Moonchild: What is going on?

There is no time signature to the instrumental portion of Moonchild. There is however a pulse to it. In other words, there's no set beats, but you can feel a shape to the music. I like to think of the instrumental section as a place where the band showcases unique textures and interplay between the textures. If you listen carefully, there is call and response happening. Robert Fripp plays two notes repeatedly and the vibes interject with a similar pattern. Giles plays a cymbal pattern that also compliments the riff. Think about it as a conversation between the instruments.

It is not rubbish. I don't like a lot of avant garde music, but Moonchild will give me chills every time.

Don't let narrow taste interfere with exploring wider musical avenues - after all, challenging music is what Prog is all about, not simple blues scale noodling and repetitive riffs.

Greg W wrote: Quite simply, they recorded themselves tuning their instruments. That can be the only explanation. That whole middle part is rubbish.

Quite simply, his pet must have been walking on the keyboard of his computer. That can be the only explanation. The whole quoted post is rubbish.

^Trouble is, it's difficult to see it as a joke, since some people really do think it sounds a touch on the random side, unbelievably...

Blowin Free wrote: I dunno, really.

What he said.

And if you really think about it, you will come to the conclusion that that is what is what is what is what is really going on.

crimhead wrote: Write this man for all the answers. [email protected]

*bows*

I must admit that I have always found Moonchild good to start with but then descending into what seemed to me, rather pointless meanderings, spoiling what for me what is a wonderful album otherwise.

However, after what you people have said about it as regards to the lighting and how it backs up what has been sung already, I am going to have to give it another listen!

It was incedently, the first King Crimson song I ever heard.

 

 

...and creatures waking up, flowers opening?

Edited by Snow Dog - July 28 2009 at 11:21

Epignosis wrote: BaldFriede wrote: Epignosis wrote: The final nine minutes of "Moonchild" is a blight on an otherwise fine album. Improvisation is one thing...doing something a horde of crippled six-year-old could do is quite another. I love Moonchild, especially those nine minutes. Best part of the album. Seriously! Actually that seemingly unstructured part is indeed very well structured; the lyrics are totally reflected in that part. Example: The very end of Moonchild, where something like a melody comes up, is "the smile from a sunchild", in other words: The sun rises. Immediately before that you can hear the Moonchild play "hide and seek with the ghosts of dawn". If you take the lyrics sentence for sentence you will find that each line has a counterpart in that instrumental section. Yes, but that doesn't mean I want to subject myself to it. And I am not at all convinced that all these lovely interpretations are objectively valid (poor adverb, but I cannot think of another); in other words, I am not convinced that there was any intent on the part of King Crimson to make the nine minute improvisation a reflection of the lyrics.  I tend to think these interpretations are all drummed up to make something nonsensical make sense. Happens quite often, really.

I agree. This notion that the instrumental portion of Moonchild is anything more than just music holds no validity. However, I don't mean to say that I don't enjoy Moonchild. I think that musically it is valid; the timbre of the instruments and interactions between the players is truly amazing to my ears.

BUT.... even so, I will admit that Moonchild can not stand alone. To me, Moonchild is a sort of dreamy hallway leading to the triumphant Court of the Crimson King. The hallway alone holds no grand significance, but just the thought of what comes at the end of the hall is what raises the hair on the back of my neck.