What a coincidence ! Before clicking on your reaction, I had just been watching on TH-cam, "Mystery Of The White Horse" Smithsonian Channel, presented by Clive Anderson, looking at the origins and history of Uffington's ancient White Horse.
"Howling into hollow blackness, dusky diesel shudders in full cry" -- nothing like having a fast freight bust out of a tunnel through a lonely train station and plunge back in again at the far end of the platform, roaring and thundering - like a hellhound on one's trail
Musically and lyrically this song is a railway journey, out from the city centre to the suburbs. The steady beat of the locomotive, the shuffle of crossing the points, the screaming guitar echoes another train roaring by in the other direction. Gerrard's Cross is on the rail line out of London, heading to the west. Ian Anderson does not drive and, to this day travels a lot by rail. There are several songs about travelling on trains scattered through the Tull catalogue.
Spot on - he's so underrated, but vital for their sound. I saw an interview with him once when he described how he had to get solos out quickly, usually in one take, or they'd be replaced with flute! This may have honed his ability to make these sharp bursts so effective!
He's worked for years, perfecting his craft. Writing, and re-writing. Composing till decomposition becomes bitter and biting! Still going after decades, still sane, not daft. The Journeyman toiling at his craft.😁.✌&❤.
John Glascock..John Glascock....oh and John Glascock.....what a bass line, the man was a tour de force in Tull in imho. Justin, is feel, setting the scene for this train ride. Journeyman is such an underrated track, period. Ian's superb vocals.. Barlow's timeless groove..what a way to finish off side 1 ppl!!! They can do no wrong in my book...❤❤❤
Beautifully constructed track, all parts working in unison like a locomotive - fittingly, given the poetic tale of a late-night train commuter. A classic Tull deep cut. Gerrard's Cross is a town in London's commuter belt, northwest of the city - a typical residential area for a middle-class city business worker.
Man oh man. Heavy Horses was the first Tull album I bought - the ones prior were influences from my 2 older brothers. Along with the Live Bursting Out, I was now hooked to the nth degree. Thanks for the reaction. I remember so clearly marvelling at the quirky time signatures of this cut back in the Summer of 1978.
A nice little nod...? Yes, great song. Anderson's lyrics make my imagination come to life. I imagine a man who worked late, it's winter, and it's dark and snowing outside in the 1970s. Train travel isn't what it used to be. He's one of a few on a late commuter train. Worn out passenger cars (carriages in UK) with faulty wiring (flickering lights). An old worn out grimy diesel engine is pulling the train. He's looking forward to getting home by the fire and relaxing for the weekend.
There's a few play on words here. "Journeyman" is traditionally a skilled worker, but of course here refers to Ian as a commuter. "Night-tripping on the late fantastic" parodies "Trip the light fantastic" meaning to dance. And when the guard turned the heating off, that's exactly what happened. No deep meaning, just a touch of irony that the train is travelling in the cold dead of night.
Great raeaction Justin. I wanted to say (but you probably already did the reaction) that the next track, Rover has some strings arrangements removed in the 2003 remaster, i suggest you to listen the Steven Wilson remix to hear the full track.
I agree ! ...and in addition on the 2003 remaster there's a higher pitch on "Rover" than on the original vinyl, which gives a truncated idea of the track. Indeed, the 2018 edition rectifies all that.
@@samuelecallegari6117 I did not remember that on "Moths" but after a quick comparison, it is also indeed the case! Thanks for pointing that out.👍 It's weird that the other tracks on the album don't suffer from this problem....🤔
@@samuelecallegari6117 I checked with the other tracks from the 2003 remaster of the album but it seems only "Moths" and "Rover" suffer from this pitch problem. Maybe a problem with some of the master tapes but not all....
This video reminds me of people who keep the wrong cd in the wrong cd case lol! By the way, it was a previous XTC reaction video you did that prompted my own XTC journey and from one journeyman to another, Journeyman is a great song from a classic album. Heavy Horses is easily one of my all time favourites.
I cannot believe you didn't discuss the bass in your final review; you stated "what a happening bass line" once during the track and that was it. The bass completely drives this uniquely structured track from start to finish. John Glascock was a bass playing genius....RIP John.
Hey Justin ~ Regarding this line: "Stationmaster in his wisdom told the guard to turn the heating off." It's not the heating on the train but at the station. They'd turn the heating off to keep homeless people from sleeping in the train stations over night.
When you hear the song backwards. j.s.bach jumps out of your fridge, screams something about fugue in your face and runs out the door laughing hysterically with your cigarettes. Be alamed☝️.
In prog rock Jethro Tull and Gentle Giant were close, right there on the top of it all. This song really made me realize this, this time, on your react, after hearing it a gazillion times already. The composition would suit either band. Blessings.
It always feels to me like the song should explode at some point and be a total jam. It never does, though. I don't know why, after 30 or so years of listening to this, that I still think it will.
Not for the first time in their repertoir, this song by Tull refers to a number of specific 'Britiscisms', eg Railway sleepers - these are what you call 'ties' in the US - the bits of wood or concrete under the rails that take the load of the train to the earth. Ian plays with the two (or more) meanings of 'sleepers' here. Ian and Martin Barre are quite into trains/railways, so they know the terminology. This song describes a late evening, winter journey out of Marylebone station (London) into the Chiltern Hills - about 15-18 miles north-west of London - in pure poetry. It is what might be called 'classic commuterland' - a quite wealthy area where bankers or politicians might live and come into London on a daily basis (at least, pre-Covid).
This one's a real sleeper. It creeps up on you, starts with a simple bass, and just builds and builds. It's about the commuter train journey in and out of London that thousands of people made every day.
One the three great folk-rock album with Songs From the Wood and Stormwatch. My favorites although many others are excellent. In the lyrics, you misunderstood “turn the heating off”. The man is the stationmaster, not an engineer so is talking about the station, not the train. Great job, though. Everyone else does Aqualung and maybe Thick as a Brick but get what’s happening. Kudos!
I think maybe part of the purpose of this song is to make the album span the ages? So we're somewhere in time between the Restoration and Victorian times, and the lyrics here move in the 20th Century at times. All the time the flute's there reminding you you're in the times of Jethro Tull, band, as well as of Jethro Tull, agronomist. So spanning again. Everyone's playing very percussively? There isn't much that glides. Much of it never glid before. And then Tea is probably what you'd call supper or dinner. (Me too. In Aussie they call it tea, and to add a bit of confusion, if you're invited for "supper" in the late evening, that's going to be coffee or tea, and maybe some biscuits or cake.) I think the journeys of the earlier journeymen would've been from mill to mill, for instance. To go and wright the mill. (Because it's now fashionable to verb one's nouns.) No longer an apprentice requiring supervision, but not yet a Master. Someone who practices some trade. An artisan. This journeyman makes a journey home from the mill in a train, though. (Again, terminology: in the trades, throughout the Empire - except in Rebel country - one starts as apprentice to a master, "graduates" - I think at the whim of the master, back in the day - and then one is a journeyman. I don't know if that terminology has survived in the USA?)
Wrong horse, Justin!!! The Uffington White Horse is at least 3000 years older! I am, though, enjoying, "Heavy Horses" and of course, "English Settlement" too!
I just think of this song as the world-weathered Ian version of "Locomotive Breath", but boy Barlowe's drumming makes you feel like you're on a real-life, shitty 70's English commuter train. This album has so much dirt under it's fingernails.
I am not going to present a learned opinion. I like the contrast between Locomotive Breath and Journeyman. Both are using a train for rhythm. Both present stories of completely different people. JUSTIN I was also pleased when you started moving to the music. Dude you had me concerned there for a moment. LUL
I wonder why other reaction hosts can't listen to a new song without interrupting it ( a crime). Glad you always did it right. I had to go back and play my album, as something didn't sound right to me. I've heard this one dozens and dozens or time since 1980, and the pitch seems too high. Slightly sped-up copy here. Checking play times I see the copy of the song you reviewed ended 10 seconds sooner than my album does (3:48 versus 3:58).
Mistakes were made😂
This will definitely make the Blooper Reel!
What a coincidence ! Before clicking on your reaction, I had just been watching on TH-cam, "Mystery Of The White Horse" Smithsonian Channel, presented by Clive Anderson, looking at the origins and history of Uffington's ancient White Horse.
All I care about is that you immediately picked up on how amazing everything about the snare was :) good episode! :)
Ok. You caught the wrong album cover too late. LUL
I'd love to hear Andy and Ian working together!
"Howling into hollow blackness, dusky diesel shudders in full cry" -- nothing like having a fast freight bust out of a tunnel through a lonely train station and plunge back in again at the far end of the platform, roaring and thundering - like a hellhound on one's trail
Musically and lyrically this song is a railway journey, out from the city centre to the suburbs. The steady beat of the locomotive, the shuffle of crossing the points, the screaming guitar echoes another train roaring by in the other direction.
Gerrard's Cross is on the rail line out of London, heading to the west.
Ian Anderson does not drive and, to this day travels a lot by rail. There are several songs about travelling on trains scattered through the Tull catalogue.
Not enough mention is made about Martin's burst guitar. It's just so iconic in much of Jethro Tull's work.
Spot on - he's so underrated, but vital for their sound. I saw an interview with him once when he described how he had to get solos out quickly, usually in one take, or they'd be replaced with flute! This may have honed his ability to make these sharp bursts so effective!
@@nehemb Necessity is the mother of all invention!
Ive not heard this XTC track yet, reminds me a bit of tull
Love the XTC album cover. Lol. Always keep 'em guessing JP.
And an album from the mopment XTC started moving towards Tull's English pastoral territory, too!
Farewell, John Glascock, you beautiful bird. So many decades and I still miss your groove.
He's worked for years, perfecting his craft. Writing, and re-writing. Composing till decomposition becomes bitter and biting! Still going after decades, still sane, not daft. The Journeyman toiling at his craft.😁.✌&❤.
John Glascock..John Glascock....oh and John Glascock.....what a bass line, the man was a tour de force in Tull in imho.
Justin, is feel, setting the scene for this train ride.
Journeyman is such an underrated track, period.
Ian's superb vocals.. Barlow's timeless groove..what a way to finish off side 1 ppl!!!
They can do no wrong in my book...❤❤❤
Yes...the great John Glascock...gone too soon ..sadly he played a large part in his own demise.
One of the rare Tull tracks that is all about the bass for me.
Beautifully constructed track, all parts working in unison like a locomotive - fittingly, given the poetic tale of a late-night train commuter. A classic Tull deep cut. Gerrard's Cross is a town in London's commuter belt, northwest of the city - a typical residential area for a middle-class city business worker.
Heavy Horses is a truly superb album....
Man oh man. Heavy Horses was the first Tull album I bought - the ones prior were influences from my 2 older brothers. Along with the Live Bursting Out, I was now hooked to the nth degree. Thanks for the reaction. I remember so clearly marvelling at the quirky time signatures of this cut back in the Summer of 1978.
A nice little nod...?
Yes, great song. Anderson's lyrics make my imagination come to life. I imagine a man who worked late, it's winter, and it's dark and snowing outside in the 1970s. Train travel isn't what it used to be. He's one of a few on a late commuter train. Worn out passenger cars (carriages in UK) with faulty wiring (flickering lights). An old worn out grimy diesel engine is pulling the train. He's looking forward to getting home by the fire and relaxing for the weekend.
There's a few play on words here. "Journeyman" is traditionally a skilled worker, but of course here refers to Ian as a commuter. "Night-tripping on the late fantastic" parodies "Trip the light fantastic" meaning to dance. And when the guard turned the heating off, that's exactly what happened. No deep meaning, just a touch of irony that the train is travelling in the cold dead of night.
Easter Egg? ;-)
Great review, as always, Justin! Been a fan of your channel for years now, and still here!
Thats it :) Ty
Great raeaction Justin. I wanted to say (but you probably already did the reaction) that the next track, Rover has some strings arrangements removed in the 2003 remaster, i suggest you to listen the Steven Wilson remix to hear the full track.
I agree ! ...and in addition on the 2003 remaster there's a higher pitch on "Rover" than on the original vinyl, which gives a truncated idea of the track. Indeed, the 2018 edition rectifies all that.
@@a.k.1740 I think that happens also on Moths
@@samuelecallegari6117 I did not remember that on "Moths" but after a quick comparison, it is also indeed the case! Thanks for pointing that out.👍 It's weird that the other tracks on the album don't suffer from this problem....🤔
@@a.k.1740 sped up films I think. If you try to play on those tracks on the remaster you'll find that they are completely out of any key
@@samuelecallegari6117 I checked with the other tracks from the 2003 remaster of the album but it seems only "Moths" and "Rover" suffer from this pitch problem. Maybe a problem with some of the master tapes but not all....
This video reminds me of people who keep the wrong cd in the wrong cd case lol! By the way, it was a previous XTC reaction video you did that prompted my own XTC journey and from one journeyman to another, Journeyman is a great song from a classic album. Heavy Horses is easily one of my all time favourites.
I cannot believe you didn't discuss the bass in your final review; you stated "what a happening bass line" once during the track and that was it. The bass completely drives this uniquely structured track from start to finish. John Glascock was a bass playing genius....RIP John.
Jethro Tull funk… fantastic!
Hey Justin ~ Regarding this line: "Stationmaster in his wisdom told the guard to turn the heating off." It's not the heating on the train but at the station. They'd turn the heating off to keep homeless people from sleeping in the train stations over night.
When you hear the song backwards. j.s.bach jumps out of your fridge, screams something about fugue in your face and runs out the door laughing hysterically with your cigarettes. Be alamed☝️.
Love that song
Genius.
In prog rock Jethro Tull and Gentle Giant were close, right there on the top of it all. This song really made me realize this, this time, on your react, after hearing it a gazillion times already. The composition would suit either band.
Blessings.
You've got your horses mixed up Justin!
I always like a track with a good geographical reference.
It always feels to me like the song should explode at some point and be a total jam. It never does, though. I don't know why, after 30 or so years of listening to this, that I still think it will.
Not for the first time in their repertoir, this song by Tull refers to a number of specific 'Britiscisms', eg Railway sleepers - these are what you call 'ties' in the US - the bits of wood or concrete under the rails that take the load of the train to the earth. Ian plays with the two (or more) meanings of 'sleepers' here. Ian and Martin Barre are quite into trains/railways, so they know the terminology. This song describes a late evening, winter journey out of Marylebone station (London) into the Chiltern Hills - about 15-18 miles north-west of London - in pure poetry. It is what might be called 'classic commuterland' - a quite wealthy area where bankers or politicians might live and come into London on a daily basis (at least, pre-Covid).
This one's a real sleeper. It creeps up on you, starts with a simple bass, and just builds and builds. It's about the commuter train journey in and out of London that thousands of people made every day.
Ha ha, sleeper...I know you didn't mean it as a pun. 😅
Fantastic track!!!
One the three great folk-rock album with Songs From the Wood and Stormwatch. My favorites although many others are excellent. In the lyrics, you misunderstood “turn the heating off”. The man is the stationmaster, not an engineer so is talking about the station, not the train. Great job, though. Everyone else does Aqualung and maybe Thick as a Brick but get what’s happening. Kudos!
Ahh gotcha, ty!
Typically totally awesome!
I think maybe part of the purpose of this song is to make the album span the ages? So we're somewhere in time between the Restoration and Victorian times, and the lyrics here move in the 20th Century at times.
All the time the flute's there reminding you you're in the times of Jethro Tull, band, as well as of Jethro Tull, agronomist. So spanning again.
Everyone's playing very percussively? There isn't much that glides. Much of it never glid before.
And then Tea is probably what you'd call supper or dinner. (Me too. In Aussie they call it tea, and to add a bit of confusion, if you're invited for "supper" in the late evening, that's going to be coffee or tea, and maybe some biscuits or cake.)
I think the journeys of the earlier journeymen would've been from mill to mill, for instance. To go and wright the mill. (Because it's now fashionable to verb one's nouns.) No longer an apprentice requiring supervision, but not yet a Master. Someone who practices some trade. An artisan. This journeyman makes a journey home from the mill in a train, though. (Again, terminology: in the trades, throughout the Empire - except in Rebel country - one starts as apprentice to a master, "graduates" - I think at the whim of the master, back in the day - and then one is a journeyman. I don't know if that terminology has survived in the USA?)
Wrong horse, Justin!!! The Uffington White Horse is at least 3000 years older! I am, though, enjoying, "Heavy Horses" and of course, "English Settlement" too!
You need to listen to Funkier Than a Mosquito's Tweeter by NINA SIMONE
I just think of this song as the world-weathered Ian version of "Locomotive Breath", but boy Barlowe's drumming makes you feel like you're on a real-life, shitty 70's English commuter train. This album has so much dirt under it's fingernails.
I am not going to present a learned opinion. I like the contrast between Locomotive Breath and Journeyman. Both are using a train for rhythm. Both present stories of completely different people. JUSTIN I was also pleased when you started moving to the music. Dude you had me concerned there for a moment. LUL
😉
Well we can Tull if we want to... lol
Side 2 is even better.
Fore-shadowing?
Homage perhaps?
Was I right ? 😊
Spider pig? 😂
I wonder why other reaction hosts can't listen to a new song without interrupting it ( a crime). Glad you always did it right.
I had to go back and play my album, as something didn't sound right to me. I've heard this one dozens and dozens or time since 1980, and the pitch seems too high. Slightly sped-up copy here. Checking play times I see the copy of the song you reviewed ended 10 seconds sooner than my album does (3:48 versus 3:58).
Amazing music isn't it.
I think "Journeyman" is one of the band's songs never played live. Shame!
Hints? Easter eggs maybe? 😊
Yes. That is what I think Justin was thinking of. You beat me to it. :)
Fantastic song!