What does Skating Away mean?

Jethro Tull: Skating Away Meaning

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Album cover for Skating Away album cover

Skating Away Lyrics

Meanwhile back in the year one when you belong to no one ya didnt stand a chance.... son if your pants were undone cause you were bread to humanity and salt to society one day you'll wake up in the present day a million generations removed from...

  1. anonymous
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    Jul 29th 2023 !⃝

    Back in the year one, Christ's life had to be on schedule. There was a plan. His life wasn't his. Now if he came back, he could do things his way and live his own life, but will the universe let him?

  2. anonymous
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    Mar 13th 2023 !⃝

    In 1983, Ian Andreson and Dr. Vice put on a 1970 show, confused about St. Matthew. a 1411 Ir, Glock. Beretta, and Luger. The Beretta can shoot someone in the back of the head, purposes of which are unclear.

  3. anonymous
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    Feb 8th 2022 !⃝

    Ian Anderson's words speak so many truths. This one speaks of many meanings. In my youth i skated along, and away. Now, I skate back, into when I belonged to no one. the
    rest is dark and magical

  4. fjodor
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    Apr 7th 2020 !⃝

    Great song & I like 3DGUY's interpretation. To me, "Skating Away" hints at leaving the old life behind and connecting with a different realm - which is a state of being, not a far-away place in terms of time and space. The "circle line" may be death - maybe it's the cycle of incarnations, an energetic state that a seeker can break through. This does not need to be connected to physical death - it may happen during one's lifetime.

    More here:
    https://spirit-rockmusic.eu/2020/04/jethro-tull-skating-away-on-the-thin-ice-of-the-new-day/

  5. 3dguy
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    Mar 6th 2019 !⃝

    1st stanza - "meanwhile back in the year one" speaks to the indeterminate nature of childhood. All options are available, you're a blank slate, etc., but you don't stand a chance of determining your own path because of society.

    Refrain - "skating away". The illusion society has built of what life should be and our metal dependance on it is tenuous. We have a choice each day to do the right thing but do we?

    2nd stanza - "you were bred". We are beings of lofty possibilities and high potential, containing the soul of God. The individual almost always conforms to the "group think" of society. One day you'll come to realize you could have been so much more if you had just fought harder.

    3rd stanza - "push off from the shore" is an allusion to death. Before you go, make your peace. "For those who choose to stay..." is a comical reference to trying to do everything you should have done over the course of your life on the last day.

    4th stanza - "As you cross the circle line..." this whol sextion is about judgement after death. All through life we run from the fate we create. The splinters in the eye, is a referebce to the bible verse about judging others, "Before you talk about the splinter in your neighbor's eye, get the log out of your own". When you meet God for judgement, it will be too damn real and in the present tense. We discount our own actions through out life, seeing the impact of other but neglecting our own... "everyone's on the stage".

    There's also a section of the lyrics missing,the last stanza:
    "Spanning 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".

    This is a lament about not realizing the truth soon enough. The lacy veil of society's expectations distort man's true purpose and nature. If we are to become God-like in heaven, we must first learn to be human. To be God-like and have no empanthy for the plight of another is to be another Satan.

    Good luck on your day y'all.

  6. anonymous
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    Jan 13th 2018 !⃝

    The passion play line & the year one reference, made me wonder if there was a deeper religious meaning...since there was only one person written into the passion play.

  7. anonymous
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    Jun 23rd 2017 !⃝

    escaping dysfunctional family relationships.
    a child, shamed, awakes to not knowing it's identity. skate away.
    as you leave behind loved ones who are stuck in a pattern, go gracefully.
    loneliness and confusion, looking for the life in life. skate away.
    as you break the lines, the left behind will make a noise. family memories and passing of time.
    well do you ever get the feeling? i did.
    by.
    "mud cloud"

  8. anonymous
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    Oct 9th 2016 !⃝

    A Jethro Tull song relevant today as was then, a warning prophesized for The Present time that caught up to us. At that time, like now bro, not to get caught with our pants down, careful not to get the load progressively ahead of ourselves. All the while not looking back wisely to preserve our foundations left behind in a society that has become to SHALLOW AND MISINFORMED that stopped teaching us the learning how to swim in deep water when going off shore and too far, being on ''the thin ice of a new day''. Anotherwords Ian Anderson I believe didn't want to see the progressive individual go ''up[or down] the creek without a paddle'', but first to look back and see if he got his ducks in a row home first, before going on his wild adventure like a ''RABBIt ON THE RUN''


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