For the third and definitely last time after the two "Thick As A Brick" albums Ian Anderson lets his alter ego Gerald Bostock have his say with "Homo Erraticus" (Review in eclipsed 4/2014). The latter again takes a stand on current political and social issues. In the eclipsed interview, the Jethro Tull boss explains why he is currently particularly concerned about migration and immigration.
eclipsed: Is "Homo Erraticus" your most political album yet?
Ian Anderson: Well, I wouldn't say it's a political album. I think it's about things that are politically relevant right now. It's about Homo Erraticus, the wandering man. It is about the history of the migration of our species, from the last ice age to the future. It is about the migration of peoples, in which people have always gone where they could live better. We think that migration is always about Africans trying to cross the Mediterranean in rubber boats. But what if it doesn't stay that way? In terms of contemporary history we would actually be on the verge of another ice age. If that happens, then you're dealing with seventy million Britons knocking on your door and saying, "We're cold!". We must finally realise that we cannot escape these problems. The biggest mistake is to think our politicians can fix it. Politicians think only in two or four-year periods, depending on how long the legislative period lasts.
eclipsed: Would you have reacted differently to the threats, to the "corpses in the closet", than you call them in the song "Cold Dead Reckoning"?
Anderson: We have to think longer-term. It's a farce that people still believe: "Well, in fifty years I'll be dead anyway, and that's why I don't care". That's the attitude of our politicians. We must influence their thoughts. If we keep shaking these politicians up and telling them that we want to do this, they will do it. If we can make it a rock album with lyrics, that's a start.
eclipsed: Do you see any more bodies in the closet?
Anderson: The continuing threat of religious fanatics. I fear the rise of more radical religious views will continue. I'm not a Christian. I could probably be a Christian, even a very effective one, and I would be credible. But I have a problem: I like everything in Christianity except this Jesus story. I sing about Jesus on the new album as "Puer Ferox Adventus" - the announcement of a wild boy. I sing about Jesus, the angry reformer and revolutionary, not about the brotherly figure who preaches Peace & Love and then dies as a martyr.
