21st Century Schizoid Man
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| “21st Century Schizoid Man” | ||
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| Song by King Crimson | ||
| Album | In the Court of the Crimson King | |
| Released | October 12, 1969 | |
| Recorded | 1969 | |
| Genre | Progressive rock, Jazz fusion | |
| Length | 7:20 | |
| Label | Atlantic Records | |
| Writer | Robert Fripp, Ian McDonald, Greg Lake, Michael Giles, Peter Sinfield | |
| Producer | Robert Fripp, Peter Sinfield | |
| 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. To date it is one of their best-known songs.
Contents |
[edit] Credits
- Greg Lake - vocals, bass guitar
- Ian McDonald - saxophone
- Robert Fripp - guitars
- Michael Giles - drums
- Peter Sinfield - lyrics, keyboards
[edit] Lyrical content
The song's lyrics consist of a short poem with one or more metaphors in every line.
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 14 December 1969, Fripp remarked that the song was dedicated to "an American political personality whom we all know and love dearly. His name is Spiro Agnew."
[edit] Musical structure
Musically, 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 signature, save for the percussive section in "Mirrors" which alternates between 1/4, 2/4 and 5/4. The very end of the song is in free time.[citation needed]
[edit] Performances
Even after Greg Lake left King Crimson in 1970 to form Emerson, Lake & Palmer, King Crimson continued to perform it in their live act. It appeared on three live albums from different versions of the band, first sung by Boz Burrell on Earthbound (1972), then sung by John Wetton, on USA (1974), then sung by Adrian Belew on VROOOM VROOOM (2001, recorded in 1996).
[edit] Legacy
The song has recently been covered by Ozzy Osbourne on his cover album Under Cover. Flower Travellin' Band, Entombed, Voivod, Unrest, Rorschach and April Wine have also covered this song, as have Forbidden on their album Distortion
Bad Religion made a homage to the song called "21st Century (Digital Boy)". In it they refer to the original song several times with lyrics such as "innocents raped with napalm fire" and "21st century schizoid boy".
