Chapter Thirty-Three: Thick as a Brick

Chapter Thirty Three

Thick as a Brick

In 1972 the English progressive rock band Jethro Tull released their album, Thick as a Brick, a satirical jab at concept albums, consisting of one single song, broken into two album side length parts.  It was unironically considered a progressive rock masterpiece.

I had the song playing on my suit’s inboard sound system, thanks to a whispered command to Clarity.

“What to do you think of Tull?” I asked the Prankster.

“Tull?”

“Jethro Tull.  The British rock band.”

The bug-eyed mask just stared at me, expressing nothing, and unnerving me.

“You know, Aqualung, Bungle in the Jungle, Locomotive Breath….”

He turned away for a moment, “Locomotive Breath is my jam,” he said.  “And God, he’s stole the handle, there’s no way to slow down.,” he sung in that terrifying, breathy whisper, all while playing air guitar. “Though, right down, if you asked me, I would have to say that my favorite Tull song, the one I’m really feeling is Bouree’ which is just a delightful instrumental jam on aclassical piece, what is that Bach, I think?  Johann Sebastian, of course.”

The guy was always full of surprises.

“Why do you ask?”

“I’m listening to Thick as a Brick right now.”

“Cool.  That’s a good one.”

We fell silent for a while.  I took out a joint.

It was a cold night in New Bedford, Mass. as we waited for the arrival of a shipment of smuggled tech aboard a commercial clamming boat.

(c) Copyright 2020 by Diana Hignutt