’21st Century Schizoid Man’: the ultimate prog-rock anthem
A lot of people turn their noses up at the mere mention of prog rock, recoiling at the negative connotations that accompany the genre tag. When I utter these two four-letter words to my peers, many of them begin to wince as the thoughts of slaying dragons beneath a full moon and concept albums about medieval history begin to flood their minds.
You may well ask: “Is there any point in jumping from 9/8 to 7/8 every other bar?” or “Do we have to listen to this nine-minute flute solo?” and my answer to both of these questions is “Abso-fucking-lutely”. I’ve had it up to my ears and beyond with prog slander for too long, so this is where I’m putting my foot down and laying down the law with you.
It might well be one of rock’s wankiest mutations, but I’m far from ashamed to admit that I love it for all of its histrionics and musical dexterity. As a teenager, I was too much of a wet blanket to go through an angsty metal phase, and so I chose to open myself up to a world of scorn by developing a vested interest in this much-maligned genre. However, being a nerd who enjoyed maths and playing bass guitar, I only needed to hear the first few notes of ‘Heart of the Sunrise’ by Yes to have an epiphany that sent me down a rabbit hole that I’m yet to be retrieved from.
However, as close as I hold that song and the rest of Fragile to my heart as being the record that sparked my love of prog, I can’t legitimately justify labelling any of its nine tracks as the true anthem for the genre. As enjoyable as the works of Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Caravan, and others are, I can’t award any of them with the honour of having written the definitive prog-rock song either. For my money, there is only one song truly worthy of this accolade.
King Crimson’s 1969 track ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’ is the one song that is a deserving recipient of this title: a balls-to-the-wall freakout that merges jazz and hard rock elements so expertly and immediately makes the listener take note. After 30 seconds of the churning sound of a malfunctioning organ dissipates, an onslaught of guitar, bass, drums and saxophone belts into earholes with unyielding force, and the aggression of Greg Lake’s vocals is the icing on the cake that turns the song into a tour-de-force.
It’s worth noting the actual original interpretation of the ‘prog’ in ‘prog rock’ is short for progressive, and while many interpret this to mean progressive song structures and non-traditional rock arrangements, it’s a little more nuanced than that. It initially also referred to the progressive politics in the lyrics of the music, which got muddied when prog became more fantastical in the 1970s, and instead of destroying dark mages, they were intent on crushing oppressive systems.
Given that information, ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’ fits in line with the original ethos of prog on both counts as it also serves as an anti-war anthem, critiquing political interference in the Vietnam War that led to civilian casualties on a mass scale. In the song, lyricist Peter Sinfield invokes these vivid images of annihilation through lines such as “Blood rack, barbed wire / Politicians’ funeral pyre / Innocents raped with napalm fire” and references bleeding children who have become victims of these atrocities.
The ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’ in question isn’t explicitly named, but comments by guitarist Robert Fripp suggest that it was in reference to the then-US vice-president Spiro Agnew, whose involvement in the Vietnam War alongside Richard Nixon was heavily criticised. During a live performance, Fripp jokingly dedicated the song to Agnew, referring to him as “an American political personality whom we all know and love dearly”.
To think that this is the opening track of the band’s debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, is staggering as well, almost as though they knew that this brash cut would garner them the attention that they deserved. While they’d go on to achieve much more later in their career thanks to the precise yet almost dictatorial guidance of Fripp, ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’ is ultimately the blueprint for all subsequent prog rock and should be treated as a benchmark to be aimed for in the genre.
