Larks' Tongues in Aspic (instrumental)
| "Larks' Tongues in Aspic" | ||||
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| Song series by King Crimson | ||||
| from the album Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Three of a Perfect Pair, the construKction of light, The Power to Believe | ||||
| Released | March 23, 1973; March 27, 1984; May 23, 2000; February 24 2003 | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length |
43:00 13:36 (Part I) 7:07 (Part II) 6:05 (Part III) 9:07 (3:41/2:50/2:36) (Part IV) 7:17 (Level Five) |
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| Label | Island Records, Warner Bros., Virgin Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
Robert Fripp (All Parts) Bill Bruford (Parts I, II, & III) Adrian Belew (Parts III, IV, & Level Five) John Wetton (Parts I & II) David Cross (Parts I & II) Jamie Muir (Parts I & II) Tony Levin (Part III) Trey Gunn (Part IV & Level Five) Pat Mastelotto (Part IV & Level Five) |
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| Producer(s) | King Crimson | |||
| Larks' Tongues in Aspic track listing | ||||
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| Larks' Tongues in Aspic track listing | ||||
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| Three of a Perfect Pair track listing | ||||
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| the construKction of light track listing | ||||
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| The Power to Believe track listing | ||||
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"Larks' Tongues in Aspic" is a set of progressive rock songs by the British band King Crimson.
The pieces were released over the course of four albums and 30 years: Two in Larks' Tongues in Aspic in 1973, one in Three of a Perfect Pair in 1984, one in the construKction of light in 2000, and one in The Power to Believe in 2003. The entire work consists of five segments. According to some notes about the 2017 edition of the Elements of King Crimson tour box set, the piece "Level Five" from The Power to Believe is also considered part of the "Larks' Tongues in Aspic" set.
The track "Coda: I Have a Dream" from the construKction of light is always included in live performances of part IV, but is listed separately from the suite on the album tracklist.
Jamie Muir, percussionist of the band in 1972-1973, invented the title, meant to signify what he heard in the album containing the first two pieces of the set: something fragile and delicate (larks' tongues) encased in something corrosive and acidic (aspic).
The guitar figures that appear on the set's first piece were first conceived by Robert Fripp c. 1971, and performed live in an embryonic form by the Islands-era lineup. One version, named "A Peacemaking Stint Unrolls" appeared as a bonus track on the 40th anniversary edition of the Islands album.
Part I is the longest section of the set and was first released in 1973 on the Larks' Tongues in Aspic album. It begins with a long percussion introduction, provided by Jamie Muir before entering a driving, hard rock section fueled by Robert Fripp's electric guitar and introduced by a slowly building violin. Around the 7:40 mark, the band stops and David Cross performs a violin solo, first backed up by Robert Fripp, then all alone, then dueting with Jamie Muir on mbira. To end the piece, the band re-enter.
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