Thick As A Brick (live At Madison Square Garden) Lyrics - Thick As A Brick - Jethro Tull

Really don't mind if you sit this one out. 

My words but a whisper, your deafness a SHOUT. 

I may make you feel but I can't make you think. 

Your sperm's in the gutter, your love's in the sink. 

So you ride yourselves over the fields and 

you make all your animal deals and 

your wise men don't know how it feels 

to be thick as a brick. 

And the sand-castle virtues are all swept away 

In the tidal destruction the moral melee. 

The elastic retreat rings the close of play 

as the last wave uncovers the newfangled way. 

But your new shoes are worn at the heels 

and your suntan does rapidly peel 

and your wise men don't know how it feels 

to be thick as a brick. 

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And the love that I feel is so far away: 

I'm a bad dream that I just had today 

and you shake your head 

and say it's a shame. 

Spin me back down the years and the days of my youth. 

Draw the lace and black curtains and shut out the whole truth. 

Spin me down the long ages: let them sing the song. 

See there! A son is born 

and we pronounce him fit to fight. 

There are black-heads on his shoulders, 

and he pees himself in the night. 

We'll make a man of him 

put him to trade 

teach him to play Monopoly 

and not to sing in the rain. 

Photos 

The Poet and the painter casting shadows on the water -- 

as the sun plays on the infantry returning from the sea. 

The do-er and the thinker: no allowance for the other -- 

as the failing light illuminates the mercenary's creed. 

The home fire burning: the kettle almost boiling -- 

but the master of the house is far away. 

The horses stamping, their warm breath clouding 

in the sharp and frosty morning of the day. 

And the poet lifts his pen while the soldier sheaths his sword. 

And the youngest of the family 

Is moving with authority. 

Building castles by the sea, 

he dares the tardy tide 

to wash them all aside. 

The cattle quietly grazing at the grass down by the river 

where the swelling mountain water moves onward to the sea: 

the builder of the castles renews the age-old purpose 

and contemplates the milking girl whose offer is his need. 

The young men of the household have all gone into service 

and are not to be expected for a year. 

The innocent young master -- thoughts moving ever faster -- 

has formed the plan to change the man he seems. 

And the poet sheaths his pen while the soldier lifts his sword. 

And the oldest of the family 

Is moving with authority. 

Coming from across the sea, 

he challenges the son 

who puts him to the run. 

What do you do when the old man's gone -- 

do you want to be him? 

And your real self sings the song. 

Do you want to free him? 

No one to help you get up steam -- 

and the whirlpool turns you 'way off-beam. 

LATER. 

I've come down from the upper class 

to mend your rotten ways. 

My father was a man-of-power 

whom everyone obeyed. 

So come on all you criminals! 

I've got to put you straight 

just like I did with my old man -- 

twenty years too late. 

Your bread and water's going cold. 

Your hair is too short and neat. 

I'll judge you all and make damn sure 

that no-one judges me. 

You curl your toes in fun as you smile at everyone -- 

you meet the stares. You're unaware that your doings aren't done. 

And you laugh most ruthlessly as you tell us what not to be. 

But how are we supposed to see where we should run? 

I see you shuffle in the courtroom with your rings upon your fingers 

and your downy little sidies and your silver-buckle shoes. 

Playing at the hard case, you follow the example 

of the comic-paper idol who lets you bend the rules. 

So! Come on ye childhood heroes! 

Won't you rise up from the pages 

of your comic-books your super crooks 

and show us all the way. 

Well! Make your will and testament. 

Won't you? Join your local government. 

We'll have Superman for president 

let Robin save the day. 

You put your bet on number one and it comes up every time. 

The other kids have all backed down and they put you first in line. 

And so you finally ask yourself just how big you are -- 

and take your place in a wiser world of bigger motor cars. 

And you wonder who to call on. 

So! Where the hell was Biggles when you needed him last Saturday? 

And where were all the sportsmen who always pulled you though? 

They're all resting down in Cornwall -- 

writing up their memoirs for a paper-back edition of the Boy Scout Manual. 

LATER. 

See there! A man born -- 

and we pronounce him fit for peace. 

There's a load lifted from his shoulders 

with the discovery of his disease. 

We'll take the child from him 

put it to the test 

teach it to be a wise man 

how to fool the rest. 

QUOTE 

We will be geared to the average rather than the exceptional 

God is an overwhelming responsibility 

we walked through the maternity ward and saw 218 babies wearing nylons 

It says here that cats are on the upgrade 

upgrade? Hipgrave. Oh, Mac. 

LATER 

In the clear white circles of morning wonder, 

I take my place with the lord of the hills. 

And the blue-eyed soldiers stand slightly discoloured (in neat little rows) 

sporting canvas frills. 

With their jock-straps pinching, they slouch to attention, 

while queueing for sarnies at the office canteen. 

Saying -- how's your granny and good old Ernie: 

he coughed up a tenner on a premium bond win. 

The legends (worded in the ancient tribal hymn) lie cradled in the seagull's call. 

And all the promises they made are ground beneath the sadist's fall. 

The poet and the wise man stand behind the gun, 

and signal for the crack of dawn. Light the sun. 

Do you believe in the day? 

Do you? Believe in the day! 

The Dawn Creation of the Kings has begun. 

Soft Venus (lonely maiden) brings the ageless one. 

Do you believe in the day? 

Do you? Believe in the day! 

The fading hero has returned to the night -- 

and fully pregnant with the day, wise men endorse the poet's sight. 

Do you believe in the day? 

Do you? Believe in the day! 

Let me tell you the tales of your life 

of your love and the cut of the knife 

the tireless oppression the wisdom instilled 

the desire to kill or be killed. 

Let me sing of the losers who lie 

in the street as the last bus goes by. 

The pavements are empty: the gutters run red -- 

while the fool toasts his god in the sky. 

So come all ye young men who are building castles! 

Kindly state the time of the year 

and join your voices in a hellish . 

Mark the precise nature of your fear. 

Let me help you pick up your dead 

as the sins of the father are fed 

with the blood of the fools and the thoughts of the wise 

and from the pan under your bed. 

Let me make you a present of song as 

the wise man breaks wind and is gone while 

the fool with the hour-glass is cooking his goose and 

the nursery rhyme winds along. 

So! Come all ye young men who are building castles! 

Kindly state the time of the year 

and join your voices in a hellish . 

Mark the precise nature of your fear. 

See! The summer lightning casts its bolts upon you 

and the hour of judgement draweth near. 

Would you be the fool stood in his suit of armour 

or the wiser man who rushes clear. 

So! Come on ye childhood heroes! 

Won't your rise up from the pages 

of your comic-books your super-crooks 

and show us all the way. 

Well! Make your will and testament. 

Won't you? Join your local government. 

We'll have Superman for president 

let Robin save the day. 

So! Where the hell was Biggles when you needed him last Saturday? 

And where were all the sportsmen who always pulled you through? 

They're all resting down in Cornwall -- writing up their memoirs 

for a paper-back edition of the Boy Scout Manual. 

OF COURSE 

So you ride yourselves over the fields 

and you make all your animal deals 

and your wise men don't know how it feels 

to be thick as a brick.