Islands (Pete Sinfield) King Crimson
Islands - Lyrics by Pete Sinfield - Played by King Crimson
Pete Sinfield lyrics
Earth, stream and tree
encircled by sea
Waves sweep the sand from my island.
My sunsets fade,
Field and glade wait only for rain
Grain after grain love erodes my
High weathered walls which fend off the tide
Cradle the wind
to my island.
Gaunt granite climbs where gulls wheel and glide
Mournfully
cry o'er my island.
My dawn bride's veil, damp and pale,
Dissolves in the
sun.
Love's web is spun - cats prowl, mice run
Wreathe snatch-hand briars
where owls know my eyes
Violet skies
Touch my island, touch me.
Beneath the wind turned wave
Infinite peace
Islands join
hands
'Neathe heaven's sea.
Dark harbour quays like fingers of stone
Hungrily reach from my island.
Clutch sailors' words, pearls and gourds
Are strewn on my shore.
Equal in love, bound in circles.
Earth, stream and tree return to the sea
Waves sweep the sand from my island,
From me.
...........................................
Probably no one works harder on their lyrics than King Crimson's Pete Sinfield (except for Paul Simon). There's real beauty and knowledge in them and so well crafted - always something to aspire to. In 1969 at 18, I was looking through the albums in the electrical shop I worked in (as an apprentice electrician) - next to the General Wolf for those from Cov. I'd never heard King Crimson but the album cover grabbed me straight away and then the I found the lyrics inside - I bought the album there and then without having heard one note! I never regretted it. The artwork, lyrics and music are all designed with care and artisty and full of meaning - albeit an esoteric (Alchemistic) meaning (see the link below - Promanade Puzzle). Follow the links - there are so many brilliant lyrics by Pete Sinfield.
Sun and dark are symbolic - As above so below - read the site below.
Pete Sinfield - on Songwriting
PROMENADE THE PUZZLE - The Poetic Vison of Pete Sinfield - Looks at the deeper mreanings behind his lyrics - Here is the -
PREFACE
"The work before you began as an attempt to answer a simple question:
Who is the Crimson King? What it has become is an exhaustive exploration of the
lyrical and visual aspects, the philosophical and spiritual underpinnings, of
the first four King Crimson albums.
The albums in question present, what
Wagner termed, a "Gesamtkunstwerk", a total work of art incorporating music,
images and words. This idea informed Wagner's operatic endeavors and it has been
similarly employed by Peter Sinfield and King Crimson, albeit on a much smaller
scale, for the early King Crimson albums. What this means is that the lyrics,
the artwork and, of course, the music all work together to express the
particular meanings of each album. Just as there are meanings to the lyrics that
are not readily apparent, there are "hidden" meanings to the album illustrations
and within the music. As you will see, nothing in the albums in question is
placed at random or done simply for the sake of dramatic or musical effect. It
all has a purpose."
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