Ian Scott Anderson, MBE (b. 1947) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and mul… Read Full Bio ↴Ian Scott Anderson, MBE (b. 1947) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work as the leader and flautist of British rock band Jethro Tull.

Anderson was born on 10th August 1947, the youngest of three children. He spent the first part of his childhood in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was influenced by his father's big band and jazz records and the emergence of rock music, though disenchanted with the "show biz" style of early American rock and roll stars like Elvis Presley. His family moved to Blackpool, Lancashire in 1959, where he gained a traditional education at Blackpool Grammar School. He went on to study fine art at Blackpool College of Art from 1964 to 1966.

In 1963, he formed The Blades with school friends Barriemore Barlow (drums), John Evan (keyboards), Jeffrey Hammond (bass), and Michael Stephens (guitar). This was a soul and blues band, with Anderson on vocals and harmonica. At this time Anderson abandoned his ambition to play electric guitar, allegedly because he felt he would never be "as good as Eric Clapton". He traded his electric guitar in for a flute which, after some weeks of practice, he found he could play fairly well in a rock and blues style. He continued to play acoustic guitar, using it as a melodic as well as rhythmic instrument. As his career progressed, he added soprano saxophone, mandolin, keyboards, and other instruments to his arsenal.

His famous tendency to stand on one leg while playing the flute came about by accident. As related in the "Isle of Wight" video, he had been inclined to stand on one leg while playing the harmonica, holding the microphone stand for balance. During the long stint at the Marquee Club, a journalist described him, wrongly, as standing on one leg to play the flute. He decided to live up to the reputation, albeit with some difficulty. His early attempts are visible in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus film appearance of Jethro Tull. In later life he was surprised to learn of iconic portrayals of various flute playing divinities, particularly Krishna and Kokopelli, which show them standing on one leg.

While Anderson has recorded a small number of critically acclaimed projects under his own name, and frequently makes guest appearances in other artists' work, he has been identified in the public eye as the frontman of Jethro Tull for forty-four years. This is undoubtedly because a signature motif of Anderson's career has been a highly distinctive stage image, which has often been counter to the prevailing rock music culture. While he has habitually drawn inspiration from British folklore – at different times deploying stylistic elements of mediæval jester, Elizabethan minstrel, English country squire and Scottish laird – at other times he has appeared as astronaut, biker, pirate, and vagrant. His personae often involve a large degree of self-parody.

As a flautist, Anderson is self-taught; his style, which often includes a good deal of flutter tonguing and occasionally singing or humming (or even snorting) while playing, was influenced by Rahsaan Roland Kirk. In 2003 he recorded a composition called Griminelli's Lament in honour of his friend, the Italian flautist Andrea Griminelli. In the 1990s he began working with simple bamboo flutes. He uses techniques such as over-blowing and hole-shading to produce note-slurring and other expressive techniques on this otherwise simple instrument.

He has recorded several songs on which he plays all the instruments as well as carrying out all the engineering and production (such as 1988's "Another Christmas Song"). Anderson's music blends styles such as folk, jazz, blues, rock, and pop. His lyrics are frequently complex, (mostly) tongue-in-cheek criticism of the absurd rules of society and/or religion ("Sossity, You're a Woman"; "Hymn 43"; "Thick as a Brick"). He often combines lyrics with other leitmotifs such as folk, mythological, fantastic ("The Minstrel in the Gallery", "Jack-in-the-Green", "Broadsword and the Beast"). In the 1990s and 2000s, Anderson's songs often capture 'snapshots' of his daily life ("Old Black Cat", "Rocks on the Road").

User-Friendly
Ian Anderson Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Do we inhabit some micro-space
And interface through wires.
Dance on a printed circuit board
Throw the software to the fires.

My memory is slim, so volatile
But I'm learning.
Plug yourself in.

Stay for awhile

Un-discerning.
And on dusty terminals
Finger me lightly do.
And QWERTY is the name of love

Printed on the V.D.U.

Cut yourself free.
We're all alone communicating.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of User Friendly by Ian Anderson suggest a world where human interaction is limited to digital communication. The verses explore the idea of living in a "micro-space" where people interface through wires and dance on a printed circuit board. The opening line creates a sense of confinement, and the idea of living in a small, limited digital world. The idea of throwing software to the fires is a metaphor for letting go of old ways of communicating with each other and embracing new digital methods.

The chorus of the song invites the listener to plug themselves in, encouraging them to embrace this new digital world. The phrase "un-discerning" could be interpreted as a reference to how we have become less discerning about the way we communicate, as the ease of digital communication has made us less discerning about what we share and how we listen to others. The bridge of the song references the physical act of typing on a computer, whereby dusty terminals become a metaphor for a forgotten world that has been surpassed by the digital age.

Line by Line Meaning

Do we inhabit some micro-space
Do we exist in a small digital world?

And interface through wires.
And connect to each other through electronic cables.

Dance on a printed circuit board
Move and operate on a computer's hardware.

Throw the software to the fires.
Get rid of outdated or useless digital programs.

My memory is slim, so volatile
My digital storage is small and easily lost.

But I'm learning.
But I am constantly improving my abilities.

Plug yourself in.
Connect yourself to the digital realm.

Stay for awhile
Stay and explore this digital space longer.

Un-discerning.
Without discrimination or judgment.

And on dusty terminals
And on old computers that are rarely used.

Finger me lightly do.
Type gently on the keyboard.