The Court of the Crimson King
| "The Court of the Crimson King" | ||||
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| 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 | October 12, 1969 (album) | |||
| Format | 7", 45rpm | |||
| Recorded | July 21–23, 1969 | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 9:25 7:16 (Abridged version) |
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| Writer(s) | Ian McDonald, Peter Sinfield | |||
| Producer(s) | King Crimson | |||
| King Crimson singles chronology | ||||
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"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.
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 4 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 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.
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Wikipedia