KARN EVIL 9

Jeg hører på gamle musikkhelter, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, også kalt bare ELP. Det som opptar meg nå er teksten og musikken på Karn Evil 9 fra den gamle LP’en min “Brain Salad Surgery” som jeg hørte mye på i de dager, vi snakker om tidlig 70-tall. 

LP’en ble gitt ut i 1973, altså snart femti år siden. Lenke til hele låten på youtube ligger her. 

Karn Evil 9 1st Impression Part 1

Cold and misty morning, I heard a warning borne in the air

About an age of power no one had an hour to spare,

Where the seeds have withered, silent children shivered, in the cold

Now their faces captured in the lenses of the jackals for gold.

I'll be there

I'll be there

I will be there.

Suffering in silence, they've all been betrayed.

They hurt them and they beat them, in a terrible way.

Praying for survival at the end of the day.

There is no compassion for those who stay.

I'll be there

I'll be there

I will be there

There must be someone who can set them free:

To take thier sorrow from this odysey

To help the helpless and the refugee

To protect what's left of humanity.

Can't you see

Can't you see

Can't you see.

I'll be there

I'll be there

I will be there;

To heal their sorrow

To beg and borrow

Fight tomorrow.

Og så overgangen til del to som er selve karnevalet, som man mener Karn Evil hentyder til. Her endrer musikken karakter og dette er kanskje den mest kjente delen av stykket, i hvert fall begynnelsen av det. 

Step inside! Hello! We've a most amazing show

You'll enjoy it all we know

Step inside! Step inside!

We've got thrills and shocks, supersonic fighting cocks.

Leave your hammers at the box

Come inside! Come inside!

Roll up! Roll up! Roll up!

See the show!

Left behind the bars, rows of Bishop's heads in jars

and a bomb inside a car

Spectacular! Spectacular!

If you follow me there's a speciality

some tears for you to see

Misery, misery,

Roll up! Roll up! Roll up!

See the show!

Next upon the bill in our House of Vaudeville

We've a stripper in a till

What a thrill! What a thrill!

And not content with that, with our hands behind our backs,

We pull Jesus from a hat,

Get into that! Get into that!

Roll up! Roll up! Roll up!

See the show!

***

Så kommer siste del av dette episke mesterverket, Karn Evil 9, skrevet av musiker Keith Emerson, vokalist Greg Lake og kanskje mest av alt tekst av poet og dikter Peter Sinfield som i årene før også skrev tekst for gruppa King Crimson.

Man alone, born of stone,

Will stamp the dust of time

His hands strike the flame of his soul;

Ties a rope to a tree and hangs the Universe

Until the winds of laughter blows cold.

Fear that rattles in men's ears

And rears its hideous head

Dread ... Death ... in the wind ...

Man of steel pray and kneel

With fever's blazing torch

Thrust in the face of the night;

Draws a blade of compassion

Kissed by countless Kings

Whose jewelled trumpet words blind his sight.

Walls that no man thought would fall

The altars of the just

Crushed ... Dust ... in the wind ...

No man yields who flies in my ship

DANGER!

Let the bridge computer speak

STRANGER!

LOAD YOUR PROGRAM. I AM YOURSELF.

No computer stands in my way

Only blood can cancel my pain

Guardians of a new clear dawn

Let the maps of war be drawn.

Rejoice! Glory is ours!

Our young men have not died in vain,

Their graves need no flowers

The tapes have recorded their names.

I am all there is

NEGATIVE! PRIMITIVE! LIMITED! I LET YOU LIVE!

But I gave you life

WHAT ELSE COULD YOU DO?

To do what was right

I'M PERFECT! ARE YOU?

Lenke til hele teksten ligger her. Ikke rart man var fascinert, den gangen i min grønne ungdom, tenker jeg i dag. Dette er kolosalt, både som musikk-epos og tekstlig.

https://genius.com/Emerson-lake-and-palmer-karn-evil-9-lyrics

Og så rosinen i pølsa til slutt: 

Vil du gjennom hele dette pompøse verket sammen med noen som kommenterer både tekst og musikk ved siden av en fet logg av kommentarer som ligger i direkte-chat’en, finner du en lenke til amerikanske Doug Helvering her: 

https://youtu.be/aqQzet8pYeM  Det er faktisk å anbefale, for dette er et stort og i perioder et nokså heavy stykke musikk, som han legger mange gode, reflekterte og morsomme kommentarer til. Chat-en er også morsom å lese biter av…. vel bekomme!