21st Century Schizoid Man
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| "21st Century Schizoid Man" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Song by King Crimson | ||
| from the album In the Court of the Crimson King | ||
| Released | October 10, 1969 | |
| Recorded | 1969 | |
| Genre | Progressive rock | |
| Length | 7:20 | |
| Label | Atlantic Records | |
| Writer(s) | Robert Fripp, Ian McDonald, Greg Lake, Michael Giles, Peter Sinfield | |
| Producer(s) | Robert Fripp, Peter Sinfield | |
| In the Court of the Crimson King track listing | ||
| "21st Century Schizoid Man" (1) | I Talk to the Wind (2) | |
"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.
The song is lyrically inspired by a vision of a dystopian future seen from the eyes of a paranoid protagonist, reffered only to as "21st Century Schizoid Man" and shows us a world of "innocents raped with napalm fire" amongst other things.
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 3/4 time signature, save for the percussive section in Mirrors which alternates between 1/4, 2/4 and 5/8.
When Greg Lake left King Crimson in 1970 to form Emerson, Lake & Palmer, the song was maintained in the live act and appeared on two original live albums from different versions of the band, first on Earthbound (1972), sung by Boz Burrell then on USA (1974), sung by John Wetton, as well as numerous compilations and post produced live albums. In later live performances the middle section usually included improvised solos.
The song has recently been covered by Ozzy Osbourne on his live album Under Cover. Voivod have also covered this song, as have Forbidden on their album Distortion
