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MELBOURNE SUN
8 July 1972
"LEAVE SCHOOL AND LEARN"
English rock musician Ian Anderson decided to leave school eight years ago when he was 16 — because he wanted to learn.
"The only real things worth learning are those you can learn from your own experiences. School taught me how to learn."
He said his musical inspiration came from his experiences.
Anderson is leader of the English rock group Jethro Tull, in Melbourne for two concerts at Festival Hall. The group has become one of the most influential and respected forces in modern music since its formation four years ago. Noted for zany stage antics, Anderson and other group members, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, John Evan, Martin Barre and Barriemore Barlow, arrived at yesterday's press conference in white trenchcoats and peaked caps.
TOUR FOR FIVE MONTHS
Anderson said the group was on tour for about five months of a year. He wrote most of his songs in his hotel room while on tour. He would not give any explanation or interpretations of his music.
"Everyone's interpretation of what I write is as valid as mine," Anderson said. "If I explained what a song is about people would be forced to reject their own interpretations and would stop thinking about the music. My whole intention is to make people think — to ask questions. I won't give any answers because I probably don't know them myself — and the questions are far more important than the answers."
Thanks to Robert Jobson for this article.