The Court of the Crimson King

"The Court of the Crimson King"
Single by King Crimson
from the album In the Court of the Crimson King
A-side	"The Court of the Crimson King, Pt. 1"
B-side	"The Court of the Crimson King, Pt. 2"
Released	12 October 1969 (1969-10-12)
Format	7-inch 45 rpm
Recorded	21–23 July 1969
Genre	Progressive rock[1]
Length	9:25 (album version) 7:16 (edited version)
Label	Island (UK WIP-6071) Atlantic (US 2703)
Composer(s)	Ian McDonald
Lyricist(s)	Peter Sinfield
Producer(s)	King Crimson
King Crimson singles chronology
"The Court of the Crimson King" (1969) "Cat Food" (1970)
In the Court of the Crimson King track listing
5 tracks  Side one "21st Century Schizoid Man" "I Talk to the Wind" "Epitaph" Side two "Moonchild" "The Court of the Crimson King"

"The Court of the Crimson King" is the fifth and final track from the British progressive rock band King Crimson's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King. Also released as a single, it reached #80 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Along with "Heartbeat", it is one of the band's only two charting singles in the United States.

Background

The track is dominated by a distinct riff performed on the Mellotron in D major. The main part of the song is split up into four verses, divided by an instrumental section called "The Return of the Fire Witch". The song climaxes at seven minutes, but continues with a little reprise (called "The Dance of the Puppets"), before ending on an abrupt and free time scale. The music was written by Ian McDonald and the lyrics by Peter Sinfield.

	"The Court of the Crimson King" (1969) 37 second sample from King Crimson's "The Court of the Crimson King", demonstrating the sound of the first incarnation of the band, with its classically-influenced style and use of the Mellotron instrument.
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Personnel

• Robert Fripp – guitar
• Greg Lake – bass guitar, lead vocals
• Ian McDonald – mellotron, harpsichord, organ, flute, backing vocals
• Michael Giles – drums, percussion, backing vocals
• Peter Sinfield – lyrics

Covers

• Doc Severinsen covered the song for his 1970 album Doc Severinsen's Closet.
• It has been covered by British heavy metal band Saxon on their 2001 album Killing Ground.
• The song has been covered by Asia on their 2006 reunion tour.
• The song was covered by King Crimson members Ian McDonald and John Wetton with Steve Hackett on Hackett's Tokyo Tapes and by Greg Lake featuring Gary Moore on Lake's Live at Hammersmith Odeon 1981 live album released by King Biscuit Records in 1996.
• The song was covered live by Howard Stern's in-studio band The Losers. Their performance won a Battle of the Bands contest against Tina Yothers and her band Jaded, who performed one of their original songs.
• The song, sung by original lead vocalist Greg Lake, was featured in the set list during the seventh edition tour of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band in 2001.
• Eläkeläiset covered the song on their 2012 album Humppasheikkailu as Humpan Kuninkaan Hovissa (a reference to the album the song is originally from or the song itself, as it roughly translates to In the Hall of the Humppa King).
• Connecticut-based AOR band Arc Angel covered the song on their debut self-titled album.
• The song was covered by The Claypool Lennon Delirium on their Lime and Limpid Green EP.

In popular culture

The track was used in the 2006 dystopian film Children of Men, appearing on its soundtrack. It is also heard briefly in the first episode of the Red Riding trilogy. The song is also used widely in the Canadian television series Kenny vs. Spenny. The instrumental part of the song can be heard in the French movie Cinéman. The song has been recently chosen as the ending theme for the videogame Natural Doctrine. The track was also referenced in the video game Darkest Dungeon's first downloadable content, "The Crimson Court".

References

External links

• "The Court of the Crimson King" lyrics
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics