The Mad Minstrel in the Gallery

"In days of peace 

sweet smelling summer nights

of wine and song;

dusty pavements burning feet.

Why am I crying, I want to know.

How can I smile and make it right?

For sixty days and eighty nights

and not give in and lose the fight."

- Lyrics from With You There to Help Me, 1970, Ian Anderson.

I've been searching through my mental catalogue of music for the past week, trying to locate a particular set of sounds that somehow fit my present (precarious) situation... and the present place of this blog in time... but, regardless of my efforts, I just could not find the right tune.

That is, until this morning, when my present housemate greeted me with Ian Anderson and the musical moment presented above (alternate video). Yes, this tune is a vintage one - another one from over 50 years ago (!) - but it's a time-traveling tune, i.e., a pentagonal manifestation... and, by this, we know it's timeless.

And, by who better than the Mad Minstrel from a band named Jethro Tull? The man who transformed Bach so deliciously... and who can be recognized so effortlessly in the Tull poster (inset right).

Incidentally, Jethro Tull is touring now in the UK and will be elsewhere in Europe next year. (Timeless is forever.)

It just occurred to me that the winter solstice is almost upon us... and many moons ago, I chose Jethro Tull's album, Songs from the Wood as a seasonal favorite. Above is a great live version of the title track. (Note: Velvet Green, live.) Sadly, the  related video and links were broken in the solstice post... only to be (happily) resurrected here.

For lyrics (in English) to Songs from the Wood and Velvet Green see this Obsidian Magazine article written by Peg Aloi: Love from the Fields; The Imagery of Pagan Britain in the Songs of Ian Anderson.

Update (12/3/22): Epiphany: Ian Anderson as The Fool in a tarot deck. Traditionally, The Fool is the wild card... and numbered 0... a sort of alpha/omega in the circle of the Major Arcanum. Generally depicted as a youthful, carefree (and careless) vagabond, in one of the original decks he is also shown playing a pipe - specifically what appears to be the bag-pipes.

Various interpretations of The Fool include a madman or wild man, vagabond, jester, and wandering minstrel or bard... and eventually, the Joker, a trickster. In games it represented both the highest card and the lowest trump.

I particularly like the interpretation (found here), quoted below:

"The Fool represents the beginning of the journey of life, represented by the Major Arcana of the Tarot. They are the 0th card, meaning although they are at the beginning of the journey they can really enter the Major Arcana sequence at any point.

They represent both the beginning of the journey and the entire journey itself. They have an air of tranquility. They transcend the mundane reality of stress and work and encourage us to see the world with what the Zen masters call Beginner’s Mind."

Inset right is The Fool from the very early Sola Busca tarot deck, created in Italy during the late 15th century.