Lyrics to
Rainbow Blues

This version of Rainbow Blues was released by Jethro Tull in 1974.

Our About Jethro Tull page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Rainbow Blues from 1974 as well as all of the other lyrics from Jethro Tull that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Jethro Tull or about the 1970s in general.

Through northern lights on back streets
I told the coachman, “Just drive me on,
It’s the same old destination
but a different world to sing upon.”
So he threw back his head and he counted.
I jumped out about five to nine.

And I waved at the stage door-keeper
said, “Mister, get me to the stage on time.”
Oh, but the rain wasn’t made of water
and the snow didn’t have a place in the sun
so I slipped behind a rainbow
and waited till the show had done.

I packed my ammunition.
Inside the crowd was shouting, “Encore”,

But I had a most funny feeling
it wasn’t me they were shouting for.
So when the tall dark lady smiled at me
I said, “Oh, baby let us go for a ride.”
And we came upon two drinks or four
and popped them oh so neatly inside.

Oh, but the rain wasn’t made of water
and the snow didn’t have a place in the sun
so we slipped behind a rainbow
and lay there until we had done.

Let me pack you deep in my suitcase.
Oh, there’s sure to be room for two
or you can drive me to the airplane
but don’t let me catch those rainbow blues.

---

Want more lyrics and songs by Jethro Tull?

Jethro Tull has released many songs over the years besides Rainbow Blues. 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 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1974 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Rainbow Blues by Jethro Tull

The lyrics to Rainbow Blues are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that Jethro Tull used when the song was created in 1974. The lyrics to Rainbow Blues have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only Jethro Tull and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to Rainbow Blues by Jethro Tull. 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 Rainbow Blues" means the words set to the music of Rainbow Blues, 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 Rainbow Blues and the lyrics to Rainbow Blues 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 Rainbow Blues, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

More Songs & Lyrics by Jethro Tull

Visit our Jethro Tull profile for more Jethro Tull songs, lyrics & info!

)