"Epitaph" is the third track on British

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

's 1969 album ''

In the Court of the Crimson King ''In the Court of the Crimson King'' (subtitled ''An Observation by King Crimson'') is the debut studio album by English rock band King Crimson, released on 10 October 1969 by Island Records. The album is one of the earliest and most influentia ...

''. It was written by

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...

, Ian McDonald,

Greg Lake Gregory Stuart Lake (10 November 1947 – 7 December 2016) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP). Born and b ...

, and

Michael Giles Michael Rex Giles (born 1 March 1942) is an English drummer, percussionist, and vocalist, best known as one of the co-founders of King Crimson in 1969. Prior to the formation of King Crimson, he was part of the eccentric pop trio Giles, Giles a ...

with lyrics written by

Peter Sinfield Peter John Sinfield (born 27 December 1943) is an English poet and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former lyricist of King Crimson, whose debut album ''In the Court of the Crimson King'' is considered one of the first and mos ...

. The song is noted for its heavy use of the

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

,Macan (1997), p. 23.. As with the album's first track, "

21st Century Schizoid Man "21st Century Schizoid Man" is a song by the progressive rock band King Crimson from their 1969 debut album ''In the Court of the Crimson King''. Often regarded as the group's signature song, it has been described by sources such as Rolling Ston ...

", the song's lyrics have a distinctly

dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

feel to them and are presented as a protest to 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's title was used as the name for a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

of recordings done by the original King Crimson, ''

Epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

''.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percus ...

would later incorporate an excerpt from this song after the "Battlefield" portion of the live version of their song "

Tarkus ''Tarkus'' is the second studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in June 1971 on Island Records and on Cotillion Records (Atlantic) in August in the U.S. Following their 1970 European tour, the group retu ...

", from the ''

'' album, as documented in the live album '' Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends... Ladies and Gentlemen''. "Stripes" from

Cage A cage is an enclosure often made of mesh, bars, or wires, used to confine, contain or protect something or someone. A cage can serve many purposes, including keeping an animal or person in captivity, capturing an animal or person, and displayin ...

's album ''

Hell's Winter ''Hell's Winter'' is the second solo studio album by American rapper Cage (rapper), Cage. It was released by Definitive Jux on September 20, 2005. It peaked at number 26 on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Heatseekers Albums chart, as well a ...

'' samples a middle part of the song throughout its duration.

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo bands ...

also took its name from the song.

Track listing

In 1976, "Epitaph" was released as a single with "

" as the B-side, a companion to the compilation ''

A Young Person's Guide to King Crimson ''A Young Person's Guide to King Crimson'' is a 2-LP compilation album by the band King Crimson, released in 1976. At the time the band had split. The track selection was by Robert Fripp. Its name is most likely derived either from the famous ...

'' (1976). # "Epitaph" (including "March for No Reason" and "Tomorrow and Tomorrow") (

, Ian McDonald,

) # "21st Century Schizoid Man" (including "Mirrors") (Fripp, Giles, Lake, McDonald, Sinfield)

Personnel

– acoustic guitar, electric guitar *

– bass guitar, vocals * Ian McDonald –

, harpsichord, piano, flute, organ, clarinet, bass clarinet *

– drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

– lyrics

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

Official King Crimson's record label
{{authority control 1969 songs 1976 singles King Crimson songs Rock ballads Songs with lyrics by Peter Sinfield Songs written by Robert Fripp Songs written by Ian McDonald (musician) Songs written by Greg Lake Songs written by Michael Giles Song recordings produced by Greg Lake Folk rock songs Symphonic rock songs Atlantic Records singles Song recordings produced by Ian McDonald (musician)