Progressive rock is such a unique genre, one known too often for its instrumentation over lyricism. There are quite a few gorgeous prog songs out there with similarly beautiful lyrics that are worth celebrating. And if you’ve a fan of prog rock, you definitely know the following three songs very well.
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“Epitaph” by King Crimson (1969)
“Confusion will be my epitaph / As I crawl a cracked and broken path.”
There’s no way I’d leave a King Crimson song from this list. I went with this memorable line from “Epitaph”, found on the band’s legendary debut album In The Court Of The Crimson King. The narrator, reflecting on his near-ending life in a damaged world, is more confused than sad at the state of the end of mankind, unable to understand why humans are so destructive. The imagery in this song is very apocalyptic and in my opinion, very ahead of its time.
“Time” by Pink Floyd (1974)
“And then one day you find / Ten years have got behind you / No one told you when to run / You missed the starting gun.”
The whole of this legendary Pink Floyd song written by Roger Waters is an existential romp, one that serves as more of a warning than anything else. Life really does feel like one big race, but none of us really know when the “starting gun” goes off.
“I suddenly thought at 29, hang on, it’s happening, it has been right from the beginning, and there isn’t suddenly a line when the training stops and life starts,” Waters said of the line’s inspiration.
“Supper’s Ready” by Genesis (1972)
“Can’t you feel our souls ignite? / Shedding ever-changing colors in the darkness of the fading night.”
Progressive rock lyrics don’t get more poetic and colorful than this. This line from Genesis’ “Supper’s Ready”, off the 1972 album Foxtrot, was allegedly inspired by a psychedelic trip gone wrong from Peter Gabriel’s younger years. The above line, specifically, is on the positive side, as the narrator celebrates the fact that he and his partner have made it to dawn. The whole of this song is absolutely epic, and one of the finest prog tracks from its era.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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