21st Century Schizoid Man
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| "21st Century Schizoid Man" | |||||||||||
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| Song by King Crimson from the album In the Court of the Crimson King | |||||||||||
| Released | October 12, 1969 | ||||||||||
| Recorded | August 1 & 20–21, 1969 | ||||||||||
| Genre | Progressive rock, jazz fusion, hard rock, heavy metal[1][2] | ||||||||||
| Length | 7:20 | ||||||||||
| Label | Atlantic Records | ||||||||||
| Writer | Peter Sinfield | ||||||||||
| Composer | Robert Fripp, Ian McDonald, Greg Lake, Michael Giles | ||||||||||
| Producer | King Crimson | ||||||||||
| In the Court of the Crimson King track listing | |||||||||||
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"21st Century Schizoid Man" is a song by progressive rock band King Crimson from their debut album In the Court of the Crimson King.
Contents |
Personnel [edit]
- Greg Lake – bass, distorted vocals
- Ian McDonald – saxophone
- Robert Fripp – guitars
- Michael Giles – drums
- Peter Sinfield – lyrics
Lyrical content [edit]
The lyrics of "21st Century Schizoid Man" were written by Pete Sinfield and consist chiefly of disconnected phrases which present a series of images. All three verses follow a set pattern in presenting these images. The first line of each verse presents two relatively vague images (e.g."iron claw", "death seed"). The second line is a single image, often more specific than the first two, and the third line approaches an actual sentence. The fourth and final line of every verse is "21st century schizoid man".
The song makes reference to the Vietnam War as exemplified in the lyric "innocents raped with napalm fire" and "politicians' funeral pyre". Before a live performance of the song on December 14, 1969 (as shown in the live album Epitaph), Fripp remarked that the song was dedicated to "an American political personality whom we all know and love dearly. His name is Spiro Agnew."
Musical structure [edit]
Clocking at nearly seven and a half minutes, the song is notable for its heavily distorted vocals sung by Greg Lake, a driving mechanical rhythm and piercingly loud saxophone and guitar, along with its instrumental middle section, called "Mirrors". Most of the song is in either 4/4 or 6/8 time, save for the end of the song, which is in free time.
Performances [edit]
King Crimson continued to perform it in their live act after Greg Lake left King Crimson in 1970 to form Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It appeared on four live albums from different versions of the band, first sung by Lake on Epitaph, then by Boz Burrell on Earthbound (1972), by John Wetton, on USA (1974), and by Adrian Belew on Vrooom Vrooom (2001, recorded in 1996). In 1993, Emerson, Lake & Palmer recorded a version for their 1993 box set The Return of the Manticore.
Covers [edit]
- Kanye West sampled the song on "Power", from his 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.[3]
- Suck covered the song on Time to Suck.[4]
- Shining covered the song on their 2010 album Blackjazz.[5]
- Flower Travellin' Band covered the song on their 1970 album Anywhere.[6]
- April Wine covered the song on their 1980 album Harder ... Faster.[7]
- Crimson Jazz Trio covered the song on their 2005 album King Crimson Songbook, Vol. 1.[8]
- Ozzy Osbourne covered the song on his 2005 covers album Under Cover.[9]
- Forbidden covered the song on their 1995 album Distortion
- Voivod covered the song on their 1997 album Phobos.[10]
References [edit]
- Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. London: Rough Guides. ISBN 1-85828-201-2.
Notes [edit]
- ^ Fricke, David. "King Crimson: The Power To Believe : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". web.archive.org. Archived from the original.
- ^ Buckley 2003, p. 477, "Opening with the cataclysmic heavy-metal of '21st Century Schizoid Man', and closing with the cathedral-sized title track,"
- ^ By Daniel Kreps (2010-05-28). "Kanye West Samples King Crimson on Raging New Track Power | Music News". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
- ^ by François Couture (2009-07-07). "Time to Suck - Suck : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
- ^ Phil Freeman (2010-02-02). "Shining - Blackjazz : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-07-4.
- ^ AllMusic. "Flower Travellin' Band - Anywhere : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- ^ AllMusic. "April Wine - Harder...Faster : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- ^ AllMusic. "Crimson Jazz Trio - King Crimson Songbook, Vol. 1 : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/under-cover-mw0000174266
- ^ AllMusic. "Voivod - Phobos : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
