Aqualung

Aqualung may refer to:

See also

Aqualung (song)

"Aqualung" is a song by the British progressive rock 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.

While this track was never a single, its eponymous album Aqualung was Jethro Tull's first American Top 10 album, reaching #7 in June 1971.

Lyrics

The lyrics give a description and backstory of Aqualung. He is described as a dirty, paedophilic, homeless man. This, however, is merely the view of average passerby. By viewing Aqualung as a disgusting paedophile, we can excuse ourselves with not helping him. In verse two and three, the truth of Aqualung is told. He is simply an old man, who is lonely, sick and in pain, whom nobody cares for.

The lyrics include "deep sea diver sounds", referencing 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:

So from that photograph and those sentiments, I began writing the words to "Aqualung". I can remember sitting in a hotel room in L.A., working out the chord structure for the verses. It's quite a tortured tangle of chords, but it was meant to really drag you here and there and then set you down into the more gentle acoustic section of the song.

Aqualung (Aqualung album)

Aqualung is the eponymous debut album by Aqualung, released on 30 September 2002 on the B-Unique label. It reached #15 in the UK albums chart and went gold in December 2002.

Track listing

Singles

The first single from the album, "Strange & Beautiful (I'll Put A Spell On You)", was released on September 16, 2002 and reached #7 on the CIN chart.

The second single from the album, "Good Times Gonna Come", was released on December 2, 2002 and reached #71 on the UK singles chart. The single version of "Good Times Gonna Come" was mixed by Matt Hales and Marius De Vries. The song is played in the background in the British Television programme Skins, in Sketch's first episode.

According to the sleeve notes, the album was recorded entirely in Matt Hales' hallway. On its release, the album was promoted on the back of the use of "Strange And Beautiful (I'll Put A Spell On You)" as the soundtrack to an advert for the new Volkswagen Beetle.