What does this actually mean?

[Budding Stately Hero]

"He polarized the pumpkin-eaters"
"Static-humming panel-beaters"

"rabbit-run"  - Is this his fanbase?
"And threw away his looking-glass" - Something to do with his criticism of modern society? 

"titillated the men-of-action"

"He pacified the nappy-suffering, infant-bleating, one-line jokers
T.V. documentary makers, overfed and undertakers"

"Sunday paper backgammon players
Family-scarred and women-haters"

Yeah, I know. I've been listening to this since 1980 and I still haven't figured it out.

[nonrabbit]

My take on it is some of the lyrics might have meaning and some just fit the song.

"polarised the pumpkin-eaters"

1. An English nursery rhyme;

"Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,
Had a wife but couldn't keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well.

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,
Had another and didn't love her;
Peter learned to read and spell,
And then he loved her very well"

2. 'The Pumpkin Eater' A 1964 drama about a philandering husband and his wife who had lots of children. The name came from the above nursery rhyme.

I reckon Ian had it in mind that 'the Minstrel' was wrily observing all the punters in the audience looking up to him while he was looking down at them - both literally and metaphorically.

And 'polarised?' Sounded good with pumpkin-eater?

[nonrabbit]

The overall meaning of 'The Minstrel' lyrics is probably summed up by the words "..oblique suggestions"

[steelmonkey]

I think he means that 'pumpkin eaters' and 'panel beaters' are the dull ordinaries for whom things like, say, A Passion Play, are beyond appreciating and therefore controversial. A Passion Play is FULL of oblique suggestions...and he did indeed make them and wait. He goes on and on describing the average types and looking down his artist nose on them. ( Sunday paper backgammon players, family scarred and women haters).

Ian never ceases to amaze.

[steelmonkey]

I mean, talk about an oblique reference to self pleasuring:

Bellies warm hands still rubbing on the parts they never mention. That's NASTY.

[Budding Stately Hero]

Oct 17, 2018 19:10:56 GMT nonrabbit said:

My take on it is some of the lyrics might have meaning and some just fit the song.

"polarised the pumpkin-eaters"

1. An English nursery rhyme;

"Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,
Had a wife but couldn't keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well.

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,
Had another and didn't love her;
Peter learned to read and spell,
And then he loved her very well"

2. 'The Pumpkin Eater' A 1964 drama about a philandering husband and his wife who had lots of children. The name came from the above nursery rhyme.

I reckon Ian had it in mind that 'the Minstrel' was wrily observing all the punters in the audience looking up to him while he was looking down at them - both literally and metaphorically.

And 'polarised?' Sounded good with pumpkin-eater?

Ahhh! Infidelity! Yes! Now, it all makes sense. Thank you for explaining that. I don't know how that escaped me, knowing Ian's love for incorporating traditional nursery rhymes into his songs. I'm going to look for that film. I see that Ann Bancroft was in it. And thinking back, I remember he went through a divorce. So, if there was any unfaithfulness going on, I can see him using it in a title track for his next release. Makes sense.

[Budding Stately Hero]

Oct 17, 2018 20:41:07 GMT steelmonkey said:

I think he means that 'pumpkin eaters' and 'panel beaters' are the dull ordinaries for whom things like, say, A Passion Play, are beyond appreciating and therefore controversial. A Passion Play is FULL of oblique suggestions...and he did indeed make them and wait. He goes on and on describing the average types and looking down his artist nose on them. ( Sunday paper backgammon players, family scarred and women haters).

Ian never ceases to amaze.

I guess he's just being honest. I mean, we all do that (look down our nose at others). Now, I'm understanding this song a bit more (after decades of wondering). It's interesting to me that he would come right out and be so open about looking down on "the rabbit-run", and put it in a song. I mean, for him to know himself that well, in the present tense, and then put it in a song for his fans to read. Most artists disguise the fact that they feel superior to their fanbase. I wonder if he's being deliberately arrogant or if he is just seeing himself as he truly is.

This is fascinating. But, I just don't know as much about him (the stuff that the old diehards know) to be able to figure it out.  

[nonrabbit]

I think 'the Minstrel' is looking down thinking of the confinement and constraints of the audience - 'rabbit run'

The lyrics are fictional, written by Anderson and not necessarily reflecting his views.

[Budding Stately Hero]

I think I understand now. The audience is confined and restrained by how the government and business owners keep them in their place, in their jobs. Sort of in the way he wrote Warchild.

Thanks for helping me understand this stuff. After all these years, I'm still fascinated. And I would like for my three year old to, at least, be aware of the music because it's going to end, soon enough. But, I want her to appreciate music when acoustic instruments were the primary vehicle in a song.

[stevep]

Ian Anderson explains the song fully in this clip... well, not really. Worth watching though and seeing Tull at their best back then.

link

[nonrabbit]

Oct 18, 2018 19:53:30 GMT stevep said:

Ian Anderson explains the song fully in this clip... well, not really. Worth watching though and seeing Tull at their best back then.

link

Lovely

Martin explains his part in Minstrel in a fuller fashion.

[Budding Stately Hero]

Oct 18, 2018 19:53:30 GMT stevep said:

Ian Anderson explains the song fully in this clip... well, not really. Worth watching though and seeing Tull at their best back then.

link

Martin lit the guitar on fire on this one. Incredible!

Thanks