I spent a good part of my early adolescence pondering the lyrics to the songs of King Crimson. Analyzing them, listening to those albums over and over, searching for hidden meanings, trying to picture the rich worlds that they evoked.
When I was twelve, the lyrics by Peter Sinfield that spoke to me most deeply were the ones that filled me with wonder, and spoke of untold possibilities:
The rusted chains of prison moons
Are shattered by the sun
I walk a road, horizons change
The tournament’s begun
The purple piper plays his tune
The choir softly sing
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
For the court of the crimson king
Now I find myself connecting more with the lyrics that speak to our own reality. Is the lyric below, from 1969, a better description of our fears of A.I. or our worries about the recent election?
Knowledge is a deadly friend
If no one sets the rules
The fate of all mankind I see
Is in the hands of fools
Peter Sinfield passed away yesterday at the age of 80. He will be missed, but his words will live on.