Released October 12, 1969 Length 6:05 Writer(s) Peter Sinfield | Recorded July 29, 1969 Label Atlantic Records | |
Genre Progressive rock, art rock, psychedelic folk | ||
"I Talk to the Wind" is the second track from the British progressive rock band King Crimson's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King.
Contents
Starting immediately after the cacophony that ends "21st Century Schizoid Man", the mood of this song is a stark contrast; it is serene, simple and peaceful. Ian McDonald's flute begins the song, and is one of the lead instruments throughout. He also plays a classical-inspired solo in the middle of the song as a "C" section and a longer one at the end as a coda.
These themes would be revisited by the band, notably on their second album, In the Wake of Poseidon. "Pictures of a City", with a similar mood as "21st Century Schizoid Man", would be followed by "Cadence and Cascade", another calm song, and the second album's title track also mirrors "Epitaph" in some aspects as well, both of which end side one.
This song is the only song on In the Court of the Crimson King that does not have at least one separately titled section.
An earlier demo version of this song may be found on the now out-of-print LP A Young Person's Guide to King Crimson, which featured Robert Fripp (guitar), Peter Giles (bass), Michael Giles (drums), and Ian McDonald (flute), along with Judy Dyble (formerly of Fairport Convention) on vocals. This version was more up-tempo and lighter in instrumentation. The Young Person's Guide recording and another demo of the same song were recorded in 1968 by Giles, Giles and Fripp. However, the song did not actually appear on a Giles, Giles and Fripp record until The Brondesbury Tapes (1968) was released on CD in 2002. There are actually two recordings of "I Talk to the Wind" on this CD; one features vocals by Judy Dyble.
Personnel
Covers
Eugene Chadbourne & Camper Van Beethoven cover the song on Camper Van Chadbourne (1987)
A version of this song appears on the 1992 album Mind Fruit by the band Opus III.
The Shapir-O'Rama also cover this song on their 1988 debut El Mundo de Vapor y Valentia (Old Vienna).
The song was performed live in 1996 by Ian McDonald and later King Crimson member John Wetton with Steve Hackett on Hackett's Tokyo Tapes.
Klaus Waldeck also covered this song on the album The Night Garden, 2001 (vocals by Brian Amos).
Judy Dyble also released a version of this song on her 2006 album the Whorl.
Another version of this song appears on the 2007 Jordan Rudess album The Road Home.
"I Talk to the Wind" was featured as the second song performed in each concert during the 2010 tour of Keith Emerson & Greg Lake.