Jethro Tull’s 1977 album Songs from the Wood remains one of my alltime favorite albums, weaving a rich tapestry of paganesque folk imagery amidst lively musical accompaniment. Where I live, here in South Florida, there’s no sense of seasonality, no winters, no real sense of an Old World or the passage of time. This album — and particularly “Ring Out Solstice Bells” — helps engender a feeling of timelessness captured in joyous winter. Seven maids and seven druids, moving in seven time by the holy oak, praising the arrival of the winter and its associated festivity, at long last. This one is all about establishing a mood of worshipful, joyous thanks.

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