"21st Century Schizoid Man"
UK single release
Song by King Crimson
from the album In the Court of the Crimson King
A-side"Epitaph"
Released
  • 12 October 1969 (1969-10-12) (album)
  • 1976 (B-side)
Recorded1, 20–21 August 1969
Genre
Length7:24
LabelIsland
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)Peter Sinfield
Producer(s)King Crimson

"21st Century Schizoid Man" is a song by the progressive rock band King Crimson, released in 1969 as the opening track on their debut album In the Court of the Crimson King. Often regarded as the group's signature song, it has been described by Rolling Stone as "a seven-and-a-half-minute statement of purpose: rock power, jazz spontaneity, and classical precision harnessed in the service of a common aim."

Lyrical content

The lyrics of "21st Century Schizoid Man" were written by Peter Sinfield and consist chiefly of disconnected phrases which present a series of images in a fixed pattern. The first line of each verse consists of two short phrases, while the second line is a single, more specific image, and the third is a longer phrase or a full sentence. The fourth and last line of each verse is the song's title.[1]

The song criticizes the Vietnam War with the lyrics "Politicians' funeral pyre/Innocence raped with napalm fire" and "death seed", which according to Sinfield refers to a "harvest of bad things" created by the use of Agent Orange. The line "Cat's foot, iron claw" refers to the French fable "The Monkey and the Cat".[1]

Before a live performance of the song on 15 December 1969 (later included on the live album Epitaph), guitarist Robert Fripp sarcastically remarked that the song was dedicated to then-Vice President of the United States Spiro Agnew, "an American political personality whom we all know and love dearly."[2][3]

Musical structure

"21st Century Schizoid Man" is notable for its heavily distorted vocals, sung by Greg Lake, and its instrumental middle section, called "Mirrors". Most of the song is in either 4/4 or 6/4 time, while the abstract chaotic outro, which was inspired by the Duke Ellington Orchestra, has no discernible meter.[1] The song has been described as heavy metal,[4][5] jazz-rock and progressive rock,[6] and is considered to be an influence on the later development of progressive metal and industrial music.[7][8]

Fripp's dissonant and almost atonal guitar solo on the song was rated number 82 in Guitar World's list of the "Top 100 Greatest Guitar Solos" in 2008.[9][10] Louder Sound ranked the solo at No. 56 in its "100 greatest guitar solos in rock" poll in 2018.[11] As he explained to Guitar Player magazine in 1974: "It's all picked down-up. The basis of the picking technique is to strike down on the on-beat and up on the off-beat. Then one must learn to reverse that. I'll generally use a downstroke on the down-beat except where I wish to accent a phrase in a particular way or create a certain kind of tension by confusing accents, in which case I might begin a run on the upstroke."[12]

Reception and legacy

In 2006, Pitchfork ranked "21st Century Schizoid Man" at number 104 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s", with Joe Tangari calling it a "seven-minute hellstorm of gonzo guitar, shifting meters, and nasty sax".[13]

Personnel

Sampling

See also

References

  • Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. London: Rough Guides. ISBN 1-85828-201-2.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Shteamer, Hank (1 October 2019). "King Crimson's '21st Century Schizoid Man': Inside Prog's Big Bang". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  2. ↑ Shteamer, Hank (1 October 2019). "King Crimson's '21st Century Schizoid Man': 50 Years in the Life of a Gamechanging Song". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  3. ↑ King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man (Live, Fillmore West, 12/15/1969) on YouTube
  4. ↑ Fricke, David. ""King Crimson: The Power To Believe : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone"". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved November 2, 2009.. web.archive.org. Archived from the original.
  5. ↑ Buckley 2003, p. 477, "Opening with the cataclysmic heavy-metal of '21st Century Schizoid Man', and closing with the cathedral-sized title track..."
  6. ↑ Unterberger, Richie. "I Talk to the Wind – King Crimson". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 March 2019. Coming right after the assaultive jazz-prog rock of '21st Century Schizoid Man'.
  7. ↑ Harrington, Richard (1992-03-20). "King Crimson: Reign Of Wagnerian Rock". Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  8. ↑ Rivadavia, Eduardo (6 June 2018). "The Roots of Progressive Metal in 11 Songs". Loudwire. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  9. ↑ Huey, Steve. "King Crimson – 21st Century Schizoid Man/Mirrors". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 September 2021. There follows an extended solo by guitarist Robert Fripp, who uses different amplification effects and plays sharply angled, almost atonal melody lines, creating dissonance and texture instead of simply displaying his technique.
  10. ↑ "100 Greatest Guitar Solos: 51–100". Guitar World.
  11. ↑ "The 100 greatest guitar solos in rock". Classic Rock. 28 September 2018. p. 5. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  12. ↑ Fripp, Robert (May 1974). "King Crimson's Robert Fripp". Guitar Player (Interview). Interviewed by Steve Rosen.
  13. ↑ "The 200 Best Songs of the 1960s". Pitchfork. 2006-08-18. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  14. ↑ Daniel Kreps (28 May 2010). "Kanye West Samples King Crimson on Raging New Track Power | Music News". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  15. ↑ Yossman, K.J. (26 April 2022). "Kanye West's King Crimson Sample in 'Power' Sparks Lawsuit Against Universal Music". Variety.
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