Lyrics to
A Passion Play (Part 1)

This version of A Passion Play (Part 1) was released by Jethro Tull in 1973.

Our Jethro Tull Songs profile has A Passion Play (Part 1) lyrics from 1973 and most if not all of the lyrics by Jethro Tull that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

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“Do you still see me even here?”
(The silver cord lies on the ground.)
“And so I’m dead”, the young man said
over the hill (not a wish away).
My friends (as one) all stand aligned
although their taxis came too late.
There was / a rush along the Fulham Road.
There was / a hush in the Passion Play.

Such a sense of glowing in the aftermath
ripe with rich attainments all imagined
sad misdeeds in disarray
the sore thumb screams aloud,
echoing out of the Passion Play.
All the old familiar choruses come crowding in a different key…
Melodies decaying in sweet dissonance.
There was a rush along the Fulham Road
into the Ever-passion Play.

And who comes here to wish me well?
A sweetly-scented angel fell.
She laid her head upon my disbelief
and bathed me with her ever-smile.
And with a howl across the sand
I go escorted by a band of gentlemen in leather bound
NO-ONE (but someone to be found).

All along the icy wastes there are faces smiling in the gloom.
Roll up roll down, Feeling unwound? Step into the viewing room.
The cameras were all around.We’ve got you taped you’re in the play.
Here’s your I.D. (Ideal for identifying one and all.)
Invest your life in the memory bank ours the interest and we thank you.
The ice-cream lady wets her drawers, to see you in the passion play.
Take the prize for instant pleasure, captain of the cricket team
public speaking in all weathers, a knighthood from a queen.

All your best friends’ telephones never cooled from the heat of your hand.
There’s a line in a front-page story, 13 horses that also-ran.
Climb in your old umbrella. Does it have a nasty tear in the dome?
But the rain only gets in sometimes and the sun never leaves you alone,
you alone, you alone, you alone, you alone, you alone.

Lover of the black and white it’s your first night.
The Passion Play, goes all the way, spoils your insight.
Tell me how the baby’s made, how the lady’s laid,
why the old dog howls in sadness.

And your little sister’s immaculate virginity wings away on the bony shoulders
of a young horse named George who stole surreptitiously into her geography revision.
(The examining body examined her body.)
Actor of the low-high Q, let’s hear your view.
Peek at the lines upon your sleeves since your memory won’t do.
Tell me: how the baby’s graded, how the lady’s faded,
why the old dogs howl with madness.
All of this and some of that’s the only way to skin the cat.
And now you’ve lost a skin or two, you’re for us and we for you.
The dressing room is right behind, We’ve got you taped, you’re in the play.
How does it feel to be in the play?
How does it feel to play the play?
How does it feel to be the play?

Man of passion rise again, we won’t cross you out…
for we do love you like a son, of that there’s no doubt.
Tell us: is it you who are here for our good cheer?
Or are we here for the glory, for the story, for the gory satisfaction
of telling you how absolutely awful you really are?
There was / a rush along the Fulham Road.
There was / a hush in the Passion Play.

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Jethro Tull has released many songs over the years besides A Passion Play (Part 1). Jethro Tull released songs from 1968 to 2003 spanning across albums like This Was, Stand Up, Benefit, Aqualung, Living In The Past, Thick As A Brick, A Passion Play, Warchild, Minstrel In The Gallery, Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die!, Songs From The Wood, Heavy Horses, Stormwatch, A, The Broadsword And The Beast, Under Wraps, Crest Of A Knave, Rock Island, Catfish Rising, Nightcap, Roots To Branches, J-Tull Dot Com, and The Jethro Tull Christmas Album. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Jethro Tull.

If you're a fan of lyrics from 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1973 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and A Passion Play (Part 1) by Jethro Tull

When you decide to study the lyrics to A Passion Play (Part 1), you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1973 song by Jethro Tull. Some of the lyrics to A Passion Play (Part 1) have clear meanings and some contain metaphorical references. Like most songs, only Jethro Tull and their collaborators know the full story behind any of the their songs.

You can understand the lyrics to A Passion Play (Part 1) if you take apart the structure of the words. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to A Passion Play (Part 1)" means the words set to the music of A Passion Play (Part 1), or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Jethro Tull. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to A Passion Play (Part 1) and the lyrics to A Passion Play (Part 1) are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Jethro Tull who came here looking just for the lyrics to A Passion Play (Part 1), but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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