
One of the Youngest of the Family
Posts: 55
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TAAB2
Apr 24, 2012 11:52:51 GMT -5
Post by Robin on Apr 24, 2012 11:52:51 GMT -5
Hey guys. New here. Love TAAB 2 as much as part one. Quick question: There is a guest singer credited in the liner notes; where is he heard? I can hear him in the last fast part of "Swing it Far", but I wondered if he's also in the slow section, when the lyrics go "overnight he did a runner" or "on the streets of rude survival". It sounds a bit different, but still kinda like Ian. Yes, that him. Ian repeats the line "endless melee", which tricks you into believing it may be him, but it is Ryan. Okay, thanks. A very good trick indeed. ;D Such a shame that Ian's had all those problems with his voice. He used to be such an amazing singer. I still like his vocals a lot, but when you listen to the old stuff - incredible how much soul he was able to put into his voice. Does anyone know if that's the only song Mr. O'Donnell is on?
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TAAB2
Apr 25, 2012 14:14:12 GMT -5
Post by tootull on Apr 25, 2012 14:14:12 GMT -5
Jethro Tull gets thicker on "Brick 2" www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/25/us-jethrotull-idUSBRE83O16F20120425By Iain Blair LOS ANGELES | Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:56pm EDT (Reuters) - One thing that never really dies is a truly progressive rock album. A case in point is Jethro Tull's "Thick As A Brick," originally released in 1972, before disco, punk and rap. Back then, "Brick" was significant for its 44-minute song created around the idea it was an epic poem written by a boy. Now, Jethro Tull's singer, flautist and frontman Ian Anderson is commemorating the album's 40th anniversary with a followup to the original, "Thick As a Brick 2," and a tour. As a sign that "Brick" still continues to lure fans, the new record recently entered U.S. charts at No.55, Anderson's highest debut in 25 years. The Jethro Tull frontman, now 64-years-old, recently spoke with Reuters about his new album, tour and the ever-changing music scene. Q: Is it true you were asked many times to do a follow-up to "Thick As A Brick" but always avoided it? A: "Yes, my attitude has always been unwaveringly ‘no,' as I don't want to go back in some nostalgic way to rekindle the music. But last year I started to think about what might have become of the fictitious child poet, Gerald Bostock, who wrote the lyrics for the original album, and what might have happened to the St. Cleve Chronicle, the 16-page newspaper which formed the packaging. And that inspired this whole idea of what might have happened to Gerald 40 years later. So I wrote down a number of possibilities, and saw that instead of just exploring one, it gave me a chance to examine a number of those life-changing moments that happen to us all." Q: How personal are the lyrics? A: "It always contains elements of personal experience and some elements of other people's experiences. So, it's bringing together a number of issues that aren't just about looking back, but are also relevant to younger people who're going to have to start making decisions in their own lives." Q: Musically and stylistically the new album really picks up where "Thick As A Brick" left off. Did you feel any pressure to go for a more contemporary sound? A: "No, in terms of instrumentation I deliberately wanted to stay with the instruments that were then, and are now, the archetypal ones of rock - the Les Paul guitar, which is like a Stradivarius, the Fender Jazz bass, the Hammond organ, the flute. These are the tools of my trade, so I wanted to keep the same sonic palette I had on the original album and stay away from conspicuous synthesizers and digital instruments. And artistically and musically it's fun to make a few references - a nod and a wink - to earlier musical ideas and motifs. Beethoven and Mozart did it for a living, and so do I. It gives context and continuity." Q: How's the new tour going so far? A: "Great. We're doing the UK first, and we're doing 'Brick' 1 and 2 played live, with a 20-minute intermission, for the first time ever." Q: What's been the biggest surprise? A: (Laughs) "That we can all actually remember it. If we were reading it from a score with a conductor to prompt and help you like classical musicians, it'd be far easier. But we have to memorize and play it all and virtually no one has more than a few bars where they're not playing. So it's very intense. But enjoyably intense. It's certainly not Tantric sex. It's full-on and it seems like the show's over in a flash." Q: You've never stopped touring, either with Tull or by yourself. You must love it? A: "I met an American astronaut recently who was about to return to a five-month mission on the International Space Station, and she responded the way I feel about touring - 'I don't want to come back,' she said. "It's the same thing. You've trained all your life to do it, and she knew this was her last mission, and she was filled with a profound sense of sadness and loss. And that's how I feel as I get into my last years of being a touring musician." Q: "The music industry's changed so much since you began in the ‘60s. What's your take on it today?" A: "It's much more competitive and over-subscribed in terms of participants and wannabe-participants. But we also have a lot more choice and it fits the age. We eat fast food and snack, and it's the same with music. I don't think we sit down and listen to music the way we used to. We tend to snack on it while we're multi-tasking and on the move. So we hear more music than ever before. I'm not sure that we actually listen to it. But the access is unparalleled in terms of ease and cheapness." (Reporting by Iain Blair; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte) Music
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TAAB2
Apr 25, 2012 18:11:27 GMT -5
Post by TM on Apr 25, 2012 18:11:27 GMT -5
Yes, that him. Ian repeats the line "endless melee", which tricks you into believing it may be him, but it is Ryan. Okay, thanks. A very good trick indeed. ;D Such a shame that Ian's had all those problems with his voice. He used to be such an amazing singer. I still like his vocals a lot, but when you listen to the old stuff - incredible how much soul he was able to put into his voice. Does anyone know if that's the only song Mr. O'Donnell is on? On the CD yes. On tour he sings more.
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Robin
One of the Youngest of the Family
Posts: 55
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TAAB2
Apr 25, 2012 19:14:59 GMT -5
Post by Robin on Apr 25, 2012 19:14:59 GMT -5
Okay, thanks. A very good trick indeed. ;D Such a shame that Ian's had all those problems with his voice. He used to be such an amazing singer. I still like his vocals a lot, but when you listen to the old stuff - incredible how much soul he was able to put into his voice. Does anyone know if that's the only song Mr. O'Donnell is on? On the CD yes. On tour he sings more. Thanks, that's what I thought. Can't wait to see the whole thing live! @ tootull: Nice interview. What I wonder is: In almost every interview for TAAB2 I've read, Ian seems to emphasize that while the instrumentation is the same and there are some citations from the original TAAB (and other Tull albums), the music is deliberately different. I wonder why this is so important for him. He calls it a progressive rock album and there aren't too many possibilities to create songs in this genre.
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TAAB2
Apr 26, 2012 7:07:06 GMT -5
Post by tootull on Apr 26, 2012 7:07:06 GMT -5
What Gerald did next www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Gerald-did/story-15918754-detail/story.htmlIf you ever wondered what had happened to precocious ten-year-old Gerald Bostock, wonder no more. The trials and tribulations of the St Cleve schoolboy formed the basis of Jethro Tull's progressive rock album Thick As A Brick back in 1972. The album, encased in the pages of local newspaper with a headline story about Gerald being disqualified from a poetry competition, was full of lyrics allegedly written by the fictional boy. Forty years on, West Country based Jethro Tull prepare to return to the character, now 50-years-old, with an anniversary tour that will come to Bristol's Colston Hall later this month. The band's founder Ian Anderson says: "With Thick As A Brick I was setting out to parody progressive rock. It was a time of bands like Yes, Genesis and King Crimson and while they have musicality and are very detailed in arrangement, they were becoming increasingly self-indulgent and pretentious. I thought it would be fun to do something in that genre. It is extreme prog rock, a deliberate spoof." So with a large dose of surreal British humour, Jethro Tull unleashed Gerald Bostock into the world. "It's a comedic mash-up that covers some darker points," Ian says. "It looks like fun and games but there is a lot of dark stuff reflected in it, too. "Now, 40 years later, we've released the sequel. I thought about Gerald and the things that could have happened to him and the album explores those lyrically and musically. "As we baby boomers look back on our own lives, we must often feel an occasional 'what if' moment. Might we, like Gerald, have become instead preacher, soldier, down-and- out, shopkeeper or finance tycoon? "We've made changes to update it, for example instead of the St Cleve newspaper it's St Cleeve.com, but it's very much about now, not then." But if the lyrics have been updated to imagine Gerald's fate, the sound of the album has not altered. "The sonic palate is still the same," says the man who brought flute playing to rock music. "We still have the Hammond organ, plenty of glockenspiel, the Gibson guitars. It's the same colours in the paintbox. There is a nod and a wink to the music of 1972. There are little 'remember-mes', three- note phrases that crop up now and again. Some people will get it and others will miss it. In the same way Mozart was a master at linking in elements of his earlier work, I've tried to do the same – although I'm a grubby little upstart rather than a grand musical composer. "Actually, one of the only things that hasn't changed across the whole album is the futility of war. In 1972 the Americans were a year away from pulling out of Vietnam and we know what happened then. Here we are a year away from pulling troops out of Afghanistan. Sadly, some things don't change." Back in 1972, the album was a world-wide success and took the number one spot on the American Billboard chart – and excerpts from the piece have regularly featured in Jethro Tull and Ian Anderson live shows since. Ian says: "I would have been very surprised and extremely disappointed if it had been a total flop. I was just trying to do my best job at the time. "As with everything I have done since I prepare myself for failure and sometimes I get what I prepare for. With this album, if half of all the Jethro Tull fans liked it I would consider that a major achievement because of the numbers that would involve." A large number of the band's fan base, are, like the artists themselves, based in the West Country, and Ian remembers the first time he performed at the Colston Hall. He says: "It was in 1969 and we had just the basics on stage, a few Marshall Cabinets and that was it. You can't change the acoustics in the Colston Hall – it can be jarring if it's too loud and unforgiving if you make the wrong decisions. "In the last 20 years technology and the equipment has moved on apace and people expect to see and hear the sound better than they ever could before. We won't have the excuses we had before if it doesn't sound good this time." Joining Ian on stage will be fellow musicians John O'Hara on keyboards, David Goodier on bass, Florian Opahle on guitar, and Scott Hammond on drums. Ian adds: "I live in the South West, just about, and three of the band are Bristol boys and doing a lot in the city when they're not performing with me. I've worked with them for ten years." Ryan O'Donnell also joins the band on stage performing and singing as part of the new theatrical presentation involving videos and character actors – again, in a nod to the amateur dramatics of 1972. Jethro Tull play Colston Hall on Saturday, April 28, at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £25.50-£28.50. Tel 0117 922 3686
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TAAB2
Apr 26, 2012 7:16:01 GMT -5
Post by tootull on Apr 26, 2012 7:16:01 GMT -5
On the CD yes. On tour he sings more. Thanks, that's what I thought. Can't wait to see the whole thing live! @ tootull: Nice interview. What I wonder is: In almost every interview for TAAB2 I've read, Ian seems to emphasize that while the instrumentation is the same and there are some citations from the original TAAB (and other Tull albums), the music is deliberately different. I wonder why this is so important for him. He calls it a progressive rock album and there aren't too many possibilities to create songs in this genre. It's as if when reading your posts I draw a blank. lol Figuring out Ian Anderson, now there's a thread. It's an old/new idea with slightly different music using the original instruments.. Too early for me! ;D I hate coffee, pour me some tea. Oh yeah, welcome to the Board, robin.
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Robin
One of the Youngest of the Family
Posts: 55
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TAAB2
Apr 26, 2012 9:15:55 GMT -5
Post by Robin on Apr 26, 2012 9:15:55 GMT -5
Thanks, that's what I thought. Can't wait to see the whole thing live! @ tootull: Nice interview. What I wonder is: In almost every interview for TAAB2 I've read, Ian seems to emphasize that while the instrumentation is the same and there are some citations from the original TAAB (and other Tull albums), the music is deliberately different. I wonder why this is so important for him. He calls it a progressive rock album and there aren't too many possibilities to create songs in this genre. It's as if when reading your posts I draw a blank. lol Figuring out Ian Anderson, now there's a thread. It's an old/new idea with slightly different music using the original instruments.. Too early for me! ;D I hate coffee, pour me some tea. Oh yeah, welcome to the Board, robin. Thanks. Well, it seems to me that he really wants to underline that the music is not just slightly but VERY different, and I wondered why this is. I didn't quite understand what you wanted to say with "now there is a thread" and the tea and coffee and stuff, but nevermind. ;D
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TAAB2
Apr 26, 2012 9:31:34 GMT -5
Post by tootull on Apr 26, 2012 9:31:34 GMT -5
cryp·tic [krip-tik] Show IPA adjective Also, cryp·ti·cal. 1. mysterious in meaning; puzzling; ambiguous: a cryptic message. 2. abrupt; terse; short: a cryptic note. 3. secret; occult: a cryptic writing. 4. involving or using cipher, code, etc. 5. Zoology . fitted for concealing; serving to camouflage. noun 6. a cryptogram, especially one designed as a puzzle. That's me, just another Tull fan. ;D I often think about Ian's coffee as a drug reference on Living in the Past ??...smoking fingernails. I hate coffee, yet my favourite song at the moment contains these lyrics, Starbuck euphoria. Go figure!
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TAAB2
Apr 26, 2012 9:33:07 GMT -5
Post by tootull on Apr 26, 2012 9:33:07 GMT -5
Lyrics for all;
PEBBLES THROWN FROM A PEBBLE THROWN Take me on the ghost train. 20p and there you are. Scary in the tunnel night. White knuckle fingers on the safety bar. Which way to blue skies? Phantoms pop from cupboard doors. Mocking, manic laughter shrieks, dark promises of blood and gore. Interventions at every turn. Opportunities thrown wide and far. Journeys I might never take. TomTom thinks he knows just where we are. Ripples from a pebble thrown make tsunami on a foreign shore. I would slip right off this high-rise hell but the elevator stops at every floor. Twelve, going on sixteen. Such a rush to grow old and wise. Endless possibilities. Follow, soaring where the eagle flies. Which way to blue skies? Mummy said don’t go out alone. I hear bad name-calling, derisory. So, choose direction, and turn the stone. PEBBLES INSTRUMENTAL MIGHT-HAVE-BEENS We all must wonder, now and then, if things had turned out - well - just plain different. Chance path taken, page unturned or brief encounter, blossomed, splintered. Might you have been the man of courage, brave upon life’s battlefield, Captain Commerce, high-flown banker, hedonistic, down-at-heel? A Puritan of moral fibre, voice raised in praise magnificent? Or rested in assured repose, knowing your lot in quiet content? What-ifs, Maybes and Might-have-beens fly, soft petals on a breeze. What-ifs, Maybes and Might-have-beens. Why-nots, Perhaps and Wait-and-sees. GERALD THE BANKER UPPER SIXTH LOAN SHARK Where did it come from, where’s it going? Upper sixth loan shark, numbers flowing from the pen that never forgets, recording ledgers, each-way safe bets. Fauntleroys and first form fags, allowances all overspent. Pater’s guilty generosity safely deposited against rainy day. There’s money in those goddamn hills. Interest in sugar-coated bitter pills. Margins made from Tompkins Minor float aspirations, nothing finer... BANKER BETS, BANKER WINS Education, micro-managed. MBA: a doddle mastered. City-bound, Canary Wharf. A cushy number, fluky bastard. Banker bets and banker wins, never missed yet, for all his sins. Hedge funds, wraps and equities. Lackeys, aides in fierce attendance. Trusts and gilts, reserve currencies. Liquid gold in safe ascendance. Banker bets and banker wins, never missed yet, for all his sins. Treat myself to quality time, test a porsche and snort a line, eat Hermione for lunch. Set that glum PA a-jumping, book front-row tickets for something after we munch. Fast-tracked futures, hard-nut traders. Feeding frenzy, pigs a-troughing. Fuelled by forecasts, and hot share options. Big fat bonus in the offing. Draconian calls for regulation are drowned in latte with Starbucks muffin. Mortgage melt-down: non est mea culpa. Threatened exit, stage left, laughing.... Banker bets and banker wins, never missed yet, for all his sins. Banker bets, cheque’s in the post: not worth the ink it’s written in. GERALD GOES HOMELESS SWING IT FAR I was no good on the rugger field. Pushing and kicking, brutish boys bothered me. Sensitive and caring seemed the lighter, brighter way to be. Mr Jennings, good housemaster, seemed instinctively to understand. Touched me with his gentle presence. Under bedclothes, underhand. Underhand. Overnight, he did a runner, threatened with harsh expose. I fell to pieces, dropped out of classes into life's endless melee. Endless melee. Parents listened, didn’t get it. Poof and Jesse, Daddy said. Mummy tried but fussed and fretted, skeletons best left under bed. Under the bed. Camden Market in the winter, a cold stone’s throw from Kentish Town. Got a minute? Just the ticket! Meet the boys and mess around. And mess around. Independence far from suburbia. Doss down and dirty, tucked up tight. How’s your father? Not too chipper? Serves the bugger flippin’ right. Flippin’ right. Parents listened, didn’t get it. Poof and Jesse, Daddy said. Mummy tried but fussed and fretted, skeletons best left under bed. On the streets a rude survival, hot like-minded overtures. Sad departure, sweet arrival. If you don’t like it, right up yours! There comes a point when deep conviction bears down hard on who you are. Pointless to don cloak of denial, get the lead out and swing it far..... swing it far..... swing it far..... swing it far..... swing it far..... swing it.... ADRIFT AND DUMFOUNDED He stands at the crossroads of New St. and Old Town. Gerald Something from good-home-on-sea. Thinking back to the child that he once was. All bread and butter and jam for his tea. Men came and went in his moments of madness. Muttered apologies, late for a meeting. Too much intensity too much feigned sadness. Crestfallen, hangdog, glances too fleeting. He was your golden boy, he’s adrift and dumfounded with nowhere to go, no appointments to keep. He’s our little man, he’s adrift and dumfounded. Head on hard pillow, waiting for sleep. Broken societies, selfish, uncaring. Addled brains clutching at chemicals soothing. Desperate measures, desperately tearing at last vestige of dignity, his for the losing. He was your golden boy, he’s adrift and dumfounded with nowhere to go, no appointments to keep. He’s our little man, he’s adrift and dumfounded. Head on hard pillow, waiting for sleep. GERALD THE MILITARY MAN OLD SCHOOL SONG From playing fields to killing fields: just one small step of madness. Officer training, uniform, boys together shower together. Rank and file can be just fine but that’s not what we’re here for. So, sign upon the dotted line, be commissioned, Hell for leather. How we sang that old school song, from Pirates of Penzance. Foemen bearing steel, we slapped our chests and raised our voices. No mad poets we, or painters twee but young men with a yearning to flex our might for all that’s right when face with moral choices. Wrapped in the old school song, we fly our colours high. Bravo! The old school song! Harsh reality, by and by. Dad delivered us from the Hun and we reflect his selfless deed on this desert plain of conflict where special forces, choppers need. Fly-boy coming to collect you, lift you up and then protect you. Be this gung or be this ho, may glorious battle resurrect you. Wrapped in the old school song, we fly our colours high. Bravo! The old school song! Harsh reality, by and by. WOOTTON BASSETT TOWN Hourglass sands run through my veins like blood draining from a salty wound. Mad Mars forgets the cost of strife, serves no longer, purpose in my life. I lie in sweat, cry others’ tears and write a letter to my Mum, my wife, my God unheard, unseen, Who never thinks to intervene. Oh, what pain and oh, what lie has called to us, from heaven on high? This cruel and harsh sweet punishment for follies acted, leaves us spent. Long road to Baghdad, then Persian hordes? Where will we stop to sheath our swords? IEDs lie patient, sleeping, wake when soldier boots come creeping. Hourglass sands run through my veins like blood draining from a salty wound. Mad Mars forgets the cost of strife, serves no longer, purpose in my life. Down this dusty scorched wind-blast track, eyes facing forward, ne'er look back. As rain comes down on Wootton Bassett Town, black hearses crawl and church bells sound. Bikers, burghers line the kerbs; a politician, a Highness Royal. Chance shoppers, tradesmen, stiffly stand and shed their tears for the military man. GERALD THE CHORISTER POWER AND SPIRIT Touch down after muddy rugby in the softer evensong. Steal through open doors to heaven in angelic sing-along. Tinsel echoes in the rafters still the air in stained glass light. Our voices chaste, un-broken, pure, take manly message to the fight. I sense the power. And I sense the spirit move in stately corridors of oak and stone, vaulted above. Beyond the nave, beside dark transepts, candles flicker in the quire. First the glow deep in the belly, tight grip of faith to fan the fire. In the chapel, I am wondrous in the eyes of lesser boys. Raptures touch me, lift me, shape me. Brotherhood, an ode to joy. Stiff white ruffs on cassock’d ranks with hand on heart and hand on sword. Elevated, born to service, to service of the Lord. I sense the path. I sense the glory road. Position, influence, my head above the earthly clod below. Follow me to serve dark Master, He whose number might be His name. Branded, burning, power unholy, just have to love Him all the same.... GIVE TILL IT HURTS Let us pray: Dear Beloved Father: We know it's tough to make ends meet through troubled times as economic woes grow, bad to worse. But call out to our family of treasured followers to make a pledge today, give till it hurts. Our coffers almost empty, but our flock stands faithful by as we set out to shave the needy and bereft. Together we can fleece our willing congregation and I can live on any small change that's left. So, give till it hurts. Give till it hurts. Make a pledge and give till it hurts. That was today's speaker, the humble Reverend Gerald. Tune in to the National Godspend Channel next week. Praise be to Him and HALLELUJAH. Remember to keep those pledges coming in and - give till it hurts. GERALD, A MOST ORDINARY MAN COSY CORNER Gerald Bostock, fresh from school with few O-levels, sets his sights. No grand, fanciful fantasies but level headed middle ground. The retail trade, the corner shop, at humble service of plain town-folk. Open at nine and closed by six: enough to work, play, work around. Regulars drop by to chat in idle gossip, repetition. Same old words, another day while, all the time, life slips away. But slips so slowly, stretches moments into hours and hours to years. With characters by Harold Pinter, dark silences, slow Passion Play. Then home to fire up model trains and shunt and shuffle wagons, locomotive breath upon his brow. Smooth clockwork running motors hum while barren Madge prepares hot dinner. Fray Bentos pie: always a winner. So, praise life’s routine cozy habits. And don’t forget to call your Mum. SHUNT AND SHUFFLE Same old words, another day while all the time life slips away. But slips so slowly, stretches moments into slow-burn Passion Play while barren Madge prepares hot dinner. Fray Bentos pie: always a winner. Then home to fire up model trains and shunt and shuffle carriages. Sweet loco breath upon his brow. Banish thoughts of clockwork marriages. While barren Madge prepares hot dinner. Fray Bentos pie: always a winner. A CHANGE OF HORSES Last lights wink out on this pale and sultry night. Stars signal long past two AM. I feel the lateness in the hour and I’m fifty long years from home. A new dawn glimmers. Time for a change of horses. It's time to chart new courses and head for safer houses. No more empty towers of this unholy Babylon. Some four hundred thousand hours have come and gone. I smell, in the air, a new meadow morning. Fresh-flowering grasses stirring and no pressure free-falling. Thin mists to bring and light airs to call. And we treasure all, all that we left behind us. No pointed cold and dark regrets. No nameless blame to lay. Resolute, the optimist, I ride fresh horse and spur it on. Four hundred thousand hours have come and gone. 22 MULBERRY WALK CONFESSIONAL Gerald the Banker I made my millions, stashed the pile in Swiss bank havens, lost the lot when Inland Revenue got wise. So, I did my time, my time for what? Gerald the Homeless On the streets, a pretty pickle. I met a man who lifted me. Took me home for slap and tickle, in civil partnership, pledged to me. Gerald the Chorister Enough of twisted overkill, Hellfire, damnation, voices shrill. I was rumbled, de-frocked and tumbled from grace and favour, caught hand in till. Gerald the Military Man Invalided out of theatre. Civilian rehabilitation. My time now given to help my brothers find cold feet, lost building nations. Gerald: A Most Ordinary Man Sold the shop, flicked off the power switch. In silent siding, Mallard must stay. Carriages and sleek coal tender packed in boxes, sold on eBay. Sold on eBay. KISMET IN SUBURBIA Gerald the Banker Fresh start, another day, another life, a quiet cafe. Starbuck euphoria. Count my blessings, crossword ready. Soon, pipe and slippers in the study by the telly. I seek forgiveness, I beg your pardons at number 9 Mulberry Gardens. Gerald the Chorister Fresh start, another day, another life so far away from hell-raised aria. Now I lay me down to live in acquiescence, mine to give to all who listen. Deaf to dark un-heavenly host at 25 Mulberry Close. Gerald the Military Man Fresh start, another day, another life so far away from white heat Arabia. Comrades’ pictures on the mantle, lit by flower-scented candle, ghostly, flicker. Last man standing, bowed but alive at 33 Mulberry Drive. Gerald: A Most Ordinary Man Fresh start, another day, another life not so far away in slow-burn suburbia. All routine and repetition, stamp-collecting, first editions, steam train-spotting. Numb, the senses and numb, the brain, at 54 Mulberry Lane. Gerald the Homeless Fresh start, another day, my cared-for partner just slipped away from sweet utopia. Bequeathed comforts, ceramic hob, electric blanket, your uncle’s Bob: a pretty picture. Treasured moments, past and present, at 17 Mulberry Crescent. WHAT-IFS, MAYBES, MIGHT-HAVE-BEENS We all must wonder, now and then, if things had turned out - well - just plain different. Chance path taken, page unturned or brief encounter, blossomed, splintered. Might I have been the man of courage, brave upon life’s battlefield, Captain Commerce, high-flown banker, hedonistic, down-at-heel? A Puritan of moral fibre, voice raised in praise magnificent? Or rested in assured repose, knowing my lot in quiet content. What-ifs, Maybes and Might-have-beens fly, soft petals on a breeze. What-ifs, Maybes and Might-have-beens. Why-nots, Perhaps and Wait-and-sees. Suppose bold woman, quite unsuited, brave in adventure, sojourns wicked. Velvet touch and lips soft-centred, tossing hair, teeth bared in laughing. Imagine idyll Summers never-ending, Winter nights beside fire roaring. Touched by madness, filled with fondness, kissed by love, love without name. What-ifs, Maybes and Might-have-beens fly, soft petals on a breeze. What-ifs, Maybes and Might-have-beens. Why-nots, Perhaps and Wait-and-sees. So, you ride yourselves over the fields. And you make all your animal deals. And your wise men don’t know how it feels to be Thick As A Brick...... two
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Robin
One of the Youngest of the Family
Posts: 55
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TAAB2
Apr 26, 2012 9:40:36 GMT -5
Post by Robin on Apr 26, 2012 9:40:36 GMT -5
cryp·tic [krip-tik] Show IPA adjective Also, cryp·ti·cal. 1. mysterious in meaning; puzzling; ambiguous: a cryptic message. 2. abrupt; terse; short: a cryptic note. 3. secret; occult: a cryptic writing. 4. involving or using cipher, code, etc. 5. Zoology . fitted for concealing; serving to camouflage. noun 6. a cryptogram, especially one designed as a puzzle. That's me, just another Tull fan. ;D I often think about Ian's coffee as a drug reference on Living in the Past ??...smoking fingernails. I hate coffee, yet my favourite song at the moment contains these lyrics, Starbuck euphoria. Go figure! Damn, seems like we are worse than Tool fans! Yeah, it's actually my favorite song right now as well, I think. Well, it's basically the same song as the one where he talks about "sheathing swords". So you probably don't have an idea either. I don't even know if that's a real question I'm having.
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