Funny Prog

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 moshkito wrote:

 The piece mentioned by JT is not a funny piece and is a part of an album that is NOT FUNNY, and in fact, is downright serious and even mean at times. And the comment at the end of the song, is pretty much saying ... how stupid we look ... it's not our story, but the hare's, and for all intents and purposes, the point was/is that we were intruding on it! How very rock'n'roll that really is, and we don't get it?

Actually, no. In fact, from a literary standpoint, you are completely wrong. The original late-medieval "Passion Plays" or "Mystery (ie., Miracle) Plays" were indeed serious in part, a precursor to the Elizabethan stage plays. However, within Passion or Mystery Plays, they often inserted a comic interlude between the first and second act to break up the heavy moralizing and keep the "groundlings" interested. These comedic intermissions were often slap-stick, satiric or downright vulgar and had nothing to do whatsoever with the content of the Passion Play itself. 

So, "The Hare That Lost Its Spectacles" is an absurdist fable that is indeed just such a comedic interlude, and based on Tull's love of Monty Python, there is an accompanying film of "The Hare" with bassist Jeffrey Hammond as the Pythonesque narrator (complete with wacky Lancashire accent). 

And I don't think Ian Anderson got enough credit for how truly "progressive" this album was. The man did his research, as the whole plot resembles an allegorical Passion Play, except in true Ian anti-Anglican fashion, the newly-dead protagonist Ronnie Pilgrim is resurrected at the end, rather than Christ.

And "A Passion Play" is quite hilarious throughout, really. I am not sure where you think the satire involved is so deadly serious. Any lyricist who rattles off the line "And your little sister's immaculate virginity wings away on the bony shoulder of a young horse named George who stole surreptitiously into her geography revision," is not being terribly serious. 

Edited by The Dark Elf - August 11 2018 at 11:46

Poll Question: Vote For All Your Favorite Funny Prog and Prog Related Songs
Poll Choice	Votes	Poll Statistics
Steve Hackett: Sentimental Institution	1	[0.49%]
IQ: My Legs	11	[5.37%]
Pink Floyd: Bike	16	[7.80%]
Procol Harum: Mabel	2	[0.98%]
Eno: Dead Finks Don't Talk	7	[3.41%]
Queen: I'm Going Slightly Mad	13	[6.34%]
Roxy Music: In Every Dream Home a Heartache	22	[10.73%]
Pete Sinfield: Wholefood Boogie	0	[0.00%]
Soft Machine: Why am I so Short?	6	[2.93%]
Roots of Consciousness: For Radio Airplay	1	[0.49%]
Kevin Gilbert: Suit Fugue	4	[1.95%]
King Crimson: Cat Food	20	[9.76%]
Giles Giles & Fripp: The Saga of Rodney Toady	4	[1.95%]
Jethro Tull: The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles	26	[12.68%]
Twelfth Night: We Are Sane (Blah Blah Intro on Live Version)	4	[1.95%]
Van Der Graaf Generator: Aerosol Grey Machine	0	[0.00%]
Zappa: Bobby Brown Goes Down	6	[2.93%]
Captain Beefheart: Pena (aka Fast & Bulbous)	5	[2.44%]
ELP: Benny the Bouncer	6	[2.93%]
Robert Fripp: NY3	7	[3.41%]
Genesis: The Battle of Epping Forest	26	[12.68%]
Gentle Giant: An Inmates Lullaby	4	[1.95%]
Gong: Wet Cheese Delirium	4	[1.95%]
Split Enz: Mental Notes	4	[1.95%]
Syd Barrett: Effervescing Elephant	6	[2.93%]
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