Jethro Tull were a British rock group, formed in Luton, Bedfordshire, in December 1967. Initially playing blues rock, the band soon developed its sound to incorporate elements of British folk music and hard rock to forge a progressive rock signature. The band was led by vocalist/flautist/guitarist Ian Anderson, and have included other significant members such as guitarist Martin Barre, keyboardist John Evan, drummers Clive Bunker, Doane Perry, and Barriemore Barlow, and bassists Glenn Cornick, Jeffrey Hammond, and Dave Pegg.
The group achieved commercial success in 1969, with the folk-tinged blues album Stand Up, which reached No. 1 in the UK charts, and they toured regularly in the UK and the US. Their musical style shifted in the direction of progressive rock with the albums Aqualung, Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play, and shifted again to hard rock mixed with folk rock with Songs from the Wood and Heavy Horses. Jethro Tull have sold over 60 million albums worldwide, with 11 gold and five platinum albums among them. They have been described by Rolling Stone as "one of the most commercially successful and eccentric progressive rock bands".
Hope everybody's ringing on their own bell, this fine morning, yeah
Hope everyone's connected to that long distance phone
Old man, he's a mountain, old man, he's an island
Old man, he's a waking says, "I'm going to call, call all my children home"
Hope everybody's dancing to their own drum this fine morning, yeah
The beat of distant Africa or a Polish factory town
Old man, he's calling for his supper, he's calling for his whiskey
Calling for his sons and daughters, calling, calling all his children round
Sharp ears are tuned in to the drones and chanters warming, yeah
Mist blowing round some headland, somewhere in your memory
Everyone is from somewhere, even if you've never been there
So take a minute to remember the part of you
That might be the old man calling me
How many wars you're fighting out there, this winters morning? Yeah
Maybe it's always time for another Christmas song
Old man he's asleep now but he's got appointments to keep now
Dreaming of his sons and his daughters, yeah