"Puppet and The Puppet Master"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson

Curious Ruminant (2025)

Holding court on a black box stage, dangling from the strings, I twirl and face the music and the prompter in the wings
I am both willing puppet, puppet master also, with lofty expectations set to pull me to and fro
I live only to serve, bring smiles to friendly faces, dancing on a sixpence, singing from a tree
With birds of a feather chirping high and low together, make everybody happy, starting with me
Please feel no sorrow or remorse, I dance willing only to, a tune crafted by me, both captain and crew
In a black box cage, rattling at soft bars, bendy steel to part, I slip through to the stars
Through th? duskfall peeping, me, unlikely lad, to paint a smile b?hind the mask, the pay is not too bad
I, the willing puppet, puppet master also, lofty expectations set to pull me to and fro, to and fro, fro and two, to and fro



"Curious Ruminant"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson

Curious Ruminant (2025)

I count my life in seconds passed, in meeting minutes, hours surpass
Days of quiet watching felt upper class, flow through the years, wondering aloud
Needle matches spark my fires, dissenting voices from steeple spires
Ring out across the woody hills, as brief as men march daffodils
Asking "Why am I here?" Answering "Why am I anywhere?"
Orbiting construct of Jung and Freud, psycho dreaming asteroid
Faced with big questions, toss and turn, unfit to frolic, unconcerned
Asking "Why am I here?" Answering "Why am I anywhere?"
Orbiting construct of Jung and Freud, psycho dreaming asteroid
Ruminant pleasures, write them down, harsh adjective, improper noun
We consider each every day, I'll change my viewpoint, shift and sway
No pedant pickle, soup, or stew, sit on the fence, enjoy the view
Needle matches spark my fires, dissenting voices from steeple spires
Ring out across the woody hills as brief as men march daffodils
Dead and gone, detached from your reality, pray, thinker, be kindly anyway
In wee hours you peer midst the gathering gloom, my ghostly whisper, "Cogito, ergo sum"



"Dunsinane Hill"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson

Curious Ruminant (2025)

We two hard men of arms as brothers roam the Commons, encounter pushy spin doctors, one, two, and three
Whispering dark prophesies, with their cackling and their moaning, I am seduced by wicked promises of the Walpole house to me
Here rule I from high on Dunsinane Hill, but first, I have to banish, blame the deed on servile others, they must be cast out into exile and gone without delay
God save me, king of cabinet, now I look over my shoulder to see my brother warrior, damned spot to wash away
Such treachery unbecoming tears my heart strings still strumming, but my options grow diminished, no choice but to betray
See the wooded lower chamber, a cloak of green disguise, I nurse bleak imaginings amidst that Quercus wall
Mere matter of delusion, no Speaker's firm intrusion, let guilty solace soon surpass the tears that fall
I shall reign resolved, proud, never vanquished until, Great Birnam Wood comes to high Dunsinane Hill, to high Dunsinane Hill



"The Tipu House"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson

Curious Ruminant (2025)

In the Tipu house live all kinds of people, old ladies up the back stairs
Young wives drained away the useless husband's drink, through the long, cold evening, maybe I could be one with some practice and a prayer
All God's children play in a toxic city garden, stealing from their brethren, a saucy view of war
Of domestic incidents, a guilty copulation, the day of books and roses shown firmly to the door
In the Tipu house, you feel for your neighbor, trade rice and greasy vegetables, shoulders on which to cry
You don't feel so good about them, quite a lot of the time and someone has to fix the plumbing or at least give it a try
All God's children play in a toxic city garden, stealing from their brethren, a saucy view of war
Of domestic incidents, a guilty copulation, the day of books and roses shown firmly to the door
In the Tipu house, there's a quiet and distant babble, marital possibilities for all a kind in the air
Secrets for better dowries, for joining better families, whispered promises in the hubbub of the market square
All God's children play in a toxic city garden, stealing from their brethren, a saucy view of war
Of domestic incidents, a guilty copulation, the day of books and roses shown firmly to the door
In the Tipu house, there are forever changes, young gladiators nourished by the football terrace beat
Aspired to fly in the moneylenders' temples of Madrid, dream hungry dreams in smooth Brioni, turning up the heat



"Savannah of Paddington Green"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson

Curious Ruminant (2025)

Glimpse me, squeeze me, see if I'm real, tangible fauna, slippery eel
Chart me and dart me, faint dot on the screen, on the urban savannah of Paddington Green
I am the wild beast, tiny part of the herd, flock, shoal and theatre of the absurd
Compare us to lemmings, death wish contemplation or in mindlessly happy sweet murmuration
Wheeling and whirling, in social display, free flight celebration of synchronous play
Irresponsible echoes best heard and not seen, over urban savannah of Paddington Green
I have a faint folk memory of trees, lush meadows, right here on this spot where dust gathers and blows
Threatening species, we turned in on ourselves, like others before us, now left on the shelves
Wheeling and whirling, in social display, free flight celebration of synchronous play
Irresponsible echoes best heard and not seen, over urban savannah of Paddington Green
But hey, we had glorious times of sweet ignorance, reveling in shady, shared points of indifference
Adjacent cracked flyover, silent, serene, by the urban savannah of Paddington Green
By the urban savannah of Paddington Green, of Paddington Green, of Paddington Green, of Paddington Green



"Stygian Hand"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson

Curious Ruminant (2025)

Cobbled road, cobbled way, dark as pitch, grey mist swirling, something lightly treading, this way comes
Could be the bobby on his beat, torch probe a-curling, along the dead-end alley between the slums
Crash! The Stygian hand, against my brow, unholy tempter, with confrontation face
I proffer cross of comfort, defiant exorcism, no starting gun to join this hoary devil's race
Symbol of faith, symbol of sacrifice, icon of glory, graven in gold
Alpha, Omega, and all things between, strength to the bearer, good grace to behold
Glimpse of peace and grasp of last hope divine, in the gathering dusk, when nightlights dim
Give firm resolve in times of desperation, as spectral visitants in life's dark corridor swim
Symbol of faith, symbol of sacrifice, icon of glory, graven in gold
Alpha, Omega, and all things between, strength to the bearer, good grace to behold
Cobbled roadway, dark as pitch, grey mist swirling, something lightly treading, this way comes
Could be the bobby on his beat, torch probe a-curling, along the dead-end alley between the slums
Crash! The Stygian hand, against my brow, unholy tempter, with confrontation face
I proffer cross of comfort, defiant exorcism, no starting gun to join this hoary devil's race



"Over Jerusalem"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson

Curious Ruminant (2025)

Am I the hawk? Am I the dove? The vulture swooping down from above?
Am I the drone, circling high, whirring tuneless, pie-eyed in the sky?
Angry gods of retribution, driving hate without solution, city, home to all who came and ever will
Long lost tribes, invaders of old, staking their claim to spiritual gold
Layers of antiquity buried below, each with a sad tale to better not know
There is no time for meditation, pause for thought or hesitation, set in stone, firm pledges to fulfil
Angry gods of retribution, driving hate without solution, city, home to all who came and ever will
Rocks upon rocks, ashes on ashes, bagels and lox, warak dawali
Divisible loaves, two fish from the Galilee, as friends sit and dine, take water and wine
I walk the cobbled alleys nervously, soldier girls, soldier boys stare at me
Down the line, out of time, switch alliance in my mind
I walk the cobbled alleys nervously, soldier girls and soldier boys stare at me
Down the line, out of time, switch alliance in my mind
Am I the hawk? Am I the dove? The vulture swooping down from above?
Am I the drone, circling high, whirring tuneless, pie-eyed in the sky?
There is no time for meditation, pause for thought or hesitation, set in stone, firm pledges to fulfil
Angry gods of retribution, driving hate without solution, city, home to all who came and ever will, but I never will
I'm not over Jerusalem, Jerusalem



"Drink From The Same Well"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson

Curious Ruminant (2025)

I drink from the same well as you, I drink from the same well as you
Throng of desparate priestly spirits, wind-blown, drift on the blood-red sands
They cast a spell of early warning, no welcome shake of their blood-red hands
They drink from the same well as you, they drink from the same well as you
A nod, a wink from the neon bar, in a sad backstreet of sweet ladyboys
Defy the leer of phobic drunken, macho men chanting football noise
They drink from the same well as you, yes, and they drink from the same well as you
Draw the bucket, roll the dice, call the coin, call it twice
Tell me which way you choose, do I care? Yours to lose
I drink from the same well as you, yes, and I drink from the same well as you
Culture bending, message sending, shouts of river to the sea
Displaying wilful ignorance, as to shifting tides of history
They drink from the same well as you, yes, and they drink from the same well as you
We lovers lost in doomed matrimony, cast adrift on an angry sea
Of angry words, vicious, vindictive, low-hanging fruit on Eve's poisoned tree
I drink from the same well as you, you drink from the same well as me
Yes, I drink from the same well as you, yes, and you drink from the same well as me
Chew it over, chew the cud, join hand in hand before the flood
Tell me which way you choose, do I care? Yours to lose



"Interim Sleep"
music and lyrics by Ian Anderson

Curious Ruminant (2025)

When interim sleep takes me, I want you close beside
No tears, no sad goodbye, I am calm and still as a fallen autumn leaf
When that interim sleep takes me, I will pass first into a room next door
Not far away, nor lost to finer senses, not gone forever, nor to be forgotten
And when your turn comes at last to close those waking eyes, pass willing to the room next door
Seeking no blameless redemption, walk to that open window, open to the stars
Look out down the winding river valley, where lights sparkle, marking stations
Stations where trains start and stop, on the separate journeys of our many lives
High above the nearest empty station, flies a solitary bird, faint in the higher distance
Circling, soaring in the infinite blue, reach up to that bird to find me waiting on firm, welcoming, feathered wings
Together we will circle in that infinite blue, glide down past stately barges to the next twinkling station
Buy tickets, stow useless excess baggage to board the onward train, another journey