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"21st Century Schizoid Man"
Song by King Crimson from the album In the Court of the Crimson King
Released	October 12, 1969
Recorded	1969
Genre	Progressive rock, jazz fusion, hard rock, heavy metal
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
	"21st Century Schizoid Man"; "I Talk to the Wind"; "Epitaph"; "Moonchild"; "The Court of the Crimson King";
King Crimson singles chronology

"21st Century Schizoid Man" is a song by progressive rock band King Crimson from their debut album In the Court of the Crimson King.

[edit] Credits

[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 (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."

[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, save for the end of the song, which is in free time.

[edit] Performances

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 Greg 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).

[edit] Legacy

The song has recently been covered by Ozzy Osbourne on his cover album Under Cover. Flower Travellin' Band, Entombed, Voivod, Unrest, Noir Désir, Afterhours, Rorschach, Seasons and April Wine have also covered this song, as have Forbidden on their album Distortion, and Suck on Time to Suck.^[3]

The song is featured in the music video game Guitar Hero 5.

"21^st Century Schizoid Man" was released in 2009 as a digital download [1] by The Human Experimente, featuring performances by Jeff Fayman, Robert Fripp, and Maynard James Keenan, in a mix resembling a movie soundtrack.

[edit] References

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

[edit] Notes

^ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/kingcrimson/albums/album/268735/review/5942988/the_power_to_believe
^ Buckley 2003, p. 477, "Opening with the cataclysmic heavy-metal of "21st Century Schizoid Man", and closing with the cathedral-sized title track,"
^ http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kjfpxzl0ldae

[0] ttp://www.rollingstone.com/artists/kingcrimson/albums/album/268735/review/5942988/the_power_to_believe

[1] Buckley 2003, p. 477, "Opening with the cataclysmic heavy-metal of "21st Century Schizoid Man", and closing with the cathedral-sized title track,"

[2] ttp://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kjfpxzl0ldae

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