"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 Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

, released on their fourth studio album, '' Deep Purple in Rock'' in 1970. It is the longest track on the album, running over ten minutes. The song's lyrics are loosely inspired by the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. The song is notable for showcasing singer Ian Gillan's full vocal range and the instrumental jam section between guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and organist Jon Lord.

History and characteristics

Ian Gillan 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 1969 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 ''Marrying Maiden'' is the second studio album by San Francisco psychedelic band It's a Beautiful Day, released in 1970 on Columbia Records. Founding member Linda LaFlamme was replaced by keyboardist Fred Webb on this project. Grateful Dead guit ...

'' (1970). The song started with organist Jon Lord 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. Gillan is quoted as saying that the song was created "using the Cold War as the theme", adding "the words came easily because we were all aware of the nuclear threat looming over us at what was probably the height of the Cold War." With themes of war and inhumanity, the song is regarded as a heavy metal anthem and an example of

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...

. 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

Kharkov Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

's Opera Theatre's scene in March of that year. A live version appeared on the 1972 live album '' Made in Japan''. Other live versions can be found on the ''

Scandinavian Nights ''Scandinavian Nights (Live in Stockholm 1970)'' is a double live-album by the English hard rock band Deep Purple. It was recorded in the Stockholm Konserthuset on 12 November 1970. It was originally released in 1988. Background The title ''S ...

''/'' Live in Stockholm'' live album, recorded in September 1970 and the BBC recordings released as

Deep Purple In Concert ''Deep Purple in Concert'' is a live album by the English hard rock band Deep Purple, recorded by the BBC for their "In Concert" live series in 1970 and 1972. First released in 1980 in the UK, with the current US edition being made available in ...

. Gillan also featured a live jazz influenced version of the song in his Ian Gillan Band project of the late 1970s on '' Live at the Budokan'' album. A shortened version, with vocals by Candice Night and preceded and followed by their instrumental " Mond Tanz", appeared on the

Blackmore's Night Blackmore's Night is a British-American neo-medieval folk rock band formed in 1997, consisting mainly of Ritchie Blackmore (acoustic guitar, hurdy gurdy, mandola, mandolin, nyckelharpe, and electric guitar) and Candice Night (lead vocals, lyri ...

album ''

The Village Lanterne ''The Village Lanterne'' is the fifth studio album by the group Blackmore's Night, released on Steamhammer US on 4 April 2006. It featured the single "Just Call My Name (I'll Be There)". The song "Olde Mill Inn" was included as soundtrack in ...

''.

Charts

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 ''

Guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

s 1998 readers poll of Top 100 Guitar Solos of All-Time. English disc jockey

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

'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 Ian Gillan Band on the 1976 album ''

Child in Time "Child in Time" is a song by English rock band Deep Purple, taken from their fourth studio album, ''Deep Purple in Rock'', released in 1970. The track is loosely inspired by the Cold War and runs over ten minutes. History and characteristic ...

''. * 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 Inspiration, inspire, or inspired often refers to: * Artistic inspiration, sudden creativity in artistic production * Biblical inspiration, the doctrine in Judeo-Christian theology concerned with the divine origin of the Bible * Creative inspirat ...

''. *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 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 de ...

film '' Akele Hum Akele Tum''. *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''. The live footage playing on his television is from Deep Purple's appearance at the California Jam in 1974, though Child In Time was not performed during this set. *It was used in the final sequence of the 1999 Kevin Macdonald documentary ''

One Day in September ''One Day in September'' is a 1999 documentary film directed by Kevin Macdonald examining the 5 September 1972 murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Michael Douglas provides the sparse narration through ...

'' examining the 5 September 1972 murder of 11 Israeli athletes by Arabic terrorists at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. *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