Tuesday 5 August 2014

Moths (Jethro Tull, 1978)

This song comes from Jethro's "Heavy Horses" album, so it belongs to the band's most folk-oriented period. It's a rather short song, but it includes many of Ian Anderson's creature beloved features. First of all, it is popular in the positive meaning of the word: catchy and brilliant, rythmically sustained, perfectly arranged. Then, it is prog in the widest sense: for its flute solos, for its original pattern and for its unpredictable bridges.

"Moths" was also released as a single,b/w "Life Is A Long Song".

Another not so common aspect for a prog track, this is a love song, but not an usual one. Ian Anderson figures out the clever trick of suggesting the lovers' actions through the moths' dance around a candle, so that the brief and suicidal life of the animals also represents the ardour of love. Tricky, yes, but this is prog, my friends.

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