Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending/Liquid Acrobat [Import]

Incredible String Band | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 14, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Bgo
• ASIN: B0001ZXMKE
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,398 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Come With Me

2. All Writ Down

3. Vishangro

4. See All the People

5. Waiting For You

6. The Song Has No Ending

Disc: 2

1. Talking of the End

2. Dear Old Battlefield

3. Cosmic Boy

4. Worlds They Rise and Fall

5. Evolution Rag

6. Painted Chariot

7. Adam and Eve

8. Red Hair

9. Here till Here is There

10. Tree

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Digitally remastered edition of 2 orignal albums on a single CD of their first two Island Records albums from the early 1970s.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars includes some jigs on fiddle, whistle, and spoons,, February 18, 2007

By 

Bruce P. Barten (Saint Paul, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending/Liquid Acrobat (Audio CD)

I have found the text for songs contained in the film `Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending.' A two-CD set from The Incredible String Band contains the music from the film on Disc One and `Liquid Acrobat As Regards the Air' on Disc Two. There are no words listed as the text for the song `See All the People,' recorded March 1968, Royal Festival Hall. When I was watching the film, I thought the song would be called "Ha," because I had no idea what song it was until one of the guys started to sing "Ha" and the other joined in and they certainly didn't think of anything to say after that.

When I was listening to the film, I could make out the meaning of some of the phrases, but the complicated sentence structure of some verses escaped me. Looking at the text now, songs make sense in a way that flipflops around the basic ideas I picked up before. The second song, `All Writ Down,' by Mike Heron, is about some memory:

I fully understood
That you'd leave when your ship came by
And I fully understood
You had a purpose more high
Than to give a little schoolboy
To give a little schoolboy his first love
But oh did I cry, and did I cry
For I thought that those days would just fade and die
But every cell in my body had it all writ down
Every smile and every frown
And oh those good-time girls, oh those good-time girls
That book ft sometimes makes me glad
That book ft sometimes makes me sad
But oh - it don't read bad

I cursed you to your face when you turned to go
But I see now that you did just right
And I bow to you low
For you gave a little schoolboy
You gave a little schoolboy his first love...

According to CD liner notes by Alan Robinson dated February 2004, the song `Veshengro' by Robin Williamson mentions "Jali Uddin Rumi, a Sufi poet and mystic who founded the whirling dervish order in Konya, Turkey" in the line "I wore the coat of patches with Jalal beneath the stars."

The text of `Waiting for You' is long, with the line "Waiting for the world to begin" in three places and some attempts at humor.

I'm a turnip head, I'm a lately wed
And I'm waiting for you
More tea vicar? (Hold that tiger)
...
I'm waiting for God to take a holiday.

I bought these CDs in 2006 and mainly listened to Disc Two when I wanted to hear `Cosmic Boy,' which Likky sings while Mike Heron plays piano. "You look so high, and I shall dance for you, the sweetest dance that I can do" is the way it sounds. The other songs are more complicated. The `Evolution Rag' has a narrative in "the illusionist the circus man" style which makes "Evolution up the slopes of the sea" "While a million years pass by And we get on our way" as much explanation as we get.

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential ISB, November 24, 2008

By 

Torrey Peacock (Santa Cruz, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending/Liquid Acrobat (Audio CD)

The first five albums are, and will remain, the heart of the ISBs's legacy. But if that music meant something to you, you really want this too. The songs on Be Glad are very much from the band's heyday, and are not to be missed. "Come With Me" and "Vishangro", both by Robin, are really excellent and among his best. The long instrumental piece, on the flip side of the vinyl LP, is nice in its way, but the value here is for the songs.

Liquid Acrobat was the last really good album from the ISB, while the whole band was intact. They were deep into the Scientology at this point, and it shows, but there's a lot of fine music here, too. Mike really shines on this album, offering a beautiful version of "The Tree" along with several more really great songs, including "Cosmic Boy" with Likkie on vocals. Robin is more uneven here, but there are some good songs, too, including "Here Till Here Is There" and the album-closing "Darling Belle". They have gone for the "rock band" sound on a lot of these songs, but unlike the later albums, it largely works here. This is still the ISB. Skip Robin's embarrassing Scientology references, and get this for the other songs. Much beauty and poetry and magic are here, as on the classic albums. An essential part of an ISB collection.