October 3rd
In 2014, Fripp invited Sinfield to provide an updated take on the lyrics of 21st Century Schizoid Man, renewing their partnership, albeit briefly and at a distance, in line with the aim to have the music, and in this instance, the lyrics reimagined for the new Crimson. Sinfield wrote:
Cat’s foot, iron claw
Sykes-Picot and the fat cigar
Knuckles dragging in the desert sand
21st Century Schizoid Man
Blood rack, barbed wire
Politicians’ funeral pyre
Cursed and poisoned, bless his heart
21st Century Schizoid Man”
Speaking after Sinfield’s death in November 2024, his ex-wife and long-term friend Stephanie Ruben commented that Crimson performing songs that he’d written lyrics for, in some cases for the first time in over 40 years, gave Sinfield, then in declining health, such a boost. “They played and sang his songs and that was like a gift. They could spit and crack out those words out of their mouths and they did it gloriously. That’s all [Peter] ever wanted.”
