Child in Time
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Child in Time" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Song by Deep Purple | ||
| from the album Deep Purple in Rock | ||
| Released | June 1970 | |
| Genre | Hard Rock | |
| Length | 10:14 | |
| Label | Harvest Records (UK) Warner Bros. (US) |
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| Writer(s) | Ian Gillan Ritchie Blackmore Roger Glover Jon Lord Ian Paice |
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| Producer(s) | Deep Purple | |
| Deep Purple in Rock track listing | ||
| "Bloodsucker" (2) |
"Child in Time" (3) |
"Flight of the Rat" (4) |
"Child In Time" is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple. Featured on their seminal 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock, the song has become an epic classic, lasting for a full 10 minutes and 17 seconds. Written by the band in 1969, it is said by the band members themselves [1] to have been inspired by a riff featured in a song by Purple contemporaries It's a Beautiful Day, called "Bombay Calling". The riff was played on violins and very much faster in tempo.
Child in Time is an essentially simple composition, featuring an organ intro, one power chord, and a two minute long solo. Lyrically dark, it is set around the theme of Cold War. [2] Vocalist Ian Gillan, utilises his full vocal range and goes from quiet singing to loud, high-pitched, banshee-esque screaming. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore comes in with a slow solo, which builds to a fast-pace and then ends abruptly, with the whole song cycle starting over again.
A staple of the Mk II live concerts 1970-73, the song has not featured regularly at concerts since the reunion of the line up in 1984. Gillan cites many personal reasons for leaving the song out, but it is likely that given his advancing years, the song is increasingly difficult to perform without sampled vocal backings. Its last appearance in Deep Purple's live set was at Harrogate in 2002.
The lyrics as sung by Gillan on the live album Made in Japan are as follows:
Sweet child in time,
You'll see the line.
The line that's drawn between,
The good and the bad.
See the blind man,
Shooting at the world.
Bullets flying,
Mmm... taking toll.
If you've been bad,
(Oh) Lord I bet you have.
And you've not been hit,
Mmm...by flying lead.
You'd better close your eyes,
Ahh, Ahh...and bow your head.
(And) Wait for the ricochet...
[edit] Trivia
Former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's current band, Blackmore's Night, featured a new truncated version on their 2006 studio album The Village Lanterne.
A portion of this song was featured in the 1996 films Twister, Breaking the Waves and in 23.
A live version later appeared on the 1972 live album Made in Japan. Another live version can be found on the Scandinavian Nights live album.
The song became an unofficial anthem of the underground democratic movement in the Eastern bloc during the 1980s
The song is used in the 1999 documentary One Day in September, which is about the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis. It plays during a rapid montage of the violent aftermath of the concluding airport shootout.
This song has inspired a bollywood song composed by Anu Malik.
The song was covered by Yngwie Malmsteen on his 1996 album Inspiration.
Some fans have suggested that the grammar in the lyrics is incorrect, and that the first line is in fact 'Sweet child, in time' rather than the line given by the CD, missing the comma.
Gear item: Blackmore is normally associated with playing a Fender Stratocaster; however, on this solo (studio) he played a Gibson ES-335
Voted #2 on Digitaldreamdoor's 100 best Rock Vocal Performances.
[edit] References
Kusnur, Narendra. "Ian Gillan, Mumbai, India. 3 May 2002", Mid-Day Newspaper, 2002-05-03. Retrieved on 2006-12-30.
