21st Century Schizoid Man Guitar Tab

Epitaph Tabs:

21st. Century Schizoid Man »
In The Court Of The Crimson King
Epitaph

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NOTES: 	1) Standard bar chords unless otherwise noted
	2) This transcription isn't rigidly Beginning -> End.  I'll write it by 
		section then assume knowledge of repeating parts... 


First the chords:
The main chordal riff in 4/4:
1   2       3     4|1  2  3  4
C   A# C D# A#  C  |F   F#   G

Alternate used before vox:  
1   2       3     4  1  2    3 4
C   A# C D# F   G   |13---14---15-|
		    |16*--17*--18*| *Bend each 1 whole step
		    |-------------|
		    |-------------|
		    |-------------|
		    |-------------|

Vocal Section Chord from hell:
  Interpretations of this chord are legendary, this one sounded best to me:
		x
		8
		8
		10
		10
		8
		Cat's foot etc...

Exit main chordal riff:
F F# G : Repeat 6 times, increase tempo then...


Unison run section 1 (rhythm sorta notated by the 1-2-3-4)

 1       2     3       4      1       2     3     4
|----------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------4-5-6---------------|--------4-5-6-------------|
|5-5-5-5-------5-5-5-5-4-3---|5-5-5-5-----------3---3-4-|
|--------------------------5-|--------------4-5---5-----|
|----------------------------|--------------------------|
|----------------------------|--------------------------|

|----------------------------|------------------6---6-7-|
|--------4-5-6---------------|--------4-5-6-7-8---8-----|
|5-5-5-5-------5-5-5-5-4-3---|5-5-5-5-------------------|
|--------------------------5-|--------------------------|
|----------------------------|--------------------------|
|----------------------------|--------------------------|

 1       2     3      4       1       2     3             4
|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
|----------------------------|--------------/tri--/tri--/tri--/tri-|
|--------3-4-5---------------|--------3-4-5-0-3-3--0-3-3--0-3-3--0-3-3-|
|5-5-5-5-1-2-3-5-5-5-5-4-3---|5-5-5-5-1-2-3----------------------------|
|3-3-3-3-------3-3-3-3-2-1-0-|3-3-3-3----------------------------------|
|--------------------------3-|-----------------------------------------|
Play chords loose and sloppy 	tri=triplets


Unison run section 2 (rhythm sorta notated by the 1-2-3-4)

 1        2        3        4         1        2        3        4
|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
|11-------11-------11----------------|11-------11-------11----------------|
|---11-12----11-12----11-12-11-10----|---11-12----11-12----11-12-11-10----|
|---------------------------------13-|---------------------------------13-|
|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|

|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------10-|11-------11-------11----------------|
|12-------12-------12-------11-12----|---11-12----11-12----11-12-11-10----|
|---13-15----13-15----13-15----------|---------------------------------13-|
|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|

|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
|11-------11-------11----------------|
|---11-12----11-12----11-12-11-10----| Vibrato and Feedback like a Madman
|---------------------------------13--/-->then you're on your own...
|------------------------------------| ...for this is the Solo from Hell :)
|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|

...And speaking of hell, here are the inhumanly fast parts...

Fast1*
|--------------------------------------------3-|
|------------------------/tri-------3---3-6---|
|----------------3---3-5-3-5-3---3-5---5-------|
|--------3---3-5---5-----------5---------------|
|--1-3-5---5-----------------------------------|
|3---------------------------------------------|
*The rhythm is correct so if you play the triplet at the indicated time 
  (and allow 1 note length) you should be dead on.
   The notes themselves are pretty close but open to interpretation...

Fast2**
|--------------------------------------------3---------------|
|------------------------/tri-------3---3-6---2-1-----------|
|----------------3---3-5-3-5-3---3-5---5------------3-0------|
|--------3---3-5---5-----------5-------------------------3-0-|
|--1-3-5---5-------------------------------------------------|
|3-----------------------------------------------------------|
**Same as * except last 7 notes are definitely correct

Fast3
|------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------|
|--------3-0-7-0-5-0-3-0-5-0-7-0-----------|
|--1-3-5-------------------------3-0-------|
|3-----------------------------------4-3-1-|
|------------------------------------------|

Mute1
|------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------|
|--------3-0-7-0-5-0-3-0-5-0-7-0-3-0-------|
|--1-3-5-----------------------------4-3-1-|
|3-----------------------------------------|

Stop & Go
|----1-----1-|----1-------|----1-3-------------|----1-3-------------|
|1-3---1-3---|1-3---3-2-1-|1-3-----2-1---------|1-3-----2-1---------|
|------------|------------|------------3-0-----|------------3-0-----|
|------------|------------|----------------3-0-|----------------3-0-|
|------------|------------|--------------------|--------------------|
|------------|------------|--------------------|--------------------|

The order for the inhumanly fast section:
  Fast1, Fast2, Fast3, Fast1, Stop&Go, Mute1, Mute1, Fast3, Fast1, Stop&Go

Then back into the unison runs, vox, and opening chords.  By the time the song
 ends you should have either achieved enlightenment or neurotic breakdown :)
  One thing's for sure, if you make it all the way through, you're well on
   your way to becoming a 21st Century Schizoid Man...Have fun!

Brought to you by the GUITARMASTA - http://www.guitarmasta.net

Source: GuitarMasta.net
http://www.guitarmasta.net/k/king_crimson/.html

Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture ♥Chicken Average	#1 by ♥Chicken On Heroine Shots♥ at Mar 20, 1970 at 11:02 AM EST
	Daaaaamn this song blows me away. It's so tightly composed and preformed.

No Picture austin Average	#2 by austin pancner at Apr 12, 1974 at 6:34 PM EST
	I forgot to mention that Frederick II is the supposed "Crimson King," which Fripp sas is a synonym for the Arabic phrase "B'il Sabab" which means, literally, "the man with an aim," but which is commonly tranlsated Beelezebub in English... or, the devil.

No Picture MelissA Average	#3 by MelissA at May 24, 1988 at 10:31 AM EST
	I believe this song, liek the other songs on the album, comment on society. I believe the song says that by the 21st sentury the world will be in a horrible state if society stays in its current state.

No Picture Armin Average	#4 by Armin at Oct 13, 1991 at 2:19 PM EST
	thats more or less probably it, neuronoids. gawd this album is one of their best-but larks and lizard and red are also amazing

No Picture D.J Wanna Be	#5 by D.J Mortensen at Dec 15, 1992 at 5:02 PM EST
	i love this song. i love king crimson. it says alot about how america society well world socety is today.

No Picture _Heretic_ Wanna Be	#6 by _Heretic_ at Nov 29, 1994 at 4:40 PM EST
	the only really weak line, IMO, is "Nothing he's got he really needs". it's a good line, but it feels a bit forced and pretentious ("look what we can do with language! we're British!"). I love this song to death, though. Tindalos' observation that the theme of the lyrics is echoed in the music is dead-on.

No Picture Jon Lead Player	#7 by Jon Shuffler at Apr 4, 1995 at 6:08 AM EST
	yeah... wtf? i must not have the same recording of this song because i read your comments and have no idea what youre talking about. its a great song, but i hear absolutely NO brass, NO saxophone, and certainly not a sax solo. anyone want to clue me in?

No Picture Fat Man Goz Lead Player	#8 by Fat Man Goz at Feb 17, 1996 at 12:06 PM EST
	normaly i hate SAX but its cool in this

No Picture Dominic Badass	#9 by Dominic Smith at Jul 6, 1996 at 6:06 PM EST
	It seems like that could be a theme echoed in the mad, racing pace of the music.

No Picture I fought the la Average	#10 by I fought the law and the law kicked my ass I never learn do i...?? at Oct 14, 1996 at 1:25 AM EST
	Such an awesome song, I love it. I agree a little bit with everyone here, but I think ill put in what it seems to mean to me Cats foot iron claw, as in not only replacing organic/natural things with machines that cant come close to really duplicating the grace of say a cats foot, but also perhaps a metaphor in the iron claw, kinda like an iron fist? Neuro-surgeons scream for more, as in everyone will be screwed up in the future, or perhaps neuro surgeons represent us screwing with ourselves and our minds, maybe some sort of cyborg thing here Paranoia’s poison door; pretty simple, everyones afraid of everything and everyone else, and its this the door to this fear that were entering that will poison us Blood rack, barbed wire, not sure exactly what a blood “rack” is, but it seems like a reference to war or violence, or barbed wire as in we’re all being caged or fenced in or maybe oppressed Politicians funeral pyre; could mean a lot of things, probably the death of peaceful politicians and the arrival of tyrants, or possibly it could be saying that the politicians are causing this funeral pyre, im not sure. Death seed, blind mans greed, the seed of death is planted by people motivated by money and greed. It’s a blind man because money is their only focus and they are blind to everything else. Poets starving, children bleed, I think poets shouldn’t be taken literally, instead maybe they just represent the arts in general, poetry, music, paintings, etc. and theyre starving because no one cares about the arts anymore so they have no money for food, or maybe the arts are starving because theres no more creativity to feed them. As for children bleed, it could mean that the children are the new creative sources but their lifeblood is drained away by this grey 21st century world, or it could just mean that no one cares about kids anymore, and theyre dying, maybe also talking about wars fought with young people. Nothing hes got he really needs; pretty self explanatory, weve got everything; fun, recreation, everything…except what we need to survive, like the arts or maybe just food and water, etc. As for the 21st century schizoid man, well its talkind about the century weve just started, and I suppose the “common man” that will emerge in this new era. Schizoid, from the dictionary; “Of, relating to, or having a personality disorder marked by extreme shyness, flat affect, reclusiveness, discomfort with others, and an inability to form close relationships.” So basically the common man of the 21st century, our present and the very imminent future; the loner who has no social skills and doesn’t feel the connections that are the extremely important part of life. Its very eerie especially considering internet and things like instant messaging and email and internet mail order of pretty much anything, which completely eliminates human contact, so that people feel more comfortable alone with a computer than with another actual person. Simply amazing, and disturbingly accurate.

No Picture Sara Average	#11 by Sara Sunshine at Nov 18, 1996 at 1:12 AM EST
	so much meaning in so few lyrics

No Picture kenzie Professional Badass	#12 by kenzie at Jul 25, 2002 at 3:10 AM EST
	Way more jazz than heavy metal.

No Picture cody Rhythm Player	#13 by cody watts at Mar 26, 2005 at 2:29 PM EST
	Beelzebub wasn't the devil, he was more of a satanic concierge. It translates as either lord of the flies OR Crimson King. Also, 'twas Hebrew, not Arabic.