Peter Sinfield
Eulogy by Andrew Keeling, 13-12-24

I’d like to say a few words in tribute to Peter Sinfield. In many ways he meant a great deal to us all, but was known through his visionary lyrics, his unique approach to life and his amazing humor, mercurial mind and his caring way.

I first met him following a King Crimson concert in Preston, Lancashire, in October, 1971. He was personable and approachable and took time to talk to me.

Peter was born in December, 1943, and raised by his mother’s German housekeeper, Maria Wallender, who’d been a hi-wire walker in the circus. He was sent to Danes Hill Prep School and taught English by John Mawson who enthused him with a love of literature, poetry and poetic techniques. As a result, Peter discovered he was a born poet-lyricist.

Teaching himself guitar at grammar school, he later became a computer programmer and formed a band called Creation. Meeting former army bandsman and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald, they began writing songs together, some of which found an outlet in Giles, Giles and Fripp and may be found on the Giles, Giles and Fripp album, The Brondesbury Tapes, whom Ian had joined. This was in 1968, a year in which the winds of change were blowing.

Giles, Giles and Fripp became King Crimson at the beginning of 1969 and Peter became their unpaid roadie, quickly becoming a fully-fledged member as lyricist, lights operator and soundman. Gradually he would become conceptualist, responsible for the band’s original record-sleeves, although King Crimson was a collaborative project. Together with the music, Peter’s lyrics could be read like a book encapsulating the times of change and counter- cultural reaction.

King Crimson fast became the cream of the crop of bands spearheading the counter-cultural revolution. In the summer of 1969, the band performed with the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park and recorded the epoch-shaking In The Court Of The Crimson King with its memorable artwork by Peter’s Chelsea Art College friend, Barry Godber. The band broke-up in December 1969, but Peter and Robert Fripp – both now at the helm as writers and producers – continued for a further three albums before Peter left at the end of 1971.

For me, a former-cathedral chorister, the melody, harmony and lyrics of the early four King Crimson albums were completely remarkable and totally absorbing, providing a soundtrack to life itself. There was In The Court Of The Crimson King, an observation on ‘spin’; In The Wake Of Poseidon, my first conscious glimpse into the archetypal world; Lizard, the battle of my generation with the establishment; Islands, romance and circularity. These insights were, in large part, formed by Peter’s lyrical concepts and, when coupled with powerful and original music, completely mind-blowing. In other words, what resonated for me was a sense of wholeness which I’ve never truly encountered anywhere else. It was the voice of King Crimson – a name formulated by Peter Sinfield.

Peter was an integral part of the counterculture- really, a Bohemian poet and artist – bringing an acute sense of color and observation grounded in rigorous poetic techniques such as allegory, symbolism, alliteration, meter and so on. He was influenced by Bob Dylan,

Donovan, Shakespeare, Dylan Thomas, Ran Dass, The French Symbolists and many others, yet making everything his own. Writer, philosopher and Marc Bolan’s astrologer, Richard Gardner, once said: ‘Peter has knowledge of “the truth” ‘.

In 1972, Peter Sinfield produced Roxy Music’s first album and single, Virginia Plain. To this he brought color and innovation, making the record an English answer to The Velvet Underground as well as being part of the Bowie/Lou Reed art school stance. In 1973, he produced Italian progressive rock band PFM and recorded his solo album, Still, featuring himself on vocals and acoustic guitar. The album also included former and present King Crimson members such as Mel Collins, Boz Burrell, John Wetton and Greg Lake. He would appear in The Old Grey Whistle Test and play a handful of gigs. Still demonstrates Peter’s imaginative way of doing things, this time by juxtaposing different musical styles song by song: classical/Late Baroque (Vivaldi’s Lute Concerto in D in Song Of The Seagoat), country, rock and ballads.

Because Still was released on Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s Manticore Records label, Peter was subsequently invited to contribute lyrics to the band’s Brain Salad Surgery, Works – Volumes 1 and 2 and Love Beach albums. In 1975, he went on to write the lyrics for Greg Lake’s I Believe In Father Christmas, reaching No. 2 in the UK charts and widely played even now at Christmas time. It was Peter’s protest against the commercialism of Christmas.

From now on he collaborated with musicians often associated with pop music as opposed to just progressive-rock. First was Gary Brooker’s (Procul Harum) No Fear Of Flying in 1979, and then with Andy Hill. Their song, The Land Of Make Believe – while a veiled protest against Thatcherite Britain – was released by Bucks Fizz in 1981, reaching No. 1 in the UK charts, followed by Leo Sayer’s Have You Ever Been In Love in 1983.

Peter co-wrote Five Star’s Rain Or Shine in 1986, as well as Cher’s Heart Of Stone in 1989, again underlining his interest in the world of the fantastic:

‘Beneath the white fire of the moon

Love’s wings are broken all too soon...

We turn the wheel and break the chain

Put steel to steel and laugh at pain

We’re dreamers in castles made of sand.’

Then came Andy and Peter’s Think Twice for Celine Dion, for which they won an Ivor Novello Award for ‘Best Song Musically and Lyrically, and the follow-up, Call The Man.

He told me it was ‘far more difficult to write concise lyrics for pop songs than writing for King Crimson’, I think largely because he was forced to constrain his vision and hone things down to three and a half minutes yet maintaining memorable lines. Paradoxically, this stripping-back was to increase his emotional range.

1999 saw Peter Sinfield again working with Ian McDonald on Let There Be Light – a song featured on Ian’s Drivers’ Eyes – recalling King Crimson’s Epitaph.

In conclusion, Peter was a great lyricist and songwriter, with an incredible depth of character, encapsulating his larger-than-life approach. His work has undeniable archetypal qualities yet incorporates great humor with serious intent. He was a true craftsman, for example, re- writing the lyrics of In The Wake Of Poseidon twenty-five times. We were all so fortunate to have known him.

From Peace (In The Wake of Poseidon):

‘I am the ocean lit by the flame,
I am the mountain, peace is my name. I am the river touched by the wind,
I am the story I never end.’
Peter, your story will never end.