Still ~ Under the Sky

- CHAPTER NINETEEN -

- chapter index -
pg. 1 - Introduction | pg. 2 - The Song of the Sea Goat | pg. 3 - Aquarian Runes
pg. 4 - Shaking in the Dome | pg. 5 - The Smoke-Filled Road | pg. 6 - The Fallen Sun
pg. 7 - Under the Sky | pg. 8 - Still

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Will it be You | Wholefood Boogie

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By ending with the setting sun, The Song of the Sea Goat commemorates the end of an era in the life of Peter Sinfield. In contrast, Under the Sky perfectly evokes the beginning a new day, a new beginning, and unfolds in a way that can only be described as enchanting. The cymbals sound like dancing sunlight and an instrument called the Symphoniser (played by Phil Jump) creates great washes of mellotron-like color, a beautiful effect, as Mel Collins flute immediately transports the listener back to the magical days of King Crimson circa 1969. As a song written before the fame and notoriety of King Crimson, Under the Sky also represents a return to innocence, a return to the source. It is an expression of joy, a song of innocence, as fully realized as any in popular music.

Smile at the smiling man
Tear in your eye
Dance in the morning sun
Under the sky.

High in the hawthorne tree
Bee and butterfly
Seek fortune in the leaves
Under the sky.

Follow the road that winds up to the sky,
There's no reason do not wonder why.

Dappled green summer glades
Where swallows fly
And laughing children play
Under the sky.

Piping down the valleys wild
Piping songs of pleasant glee
On a cloud I saw a child.
And he laughing said to me.

Pipe a song about a Lamb;
So I piped with merry chear,
Piper pipe that song again--
So I piped, he wept to hear.

- William Blake
Songs of Innocence
Introduction

"High in the hawthorne tree"

"The Hawthorne tree is associated with Spring and the letter H, Uath, in the Ogham alphabet. Uath is a symbol of Regeneration and Celebration, to take the time to herald in a new course of action and a fresh undertaking is likely. A chance to meet new people, travel, explore new avenues and enjoy the good times ahead.
During the Christian era they presumed that Christ had been crowned with the thorns of this tree (although it is not a native of Palestine) and that descendants of the species had grown from the grave of Joseph of Amalthea."

- Ogham Scripts

"Smile at the smiling man
Tear in your eye
Love in the morning sun
Under the sky.

Follow the road that winds up to the sky
There's no reason do not wonder why."

"Unless you can live, love and work without a why, you haven't learned to live and love, or work and why. If a person's work is to live, it must come from the depths of him or her -- not from alien sources outside oneself -- but from within."

- Meister Eckhart

"Soft on a mossy bank
Silently lie
Everything's everything
Under the sky.

Everything's everything under the sky . . "

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Will It Be You

While Under the Sky represents a new beginning, the next song on the album, something of a foray into country & western - complete with wonderful pedal steel guitar from Brian Cole, confirms the change in artistic direction. Will It Be You is warm, charming, completely unpretentious and completely unlike anything King Crimson had ever attempted. It sounds as though it could have been written by Paul McCartney, arranged by George Harrison (circa All Things Must Pass ) and sung by John Lennon. (Peter Sinfield's voice reminds me of John Lennon's.) Had it been a Beatle's song, however, Ringo would have sung it. Musically the song is reminiscent of Octopus' Garden . Lyrically, Will It Be You displays sentiments similar to those found in When I'm Sixty Four . Yes, one could say the song is a little Beatlesque but the lyrics are unmistakably Sinfield and with . . .

"Who'll shine my armour for the next day's tournament"

. . . Peter gives us one last medievalism.

In The Song of the Sea Goat Peter found himself . . .

"Between the sunset's crimson veil
On smooth grey streets where the drunkard spins his
tale."

Will It Be You seems to express similar doubt and ambivalence.

"Or should I look for another
Or spend my days in a cave or on a shelf
With only life as my brother
And find my way by myself?"

Or as Neil Ingram put it: "the indecision remains. The author hovers between life in Crimson (between the sunset's crimson veil) and anonymity (the smooth grey streets where the drunkard spins his tale ). Given the context of this song, its placement on the album as the first conventional song of his recording career, I can't help but wonder if the question . . .

"Will it be you, will you stay by me?

. . . was not somewhat directed at the listening public. Would they accept this new dimension to Peter Sinfield?

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Wholefood Boogie

A wild chaotic jam similar in spirit to a future Lennon recording, Whatever Gets You Through the Night , Wholefood Boogie was, for the King Crimson fan, an even greater departure from the known than Will It Be You . The song further punctuates the idea that things have changed and lays to rest any notion that Still might be one of those thoroughly pretentious artsy progressive rock albums. Of course, Still does have many exquisitely artful moments. It's just that Wholefood Boogie is not one of those moments. After his incredible achievements with the rather formal first four King Crimson albums, Peter Sinfield seems to have needed to get this out of his system, to record something totally UN-disciplined. In this respect, Wholefood Boogie is as much of an exorcism as The Song of the Sea Goat . Lyrically, Wholefood Boogie is much in the same vein as Cat Food . It's just a shame the words on the recording are difficult to make out because, upon reading the lyrics, Wholefood Boogie is very funny. Perhaps someday we'll hear a quieter cooler version of this venerable old chestnut.

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