"Child in Time" is a song by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Deep Purple, taken from their fourth studio album, ''

Deep Purple in Rock ''Deep Purple in Rock'' is the fourth studio album by Deep Purple, released on 5 June 1970. It was the first studio album recorded by the Mark II line-up of Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice. Work on ''In Rock ...

'', released in 1970. The track is loosely inspired by the Cold War and runs over ten minutes.

History and characteristics

Deep Purple's

Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is a British singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...

has said that the organ riff in "Child in Time" is based on

It's a Beautiful Day It's a Beautiful Day is an American band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1967, featuring vocalist Pattie Santos along with violinist David LaFlamme and his wife, Linda LaFlamme, on keyboards. David LaFlamme, who as a youth had once p ...

's psychedelic song "

Bombay Calling ''Bombay Calling'' is a 2006 feature documentary film directed by Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada which follows the journey of Kaz Lalani the pioneer of Call Centre Outsourcing. ''Bombay Calling'' ...

". It's a Beautiful Day in return borrowed Purple's " Wring That Neck" and turned it into "Don and Dewey" on their second album '' Marrying Maiden'' (1970). The song started with organist

Jon Lord John Douglas Lord (9 June 194116 July 2012) was an English orchestral and rock composer, pianist, and Hammond organ player known for his pioneering work in fusing rock with classical or baroque forms, especially with the British rock band Deep ...

playing "Bombay Calling", which the band then re-arranged and changed the structure. Gillan had never heard the original song, and created lyrics about the Cold War to fit the music, later saying it "reflected the mood of the moment". The band then worked out instrumental lines to accompany this. With themes of war and inhumanity, the song is regarded as a heavy metal anthem and an example of art rock. A staple of the Deep Purple live concerts in 1970–73 and later after their initial reunion tours of 1985 and 1987–88, the song was not featured regularly at concerts after 1995. It was re-added to the setlist for the band's 2002 European tour, with its final appearance in Deep Purple's live set was at

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Made in Japan''. Other live versions can be found on the '' Scandinavian Nights'' / '' Live in Stockholm'' live album, recorded in September 1970 and the BBC recordings released as Deep Purple In Concert. Gillan also featured a live jazz influenced version of the song in his

Ian Gillan Band The Ian Gillan Band were an English progressive jazz-rock band formed by singer Ian Gillan of Deep Purple in 1975. History After leaving Deep Purple in June 1973, Ian Gillan had retired from the music business to pursue other business ventures ...

project of the late 1970s on '' Live at the Budokan'' album.

Accolades

"Child in Time" was ranked no. 1 on

Radio Veronica Radio Veronica was an offshore radio station that began broadcasting in 1960, and broadcast offshore for over fourteen years. It was set up by independent radio, TV and household electrical retailers in the Netherlands to stimulate the sales ...

's "Super All-Time List" in 1989. The song ranked at no. 16 in '' Guitarists 1998 readers poll of Top 100 Guitar Solos of All-Time. English disc jockey John Peel's 1976 list of Festive Fifty featured the song at no. 25. It was second, third or fourth place for many years on the annual Dutch

Top 2000 The ''Top 2000'' is an annual Dutch marathon radio programme that plays the 2,000 songs voted most popular of all time. The show runs 24 hours a day, starting Christmas and ending on New Year's Eve. The show is hosted by the Dutch national radio ...

songs of all time.

Covers and references in popular culture

* Ian Gillan performed the song with his

on the 1976 album '' Child in Time''. * The song was covered by

Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...

for his 1996 album '' Inspiration''. *The song was covered by

Rata Blanca Rata Blanca ("White Rat" in English) is an Argentine heavy metal band, formed in 1986. History Beginnings The guitarist Walter Giardino replaced Osvaldo Civile in V8 for a little time, and left the band when his songs were rejected. His ...

and Tarja in a show in Buenos Aires on 9 June 2009. *

Anu Malik Anwar Sardar "Anu" Malik (born 2 November 1960) is an Indian music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. He is an Indian National Award and Filmfare Award winning musician, who primarily composes music for the Hindi film indus ...

drew inspiration from this song for the opening and closing portions of ''Aisa Zakhm Diya'' from the

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

film ''

Akele Hum Akele Tum ''Akele Hum Akele Tum'' (I'm Alone, You Are Alone) is a 1995 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film starring Aamir Khan, Manisha Koirala and Master Adil, and directed by Mansoor Khan. The music is by Anu Malik and the lyrics are by Majrooh ...

''. *The studio version of the song is played by character Dusty (

Philip Seymour Hoffman Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character roles—typically lowlifes, eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical produ ...

) during a driving montage in the 1996 film

Twister Twister may refer to: Weather * Tornado Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design Entertainment * ''Twister'' (1989 ...

. The live footage playing on his television is from Deep Purple's appearance at the

California Jam California Jam (also known as Cal Jam) was a rock music festival co-headlined by Deep Purple and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California, on April 6, 1974. It was produced by ABC Entertainment, Sandy Fel ...

in 1974, though Child In Time was not performed during this set. *The 2022 Netflix series ''

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

'' features the song in Episode 2 before the end credits roll.

References

External links

Video Clip of Deep Purple – Child In Time 1970
available under the open "

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

" at "

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

" using format of (

JW Player JW Player is a New York based company that has developed a video player software of the same name. The player, for embedding videos onto web pages, is used by news, video hosting companies, and for self- hosted web videos. The company has also cr ...

) {{authority control 1970 songs 1972 singles Anti-war songs Art rock songs Deep Purple songs Songs written by Ian Gillan Songs written by Ian Paice Songs written by Jon Lord Songs written by Ritchie Blackmore Songs written by Roger Glover Songs involved in plagiarism controversies Songs of the Vietnam War

History and characteristics

Accolades

Covers and references in popular culture

See also

References

External links