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Living in the Past (song)

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This article is about the Jethro Tull song. For other songs with the same title, see Living in the Past.

"Living in the Past"
French picture sleeve[1]
Single by Jethro Tull
B-side"Driving Song"
Released2 May 1969 UK[2][3]
October 1972 US[4]
Recorded3 & 18 March 1969[5][6]
StudioVantone Sound Studio, West Orange, NJ[7] & United Western Recorders, Los Angeles, CA
Genre
Length3:18
LabelIsland WIP 6056
Songwriter(s)Ian Anderson
Producer(s)
Jethro Tull singles chronology
"Love Story"
(1968) 		"Living in the Past"
(1969) 		"Bourée"
(1969)
Official audio
"Living in the Past" on YouTube

"Living in the Past" is a song by British progressive rock group Jethro Tull. It is one of the band's best-known songs, and it is notable for being written in the unusual 5
4 time signature. The use of quintuple meter is quickly noted from the beginning rhythmic bass pattern, though it can also be explained as a distinct 6
8 + 2
4 syncopated rhythm.[citation needed]

Composition and recording

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According to the composer, Ian Anderson, he wrote the tune in approximately one hour in his room at a Holiday Inn 'on the banks of the Charles River,' Boston, Massachusetts, on 12 February 1969. He and his manager, Terry Ellis, were checking in 'a day off here before the show,' ahead of a three-day residency 13 – 15 February 1969 at the Boston Tea Party rock club. When he handed it to Ellis later, he replied, 'Wow! I'll book a studio next week, when we we’re in the New York area.' [9]

At the end of the East Coast leg of their US tour, the backing tracks were recorded at Vantone Sound Studio, West Orange, New Jersey on 3 March 1969[6] (described by Anderson as a "cheap studio in New Jersey.") Apparently, much of the recording was of "a small local ensemble of session musicians – the cheapest we could find," and later overdubbed by band members. Anderson described overdubbing his vocals in San Francisco during mid-March;[9] but conflicting reports identify 18 March at United Western Recorders, Los Angeles, California, as correct.[5] It was also the date "Driving Song" was recorded,[7] released as the b-side of Jethro Tull's fourth single, "Living in the Past", on 2 May 1969 to UK audiences.[2] Meanwhile, the band returned to London in mid-April to begin work on their second album, Stand Up.[10]

After reaching number 3 on the UK Singles Chart,[11] it was released in several other countries, but only promotionally in the United States in July 1969. It was not until October 1972 that it was commercially released in the US,[4] as the lead single and title track of Living in the Past, a double compilation LP of the band's UK-only releases and outtakes recorded from 1968 to 1971.[7] It became the band's first Top 20 hit in the US, peaking at #11. The 1972 version was remixed, replacing a flute overdub with an organ part. In 1993, a remix on the song went to #31 on the US dance chart.[12] In 2001, it was included as a "bonus track" for the CD reissue of Stand Up.[13] A Steven Wilson remix "sympathetic to both the original and later mixes"[14] was included on the 2016 "Elevated Edition" reissue, alongside flat transfers of the original 1969 mono and (promo) stereo mixes.

"Living in the Past" was ranked the fifth best Jethro Tull song by Rock – Das Gesamtwerk der größten Rock-Acts im Check.[15]

Anderson has described the song as a critical reflection of the hippie lifestyle and a general naivete of the era:

Lines like "we'll go walking out while others shout of war's disaster" reflect my rather cynical view of much of the world in the late sixties.

[...] I was never drawn to the fashions, the free love, the drug experiences and the drug culture that people seemed willing to get into. [...]

So when I sang "now there's revolution, but they don't know what they're fighting," I was just saying forget all that stuff, let's stay in a more realistic world with more straightforward values. Not necessarily my personal viewpoint all the time, but as a reaction to that rather trendy pretence at revolution and infatuation with the present, in the sense of living for today and having a good time – something I usually felt a bit awkward about. But I'm a party pooper, you know that.

— Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull: Stand Up – The Elevated Edition, p. 59

Chart performance

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Release history

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  • Single: "Living in the Past" / "Driving Song" (Island WIP 6056, 2 May 1969)[3]
  • Single: "Living in the Past" / "Christmas Song" (USA) (Chrysalis 2006 10 October 1972)[4]
  • Single: "Living in the Past" / "Requiem" (Chrysalis CHS 2081, 16 January 1976)
  • Single: "Living in the Past" / "Hard Liner" (Chrysalis CHS 3970, 1993)
  • Single: "Living in the Past" / "Witch's Promise" / "Teacher" / "Life is a Long Song" (April 2013, limited edition vinyl)[26]

Personnel

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Source:[27]

Jethro Tull

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Additional personnel

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  • Lou Toby – arranged and conducted strings

Cover versions

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The song was first covered as an instrumental by CCS in 1970. Other cover versions include:[28]

See also

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  • List of musical works in unusual time signatures
  • Nollen, Scott Allen (15 December 2001). Jethro Tull: A History of the Band, 1968–2001. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 44. ISBN 978-0786411016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.

References

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  1. ^ "Jethro Tull – Living In The Past". discogs.com. 1969. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Living In the Past". 45cat.com. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Living in the Past". discogs. 2 May 1969. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b c "Discography". 45cat.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Setlists". ministry-of-information.co.uk. NRT 2005. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  6. ^ a b Nollen, Scott Allen (2001). Jethro Tull: A History of the Band, 1968–2001. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786411016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  7. ^ a b c "JETHRO TULL LIVING IN THE PAST – Original 1972 double album liner notes". Album Liner Notes. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  8. ^ Scott Allen Nollen (21 November 2001). Jethro Tull: A History of the Band, 1968–2001. McFarland. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-7864-1101-6.
  9. ^ a b "How I wrote 'Living in the Past' by Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson". songwritingmagazine.co.uk. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  10. ^ "Top of the Progs: Jethro Tull's Living in the Past – Prog". Prog.teamrock.com. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  11. ^ Dom Lawson (16 February 2015). "Top of the Progs: Jethro Tull's Living in the Past – Prog". Prog.teamrock.com. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  12. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 136.
  13. ^ "Stand Up". jethrotull.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  14. ^ Webb, Martin. Jethro Tull: Stand Up – The Elevated Edition. p. 40.
  15. ^ Rehe, Christoph (2013). Rock – Das Gesamtwerk der größten Rock-Acts im Check: alle Alben, alle Songs. Ein eclipsed-Buch (in German). Sysyphus Sysyphus Verlags GmbH. ISBN 978-3868526462.
  16. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Living in the Past". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  17. ^ "flavour of new zealand – search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  18. ^ "living+in+the+past | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  19. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  20. ^ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  21. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955–2012. Record Research. p. 432.
  22. ^ "Top 100 1973-01-13". Cashbox Magazine. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  23. ^ "Sixties City – Pop Music Charts – Every Week Of The Sixties". Sixtiescity.net. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  24. ^ "Image : RPM Weekly". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 13 July 2017.
  25. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.
  26. ^ "Jethro Tull – Living In The Past Record Store Day Vinyl". M.news.emihosting.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  27. ^ "Living In The Past". albumlinernotes.com. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  28. ^ "Cover-Versionen- und Musikzitate-Datenbank". Coverinfo.de. 19 June 2006. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  29. ^ "Jethro Tull Tribute". Magnacarta.net. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
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