Fallen Angel

Album: Red (1974)
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Songfacts®:

  • "Fallen Angel" is the last King Crimson recording to feature Robert Fripp playing acoustic guitar. On subsequent recordings, he has played only electric guitar.
  • The song began as part of an extended instrumental improvisational piece performed by the original 1972-74 King Crimson lineup with Jamie Muir and David Cross. A version of this early piece, also titled "Improv: Fallen Angel" can be heard on the King Crimson Collectors' Club release Live at the Zoom Club October 1972.
  • Robert Fripp wrote the music for this track; John Wetton and Richard Palmer-James came up with the lyrics. Wetton was the group's lead singer, and Palmer-James helped out with lyrics (he also worked on the Red track "Starless"). In our interview with Wetton, he said that Palmer-James had a knack for taking his disjointed ideas and turning them into a cohesive story, which is what happened on this track.

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