King Crimson - Islands

ISLANDS
(Fripp, Sinfield)

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
'Neath 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.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Robert Fripp: Guitar, Mellotron, Peter’s Pedal Harmonium and sundry implements
Mel Collins: Flute, Bass Flute, Saxes & Vocals
Boz: Bass Guitar, Lead Vocals & Choreography
Ian Wallace: Drums, Percussion & Vocals
Peter Sinfield: Words, Sounds & Visions

Featured players
Keith Tippett: Piano
Paulina Lucas: Soprano
Robin Miller: Oboe
Mark Charig: Cornet
Harry Miller: String Bass

Engineer: Andy Hendrikson
Cover Design & Painting: Peter Sinfield
Equipment: Vick & Mike
Recorded at Command Studios, Piccadilly, London

Outer cover illustration ‘Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius’ by courtesy of The Institute of Technology and Carnegie Institution of Washington

#KingCrimson
#RobertFripp
#Islands

[markcharig]

I had a wonderful time playing the cornet on this album. Robert and the rest of the crew there were such an awesome group to be around. Being able to feature on an album created by rock legends was an experience I will never forget.

[progrockplaylists]

I'm not friends with anyone that doesn't like this song. they aren't welcome to my island

[kurarisu_]

This is the reason why the ability to hear was created

[tenzinsmith]

The most underrated King Crimson song. Absolutely beautiful.

[Japanese_Tiger]

This is the Hymn of my Loneliness and my Love. Love you, King Crimson, and thank you for all the times you with me.

[marcobelloni]

This song is for me the Big Bang of peace. I had it in my earphones at the hospital while being close to death, though fully conscious and fighting cancer before a transplant saved me. King Crimson's Islands was telling me 'any way this will end it will be fantastic'.

[kw]

Peter Sinfield has passed away, a loss to anyone who appreciates intelligent, moving, and poetic lyrics. An enormous influence on myself as a writer. Sail on Peter, sail on . . . Cheers!

[dnn]

Fripp turns his gaze towards the Trifid Nebula of Sagittarius, and recalls that story he read in his youth, about some monks who in their monastery observed, one night a thousand years ago, how particles were released from the moon that originated new stars in the sky. Evokes the metaphor of stars, islands scattered across the sky, and gives name to the fourth King Crimson album.

[triangulum]

this song really makes you feel infinite peace

[Mythriak_]

This is one of the most beatuiful songs I've ever listened. And I had the privilege of watching it be played live. This song made the world a better place.

[randyginn]

The most tranquil and peaceful song ever recorded by a rock band. A Masterpiece..

[joakasgu-kum.]

This song is another level of beauty...

[thickasabrickand]

Mark Charig's cornet solo is just... Perfect.

[samuelarias]

if they dont play this song at my funeral then im not going

[spexvtx]

I have been moved by this song since it’s release in 1972. It never grows old but it’s depth grows with age.

[obi]

Mark Charigs cornet solo makes me cry (from 6:05 to 8:55) ...

It draws a distinct story in my head; a person, who lived a sad and lonely life, finds true love in the autumn of their life, which makes them happy and full of joy. But there's great tragedy in this, because their life is damn near over, and it took them so long to realize the beauty of it - but in the moment, the fact is lost on them, or they just don't care. And when they die, there is a smile on their face, because they have lived a great life.

[VeeeeryyyFaaaastSlooooth]

One of the best songs ever, and Keith Tippet's piano work here is exceptional

Fifty years have passed since the creation of this song (1971) and which I heard for the first time when I was sixteen in 1975, at the premises of the mythical record store “Showco”, which was in one of the commercial galleries in Buenos Aires in the Belgrano neighborhood.
His owner, Juanjo Fernández Padrón, was always there with several of his friends listening to “strange things” that came on vinyl from Europe, Japan and the US. There, I also heard for the first time Peter Hamill's Van der Graaf Generator, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, Premiata Forneria Marconi, and Pink Floyd.
But it was King Crimson who blew my mind.
The lyrics of the poet Peter Sinfield, the incredible guitar of Robert Fripp and the melodies and voice of John Wetton, made something change in me forever. Because not only had he discovered music, he had also discovered poetry.

Happy 50 years, Islands! And thank you.

[gigisonishvili]

This is the most beautiful and calming song ever.

[moshebarnoach]

this may be the most beautiful song ever composed.