"Aqualung" is a song by the British progressive rock band Jethro Tull, and the title track from their Aqualung (1971) album. The song was written by the band's frontman, Ian Anderson, and his then-wife Jennie Franks.

While this track was never a single, its eponymous album Aqualung was Jethro Tull's first American Top 10 album, reaching number seven in June 1971.

An alternative mix of "Aqualung", with a very different echo effect on Anderson's vocal, appears on the compilation M.U. – The Best of Jethro Tull (1976). This version also has different acoustic guitar and vocal parts during the first part of the song ("sun streaking cold"), but then reverts to the regular mix at ("Aqualung my friend...").

This is most likely due to the fact that all the tracks from Aqualung on M.U. – The Best of Jethro Tull were taken from the original quad-mix of the LP.

lyrics

Sitting on a park bench

Eying little girls with bad intent

Snots running down his nose

Greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes, hey, Aqualung

Drying in the cold sun

Watching as the frilly panties run, hey, Aqualung

Feeling like a dead duck

Spitting out pieces of his broken luck, oh, Aqualung

Sun streaking cold, an old man wandering lonely

Taking time, the only way he knows

Leg hurting bad as he bends to pick a dog end

He goes down to a bog and warms his feet

Feeling alone, the army's up the road

Salvation a la mode and a cup of tea

Aqualung, my friend, don't you start away uneasy

You poor old sod, you see it's only me

Do you still remember

December's foggy freeze

When the ice that clings on to your beard

It was screaming agony

Hey and you snatch your rattling last breaths

With deep-sea diver sounds

And the flowers bloom like

Madness in the spring

Sun streaking cold, an old man wandering lonely

Taking time, the only way he knows

Leg hurting bad as he bends to pick a dog end

He goes down to a bog and warms his feet

Feeling alone, the army's up the road

Salvation a la mode and a cup of tea

Aqualung my friend don't you start away uneasy

You poor old sod, you see it's only me

Aqualung my friend don't you start away uneasy

You poor old sod, you see it's only me

Sitting on a park bench

Eying up little girls with bad intent

Snots running down his nose

Greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes, hey Aqualung

Drying in the cold sun

Watching as the frilly panties run, hey Aqualung

Feeling like a dead duck

Spitting out pieces of his broken luck, hey Aqualung

Oh Aqualung

Songwriters: Ian Anderson

Aqualung lyrics © BMG Rights Management