King Crimson – 21st Century Schizoid Man

This is my first King Crimson post. I’ve heard their debut album the most and I like it. I went exploring, found some others I liked, and wrote up one song (publishing later) but I decided to start with this. I have been a Robert Fripp fan from way back. This song is the opening track to their debut album In the Court of the Crimson King. I found out about this band through a big brother of a friend I have…the same one who introduced me to Big Star and The Grateful Dead.

The song was written by the original lineup of King Crimson, which included Robert Fripp (guitar), Greg Lake (bass and vocals), Ian McDonald (saxophone, flute, keyboards), Michael Giles (drums), and Peter Sinfield (lyrics). The debut album was called In The Court of the Crimson King. The album was a hit. It peaked at #5 in the UK, #27 in Canada, and #28 on the Billboard Album Charts in 1969.

For me to like progressive rock it has to have a good melody to it. King Crimson, ELP, and some of Yes do…, especially the live cuts. The musicianship on these albums is out of this world. I like this song’s changing time signatures and the rock, jazz, and classical feel.

This live cut is short but it’s the only thing I could find in this era. I always try to include a live version in the era it was released. 

21st Century Schizoid Man

Cat’s foot iron clawNeuro-surgeons scream for moreAt paranoia’s poison door.Twenty first century schizoid man.

Blood rack barbed wirePolititians’ funeral pyreInnocents raped with napalm fireTwenty first century schizoid man.

Death seed blind man’s greedPoets’ starving children bleedNothing he’s got he really needsTwenty first century schizoid man.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

42 thoughts on “King Crimson – 21st Century Schizoid Man”

  3. great song. that is an indispensible brother you have. Always good to have a brother that can turn you on to great bands. somehow I just can’t get my brother to like Kind Crimson! it’s okay… we are into plenty of tother stuff already

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    1. Oh it was a big brother of a friend of mine but yes…he did introduce me to some great music! All I have is a sister…who I love dearly but she likes The Osmonds and David Cassidy…so I tended to listen to my friends brother! lol…

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    2. Yes, big brothers come in handy. One brother introduced me to Duane Eddy; the other to Little Richard, Delta and Chicago blues, the early 60s folk revival (which included a wide range of music from Woody Guthrie to Flatt & Scruggs to Leadbelly).

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  4. In my case it actually was my older brother who liked them , though they weren’t stop his leader board of those sorts of prog bands. Undeniably huge body of talent in there, and it’s cool they have one guy simply as a lyricist, but to me they never quite made the record that I wanted to listen to in full. This is indeed kind of an odd one…didn’t know April Wine covered it

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    1. In the 1980s they had some songs I liked as well…I wrote one up that is a 3 minute breezy song but full of changes…they are interesting.

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  5. Oh! That cover! Co-incidentally, I picked up a ‘Record Collector Presents King Crimson’ mag yesterday! As well as a UK discography, it has reviews of all the studio albums and new interviews of the current band members. Well worth a read if you’re a fan.

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    1. Ok thanks! I will look for that.
      When you posted that song that day…I begin writing this…I originally had another song from the 80s as the first one…but more know this one…the other one is off of their Three of a Perfect Pair album.

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      2. Yea I’ve seen that tag on Helter Skelter and Black Sabbath…funny the ones they usually hang it on denies it….but yea…I could see why but this one has so many twists and turns.

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  7. On November 25, 1971, I saw King Crimson at the Academy of Music with Procol Harum and Yes. I got the ticket for free from a girl that got grounded by her parents for smoking. She was a few years younger than me, and she wanted me to take her girlfriend with me, so it was a blind date.

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  8. Staple with me. Floyd opened the door for me with music. ELP came before KC but it wasnt long before I found this stuff. I havent been the same since. You were talking about Mick Taylor’s sound, I’m the same with Fripps. Love his playing. A little different take for ‘Max The King Of Pop’

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    1. lol…yea Fripp…I recorded one of my songs and I asked the guitar player (a huge Fripp fan) if he could do it in his style…the solo…and he was happier than hell that I asked him….and he did.
      Progressive…I don’t like all but yes…if it has a good melody…I like it (that is where the pop comes in I suppose). I’ve been turned on to early Genisis since I’ve been blogging…I love some of that Gabriel stuff.

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      1. I was immersed in this stuff. Zappa, Mahavishnu etc. The guitar playing was out of this world. Gabriel with and into his early solo was great. Fripp tagged along on some of his work.
        You’re buddy playing Fripp is pretty cool. He has so much good work out there. He is near the top for me. For a quiet reserved guy he gets some mean sounding music out of his weapon.

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      2. I’m just now finding some of it…I guess better late than never. It’s like that live ELP you posted a while back…it was great. I’ve heard some but never live clips like that.
        Now I find the time changes and complex arrangements fascinating and I know how hard that is… I hope to think I have an open mind…I’m letting more in and I see why it’s so well liked.

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      3. You have a very open mind Max, you like what sounds good to your ears. Try’Babys On Fire’ by Eno. Fripp gets some attention from that one. I could go on about a bunch of his work with Crimson alone. I did a take on ‘Easy Money’ back when. Fripp lays down another one but Bruford and Wenton (Who I thought carried on great vocal work with the band) add incredible work. They have a dense library of great music. Your take being some of it.

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      4. I try CB…the only ones I shy away from are some of the 80s pop songs.
        You did it again…I love that song Baby’s On Fire…I like the song and that guitar solo is incredible. Again it has a great melody which kept me there.
        I just found a live version of Easy Money….it’s pretty incredible with whats going on in that song.

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  9. Robert Fripp had a column in Guitar Player for a year. It was really weird, like stream of consciousness stuff, and after a while the letters to the editors column was all people complaining about his column. I didn’t think it was that bad…

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  10. I’ve been a fan of KC for 40+ years, but to this day I feel like the Pinnacle of their work was the 80’s version with Fripp, Belew, Levin and Bruford. That lineup was absolutely staggering! Tony Levin and Bill Burford combined made one of the best rhythm sections of all time! And Fripp’s technical prowess with Adrian Belew’s “out there” squawks and squeaks made for some unbelievable sonic masterpieces! These guys never got the credit they deserved…

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    1. The song I was going to write about would have been “Modern Man” off of the Three of a perfect Pair. Well I wrote it up so it’s coming in the future.
      His guitar playing is what attracted me to them but I’m just now exploring more than the debut.

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  12. Great and also potent lyrics. King Crimson is just a name and this may be the first time I’ve heard one of their tunes. I know they are highly respected in certain circles. Have you heard of a band called Merillion or Marillion? One of my old co-workers was into both of these bands.

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  13. I heard this first from his missus Toyah, 80’s pop star and still fabulous, seen her a few times in concert as they both live locally to me. She and Robert Fripp recorded it a couple of years in tribute to a bandmember. During covid Lockdown they both went viral with performances from their kitchen, and have been touring since.

    Here’s Toyah’s version:

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    1. That is pretty good…did you notice something in the video? Two bass players…both were playing basses…I have to wonder if one did an octave and the other the regular notes.

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      1. no I never noticed that! I’m not a musician but I’ve been watching youtube videos about pop/rock/dance tracks and how they use chords and classical pieces and so on. This chap is very good:

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      2. Thanks I’ll check it out…I read where they essentially made a triology of albums that included Discipline.

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