"This Is Not Love"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson
Catfish Rising (1991); A Little Light Music (1992); The Best of Jethro Tull: The Anniversary Collection (1993); Live At The BBC (1998); Catfish Rising Remastered (2006); All The Best (2012); 50 For 50 (2018)
Winds howled, rains spit down, all these nights playing precious games
Cheap hotel in some seaboard town, closed down for the winter and whispered names
Puppy-dog waves on a big moon sea, snap our heels half-heartedly
And how come you know better than me that this is not love, no, this is not love
Empty drugstore postcards freeze, sunburst images of summers gone
Think I see us in these promenade days before we learned October's song
Out on the headland, one gale-whipped tree, curious, head bent to see
And how come you know better than me that this is not love
Down to the sad south, smokey plumes mark that real world city home
Broken spells and silent gloom, ooze from that concrete honeycomb
Puppy-dog waves on a big moon sea, snap our heels half-heartedly
And how come you know better than me that this is not love
"Occasional Demons"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson
Catfish Rising (1991); Catfish Rising Remastered (2006)
Well, you got a big-jib crane waiting to pick you up
Mmm, you see those snakes that crawl, they're just dying to trip you up
Live out in sad shacks at the back of town, hold your breath while we do you down
'Cos we're all kinds of animals coming here, occasional demons too
Well, you got a nice apartment here with appliances and CD
We're gonna leave your stereo, but we'll have your soul for tea
I'm not speaking of material things, gonna chew you up, gonna suck you in
'Cos we're all kinds of animals coming here, occasional demons too
Smokestacks, belching black, we're the have-nots in your shade
How about a slice of life, how about some human trade?
Eat at the best table in town, no headwaiter going to turn us down
'Cos we're all kinds of animals coming here, occasional demons too
"Roll Yer Own"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson
Catfish Rising (1991); 36 Greatest Hits (1998); Catfish Rising Remastered (2006)
Roll yer own, don't mean you got no money, only that you got no opportunity to shake it with that friend of mine
Roll yer own if you can't buy readymade, you won't be satisfied, when you feel the sudden need to unwind
You know what moves you in the wee hours, when there's nothing on the answerphone
And if you don't get enough of that electric love, don't try to get by, roll yer own
Roll it when there's no-one listening, when those re-runs play on the late-night black and white TV
Roll yer own, roll it when there's something missing and those wild cats howl running in the moonshine
Roll yer own if you can't buy readymade, you won't be satisfied, when you feel the sudden need to unwind
You know what moves you in the wee hours, when there's nothing on the answerphone
And if you don't get enough of that electric love, don't try to get by
Roll yer own, you got to hit that spot, roll yer own when your hands are hot, roll yer own
"Rocks On The Road"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson
Catfish Rising (1991); A Little Light Music (1992); 36 Greatest Hits (1998); Live At The BBC (1998); Catfish Rising Remastered (2006); 50 For 50 (2018)
Bootlegs: Live From Baloise Session Basel 11-15-2008 (2025)
There's a black cat down on the quayside, ship's lights, green eyes glowing in the dark
Two young cops handing out a beating, know how to hurt and leave no mark
Down in the half-lit bar of the hotel, there's a call for the last round of the day
Push back the stool, take that elevator ride, fall in bed and kick my shoes away, rocks on the road
Can't sleep through the wild sound of the city, hear a car full of young boys heading for a fight
Long distance telephone keeps ringing out engaged, wonder who you're talking with tonight
Who you talking with tonight? Rocks on the road
Tired plumbing wakes me in the morning, shower runs hot, runs cold, playing with me
Well, I'm up for the down side, life's a bitch and all that stuff, so come and shake some apples from my tree
Have to pay for my minibar madness, itemised phone bill overload, well now, how about some heavy rolling?
Move these rocks on the road
Crumbs on the breakfast table and a million other little things to spoil my day
Now how about a little light music to chase it all away? To chase it all away
"Sparrow On The Schoolyard Wall"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson
Catfish Rising (1991); Catfish Rising Remastered (2006)
You want to be a bookworm? You wanna be aloof?
You wanna sit in judgement, looking down from the roof?
Try a wee sensation, but first you have to want to join in
You should be, should be raging down the freeway with some friends from the mall
Don't stay forever in your limbo, fly before you fall
Little sparrow on the schoolyard wall
So dress a little dangerous and modify your walk
There's nothing wrong with sparrows, but try to be a sparrowhawk
Hunting in the evening and floating in the heat in the day
You might, might acquire some predatory instinct, do the wolf pack crawl
Don't stay forever in your limbo, fly before you fall
Little sparrow on the schoolyard wall
Well, I don't want to be your daddy, don't want to be your engineer of sin
And I don't want to play the piper here, I'm only banging on a mandolin
And anyway, you're just a little sparrow on the schoolyard wall
There's nothing wrong with learning, nothing wrong with your books
So exercise some judgement, too much broth can spoil the cook
Feel a little sensation and know when it's time to join in
You should be, should be raging down the freeway with some friends from the mall
Don't stay forever in your limbo, fly before you fall
Little sparrow on the schoolyard wall
"Thinking Round Corners"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson
Catfish Rising (1991); Catfish Rising Remastered (2006)
All of you sit up in bed, don't think in straight lines ahead
Can't sleep? Head spin? Don't think in circles, it'll do you in
Think back to the dream you had, no sense of being good or bad
Jump to the left, jump to the right, think round corners into night
Let's go in wet corridors, dive down drains, draw strength from machinery, it's all the same
Thinking round corners, think round corners, I say
Pretty girl with neon eyes, best man between white thighs
Bridegroom didn't know a thing, got his love in lights, she wears two rings
Think back to that dream you had, blue boy sorry, pink girl sad
Yellow cow, big-eyed moon, all coming round the corner soon
Let's stand in rapids, cling to carnivals, spit life from the maypole in savage ceremony
Let's go in wet corridors, dive down drains, draw strength from machinery, it's all the same
Thinking round corners, think round corners, I say
Paper cowboys, tin drums banging, where the white man comes
Landowners with whips and chains, but soft in bed amidst warm rains
Thinking back to the dream they had, Jack and Jill, Jack the lad
Homestead, home free, how about leaving some for me?
Let's bathe in malt whisky, covet gold finery, through the eyes of a Jackdaw dressed to the nines
Let's go in wet corridors, dive down drains, draw strength from machinery, it's all the same
Thinking round corners, think round corners, I say, thinking round corners
"Still Loving You Tonight"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson
Catfish Rising (1991); 25 Years of Jethro Tull: Live Across The World and Through The Years (1993); Through The Years (1997); Live At The BBC (1998); Catfish Rising Remastered (2006)
It's a lonely life I live and I live this life to go
And if I leave you with one thing, it's just that I want you to know, I'll still be loving you tonight
I left flowers on your table, left the lock on your door
Staked a claim in your heartlands, put grain in your store, I'll still be loving you tonight
Got fingers on the button of that telephone dial
Call in and move your mountains, fill your spaces while, I'm still loving you tonight
You want to know how I can leave you? How can I move along this way?
Too much of a good thing can make you crazy and it's a good thing, that happened to me today
I'll still be loving you tonight
"Doctor To My Disease"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson
Catfish Rising (1991); Catfish Rising Remastered (2006)
I've been treated for mild depression and I've been treated for growing pains
I've been treated for hallucinations, now I can see it all coming again
Well, you can wind me up, yeah, you can slow me down
You can dig a little and you can mess me around
But there's one thing I should tell you to which you must agree
There's no use you playing doctor to my disease
Said it's no use you playing doctor to my disease
I got no cure for this condition that you've been causing me tonight
Well, you put my heart in overdrive, hand me the bullet I must bite
You can stir me up and you can cut me down
You can probe a little, push that knife around
But there's one thing I should tell you to which you must agree
It's no use you playing doctor to my disease
No use you playing doctor to my disease, no use you playing doctor to my disease
Do you have to break my engine, so you can fix it up again?
Tuned to crazy imperfection, just to score me out of ten
Well, you can wind me up, yeah, you can slow me down
You can dig a little, yeah, you can mess me around
But there's one thing I should tell you to which you must agree
That it's no use you playing doctor to my disease
No use you playing doctor to my disease, no use you playing doctor to my disease
"Like A Tall Thin Girl"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson
Catfish Rising (1991); Live At The BBC (1998); Catfish Rising Remastered (2006)
Well, I don't care to eat out in smart restaurants
I'd rather do a Vindaloo, take away is what I want
I was down at the old Bengal having telephoned a treat
When I saw her framed in the kitchen door, she looked good enough to eat (and I mean eat)
She was a tall thin girl, she looked like a tall thin girl
She said, "Whose is this carry-out?" My face turned chilli red
Well, I don't know about carrying out, but you can carry me off to bed (and I mean bed)
She was a tall thin girl, she moved like a tall thin girl
Maybe I can fetch for it and maybe I can stretch for it
I may not be a fat man and I'm not exactly small
But when it all comes down, couldn't stand my ground, this girl was tall (and I mean tall)
Big boy Doane, he's a drummer, don't play no tambourine
But he's Madras hot on the bongo trot, if you know just what I mean
Stands six foot three in his underwear, going to get him down here and see
If this good lady's got a little sister 'bout the same size as me
She was a tall thin girl, she looked like a tall thin girl
Well, can I fetch for it? Well, maybe I can stretch for it?
Well, am I up for it? Or do I have to go down for it?
"White Innocence"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson
Catfish Rising (1991); Catfish Rising Remastered (2006)
She drifted from some minor festival, didn't look like any summer of love
Just a thousand weekend warriors in a muddy field, she was the hand to fit my glove
Funny thing, the innocence of the lonely, funny thing, the charm of the young
See how she moves just like two angels (in white innocence), yet one of them is on the run
The other's tapping at my car window and I'm squinting through the sun
Trying to see if she's some child of the nineties or just another dangerous fantasy of mine
Yeah, white innocence, she was white innocence
A perfect hole was in her stocking, it made a perfect window to her heart
I could have moved among her waterfalls, her misty curtains drawn apart
Did she see warm safety in my numbers to want to hitch a ride this way?
Felt like I was taking her to market now to be sold as the last lot of the day
Funny thing, the distance of the lonely, funny thing, the charm of the young, white innocence
She pressed the button, lowered the window, let her hand trail in the slipstream of the night
A frost from nowhere seemed to lick her fingers, I could have warmed them but the moment wasn't right
Obvious, she was headed nowhere special, yes, well it was even obvious to me
I was doing some, some watching, some waiting, she'd been here before, most definitely
There was the promise of early bed-time, there was the promise of heaven on earth
Think I was sending out low-voltage electricity, played it right down for what it was worth
She turned and looked at me in white innocence and with the clearest eyes of forever grey
she rested one small hand for a second on my knee, I stopped the car, she walked away
Funny thing, the wisdom of the lonely, funny thing, the charm of the young
Away you go now, white innocence
"Sleeping With The Dog"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson
Catfish Rising (1991); Catfish Rising Remastered (2006)
Her love is like a candle, you light it up at night
Her heart is like a pack of cards, one chance to guess it right, sometimes I do
She's got a tongue like a viper, but she can whisper like a dove
Soft touch like brushed velvet till she hits you from above, and sometimes she does
She leaves me breathing, down like a fallen log (and) just when I feel like dancing
I wake up sleeping with the dog, and it goes (woof), sleeping with the dog
I have to guess at the mysteries of her unfathomable soul
Guess when the time seems right to make a broken spirit whole, and that time is due, c'm'on
She leaves me breathing, down like a fallen log (and) just when I feel like dancing
I wake up sleeping with the dog and it goes (woof), sleeping with the dog
"Gold-Tipped Boots, Black Jacket and Tie"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson
Catfish Rising (1991); Catfish Rising Remastered (2006)
I'm battered and bruised, I got lines I can't use
My head won't deliver, well I'm sold down the river
But I'm turning again, yes, 'n' I'm turning again
Well, I'm turning again and I'm turning again
Wearing gold-tipped boots, black jacket and tie
Well, I've been second to none, this horse was ready to run
Now I'm has-been and used, disarmed and de-fused
But I'm turning again and I'm turning again
Yes, 'n' I'm turning again, I'm turning again
Wearing gold-tipped boots, black jacket and tie
I'm egg over-easy and I'm washing-up squeezy
Appliance for sale, fat wind in my sail
And I'm turning again, yes, 'n' I'm turning again
Well, I'm turning again, yes, 'n' I'm turning again
Wearing gold-tipped boots, black jacket and tie
Well, I'm turning again
"When Jesus Came To Play"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson
Catfish Rising (1991); Catfish Rising Remastered (2006)
I was in my watering-hole with some ugly friends of mine
When he door came off its hinges, like a cork from fizzy wine
He said, 'My name is Jesus, I'm the leader of the band
Got to set up my equipment if you boys can lend a hand'
Oh yeah, when Jesus came to play
He set that bandstand jumping, yeah, and he cranked it up so loud
And he moved up to the microphone, had the attention of the crowd
He said, 'My name is Jesus, going to turn your head around
I'm going to make this easy, got no time to mess around'
Oh yeah, when Jesus came to play
'I got no twelve disciples and I got no cross to bear
If you thought they had me crucified, I guess you weren't there'
Oh yeah, when Jesus came to play
When Jesus came, he sang about three or four numbers, but we'd heard it all before
We boys were getting restless, no girls were moving on the floor
Those parables, they were merciless and the tables overturned
And there were no minor miracles, but false prophets they were burned
Well, maybe he was Jesus, but his hair could have used a comb
Long before he hit the last notes, we boys had all gone home
Oh yeah, when Jesus came to play
Oh Jesus, is it really you?
"Night In The Wilderness"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson
Catfish Rising Remastered (2006)
I could be sitting on the left of you, you'd be looking straight ahead
If I was adrift right across from you, you still would cut me dead
I've had better deep discussions with this plate of soft-shelled crab, yes I have
I'd put some spice in your rice, you'd give me blues in the stew
I'd give you catfish jumping, you'd give me all this work to do
Who's got the cheque on this hot dinner? Who's got the tabs on the crab?
Another night in the wilderness, should have been a night on the town
Lesson in learning how to hold a conversation down
I'm in splendid isolation, feel that heavy silence fall
Got all this cut out for me to do, another night in the wilderness of you
Here I am drinking you with my eyes, you're looking at the gravy on my bib
I go weak-kneed at the suggestion of you, what's wrong with the cut of my jib?
Is there a lobster in the offing or just a fifty dollar cheque?
Another night in the wilderness, should have been a night on the town
Lesson in learning how to hold a conversation down
I'm in splendid isolation, feel that heavy silence fall
Got all this cut out for me to do, another night in the wilderness of you
Another night in the wilderness, should have been a night on the town
Lesson in learning how to hold a conversation down
I'm in splendid isolation, feel that heavy silence fall
Got all this cut out for me to do, another night in the wilderness of you
Another night in the wilderness of you, another night in the wilderness of you
Another night in the wilderness of you