Jethro Tull’s Journeyman ~ Kick back and enjoy the ride

Written by on August 26, 2011 - 0 Comments
Categories: Music, Music Review, Progressive Rock, Review

I’m not sure a more fascinating and inventive song — both lyrically and musically — has ever been created about the simple act of commuting home on the train. What I really love most about Jethro Tull’s Journeyman (Heavy Horses, 1978), is the way the bass drives both the melody and cadence, right from the opening notes. Once Ian Anderson’s vocal chimes in, continue following that bass line as it takes you on merry, syncopated journey off the beaten track.

This song is richly layered in composition, instrumentation and voice (listen for Anderson’s extra gravelly voice layered over his own more sonorous takes for a wonderful vocal depth). The bouncy thematic rhythm is infused with a variety of changes and tempo riffs, a temporal temptress always keeping your attention on the periphery of the beat. All this activity makes Journeyman one of those musical pieces that provides endless hours of active listening play — there’s always some new relationship between notes, phrases, instruments to discover — but it’s also fun to just kick back and enjoy.
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