Locomotive Breath

"Locomotive Breath" is a song by the British progressive rock band

Jethro Tull from their 1971 album, Aqualung.
"Locomotive Breath"

Written as a comment on population growth, "Locomotive Breath"

was meant to replicate the chugging rhythm of a train. In addition to
its release on Aqualung, "Locomotive Breath" saw two different
single releases and has been a live favorite. It is one of Jethro Tull's
best-known songs.

Contents
Background
Composition Single by Jethro Tull
Release from the album Aqualung
Covers and media appearances B-side "Wind Up" (1971)
Personnel "Fat Man" (1976)
References Released 1971 (US)
Recorded December 1970 –
February 1971
Background
Studio Island, London
Lyrically, "Locomotive Breath" was inspired by Anderson's concern Genre Progressive rock ·
regarding overpopulation.[5] He explained, "It was my first song that hard rock[1][2] ·
was perhaps on a topic that would be a little more appropriate to blues rock[3][4]
today's world. It was about the runaway train of population growth
Length 4:23
and capitalism, it was based on those sorts of unstoppable ideas.
We’re on this crazy train, we can’t get off it. Where is it going? Label Reprise (original
Bearing in mind, of course, when I was born in 1947, the population US) ·
of planet earth was slightly less than a third of what it is today, so it Chrysalis/Capitol
should be a sobering thought that in one man’s lifetime, our planetary (US re-issue)
population has more than tripled. You'd think population growth
Songwriter(s) Ian Anderson
would have brought prosperity, happiness, food and a reasonable
spread of wealth, but quite the opposite has happened. And is Producer(s) Ian Anderson ·
happening even more to this day. Without putting it into too much Terry Ellis
literal detail, that was what lay behind that song."[6] Jethro Tull singles chronology

The song additionally features a train motif that Anderson has "Hymn 43" "Locomotive "Life is a
employed on many songs. Anderson later said, "Train songs have (1971) Breath" Long
been with us ever since the blues began, and I have written my fair (1971) Song"
share of these. I keep being drawn back to the subject, because public (1971)
transport is part of my life. I don’t drive, so rely on buses, trains and
Jethro Tull singles chronology
the like."[5]
"Minstrel "Locomotive "Too Old
in the Breath" to Rock 'n'
 Gallery" (1976) Roll: Too
Composition (1975) Young to
Die"
"Locomotive Breath" was recorded in an unusual manner for the (1976)
time: the track was pieced together from overdubs, as most of the
parts of the song were recorded separately. Ian Anderson did his
normal flute and vocal parts in addition to bass drum, hi-hat, acoustic guitar and some electric guitar parts.
John Evan's piano parts were then recorded; Clive Bunker added the rest of the drums and Martin Barre
finished the electric guitar parts. All of these recordings were then overdubbed onto each other because
Anderson was finding it difficult to communicate his musical ideas about the song to the other band members.
The song was designed to replicate the chugging of a train in its rhythm.

Anderson explained the recording process of the song in an interview, saying " 'Locomotive Breath' was
actually an utter failure when we tried to play it all together. It didn't jell. We didn't get the groove. I think John
Evan recorded the piano intro, then I went out into the studio with two drum sticks and clicked them together
because this was in the days before click tracks, and then I went out and played to [that] with a hi-hat and bass
drum. Then Clive [Bunker] went out and added the tom-toms and the cymbals. And then I played the electric-
guitar rhythm part all the way through. And then we had something that was beginning to sound a bit like a
song and it had that kind of metronomic feel, which I wanted it to have, because it's about a railway train
running on the tracks. So it should click-clack in time."[6]

The song has been Jethro Tull's live encore during concerts since 1972. During some live concerts, the song
would segue into the finale of Pomp and Circumstance, usually to end the concert, or an encore.

Release
"Locomotive Breath" was released on Jethro Tull's 1971 album Aqualung in 1971. An edit of the song was
released in the US as a single in 1971, backed with "Wind-Up", though it did not chart. A 1976 single release
of the song, backed with "Fat Man", was more successful, reaching number 59 on the Billboard charts[7] and
number 85 in Canada.[8] The song was also released as the B-side to "Hymn 43". Since its initial releases, the
song has appeared on multiple compilation and live albums, including Living in the Past, M.U. - The Best of
Jethro Tull, and Bursting Out. The song receives frequent airplay on classic rock radio stations.

Ian Anderson ranked "Locomotive Breath" as one of his top 10 Jethro Tull songs. Billboard regarded the song
to be Jethro Tull's best purely rock song in some time, saying that it had a similar theme and feel to
"Aqualung."[9] Ultimate Classic Rock named the song Jethro Tull's third best, saying, "This tune covers the
length and breadth of Anderson’s songwriting talents, beginning with a bluesy John Evan piano intro so
discreet one can barely hear it at times, before crashing into some of the most bombastic hard rock display of
the band’s career."[10] The song was ranked the fourth best Jethro Tull song by Rock – Das Gesamtwerk der
größten Rock-Acts im Check.[11]

Covers and media appearances

"Locomotive Breath" was covered by Rabbitt (starring Trevor Rabin) on their 1975 album Boys Will Be Boys,
by Indian psychedelic rock band Atomic Forest in 1972, by Italo disco outfit Cat Gang in 1983, by W.A.S.P.
on the reissue of their 1989 album The Headless Children (as a bonus track), Styx on their 2005 album Big
Bang Theory, and Helloween on their 1999 album Metal Jukebox. A Swedish rock band, formed in 1995 by
Janne Stark, takes its name from the song. In 2018 rock group Höffmänn covered this song [12]

Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil and Jimmy Barnes covered the song for Max TV program My First Gig in April
2009. Nick Cave's group Grinderman covered the song during soundchecks.
The song used by Ring of Honor to open up their live events to open up the show for fans in attendance at
both house shows and TV tapings.[13]

The song was used as the background music of "The Road So Far" recap in the first episode of Supernatural.

The full intro and a few lines of the song, with no other sound, accompany Otto's burial in Fargo TV series.

The song can also be briefly heard in a scene in the film Jumanji.

Personnel
Ian Anderson – flute, lead vocals, bass drum, hi-hat, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
John Evan – piano
Martin Barre – electric guitar
Jeffrey Hammond – bass guitar
Clive Bunker – drums

References
1. Schick, Elizabeth A. (1998). Current Biography Yearbook, 1998 (https://archive.org/details/curre
ntbiography1998eliz). H.W. Wilson. p. 26 (https://archive.org/details/currentbiography1998eliz/p
age/26). ISBN 9780824209575. "Two other songs on Aqualung, 'Cross-Eyed Mary' and
'Locomotive Breath,' have also become hard-rock classics."
2. Blistein, Jon (March 27, 2018). "Jethro Tull Detail Massive 50th Anniversary Compilation" (http
s://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jethro-tull-detail-massive-50th-anniversary-compil
ation-205589/). Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
3. Rivadavia, Eduardo (July 27, 2013). "Top 10 Jethro Tull Songs" (https://ultimateclassicrock.co
m/jethro-tull-songs/). Retrieved July 18, 2019.
4. Will Romano (1 November 2014). Prog Rock FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Rock's Most
Progressive Music (https://books.google.com/books?id=UIqkCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT84). Backbeat
Books. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-61713-620-7.
5. Dome, Malcolm. "Ian Anderson's Top 10 Jethro Tull Songs" (https://www.loudersound.com/feat
ures/ian-anderson-s-favourite-jethro-tull-songs). Louder. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
6. Grow, Kory. "Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson: My Life in 10 Songs" (https://www.rollingstone.com/mu
sic/music-lists/jethro-tulls-ian-anderson-my-life-in-10-songs-666164/locomotive-breath-66616
8/). Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
7. "Jethro Tull: Chart History" (https://www.billboard.com/music/jethro-tull/chart-history/hot-100).
Billboard. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
8. "RPM Top 100 Singles – April 17, 1976" (http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc
008388.6460b.pdf) (PDF).
9. "Top Single Picks" (https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1976/Billboard%20197
6-01-24.pdf) (PDF). Billboard. January 24, 1976. p. 78. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
10. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Top 10 Jethro Tull Songs" (http://ultimateclassicrock.com/jethro-tull-song
s/). Ultimate Classic Rock. Townsquare Media. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
11. Rehe, Christoph (2013). Rock – Das Gesamtwerk der größten Rock-Acts im Check: alle Alben,
alle Songs. Ein eclipsed-Buch [Rock – The complete works of the greatest rock acts in check]
(in German). Sysyphus Sysyphus Verlags GmbH. ISBN 978-3868526462.
12. "Locomotive Breath by Höffmänn" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCTIIeHjlec/aboutus#).
Retrieved 12 June 2018.
13. Lansdell, Chris. "Ring of Honor Show Results: Charlotte, NC" (https://411mania.com/wrestling/r
ing-of-honor-show-results-charlotte-nc/). 411Mania. Retrieved 15 February 2019.

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