Teacher (Jethro Tull song)

"Teacher" was written by Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson. He later stated the song was influenced by his skepticism of teacher-like gurus who had been influencing other musicians of the time, though some perceived the song to be a comment on the band's manager, Terry Ellis.^[8] He reflected:

Interestingly, our manager is convinced to this day that this is actually a song I wrote about him and that he is the teacher, which is complete bollocks. In fact, what I was singing about was more those creepy guru figures that would mislead innocent young minds like those of the Beatles. They would suck in people and use the power of persuasion to bend their will and lead them on a spiritual path to enlightenment. And a lot of the time, of course, it was just about getting your money and driving around in a big, white Rolls-Royce, which struck me as worthy of writing a song about. I wasn't singing necessarily about spiritual leaders of a particular ethnic persuasion or a particular religious view, but just the idea of the teacher, the guru.^[9]

Unlike its more folk-inflected A-side, "The Witch's Promise", "Teacher" features a standard, rock-oriented arrangement and structure. Anderson commented, "Every so often there are those songs that fall into the conventional pop rock structure—songs like 'Teacher', for instance—but that style isn't our forte. We're not very good at it because I'm not that kind of a singer, and it doesn't come easy to me to do that stuff."^[10]

The two songs on the "Witch's Promise" single were the first recording to feature keyboardist John Evan, who would join Jethro Tull as a permanent member shortly after and would remain with the band throughout the 1970s. He was sharing a flat with frontman Ian Anderson at the time, and agreed to perform as a session musician. He played Hammond organ on "Teacher" and both piano and Mellotron on "The Witch's Promise".^[11] This led to an offer to join the band full-time.^[12]