From The Beginning

Album: Trilogy (1972)
Charted: 39
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  • There might have been things I missed
    But don't be unkind
    It don't mean I'm blind
    Perhaps there's a thing or two
    I think of lying in bed
    I shouldn't have said
    But there it is

    You see, it's all clear
    You were meant to be here
    From the beginning

    Maybe I might have changed
    And not been so cruel
    Not been such a fool
    Whatever was done is done
    I just can't recall
    It doesn't matter at all

    You see, it's all clear
    You were meant to be here
    From the beginning Writer/s: GREGORY LAKE
    Publisher: BMG Rights Management, MUSIC SALES CORPORATION
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 23

  • Al from HoustonI had just started college in mid 80's at a&m and was introduced to so many different kinds of music, awesome time. On Sunday afternoons when "studying" in the dorm room, we picked up a Houston rock station KLOL and they played this program called Psychedelic Sunday. They weren't typically playing the old classics but far out or obscure stuff I had never heard before. This song was one of the first ones I remember hearing and was amazed and thought what a world we live in to be able to enjoy something like this. Maybe that was just a naive freshman in college and time changes things. But hey I will always have this memory and now I can play some guitar and learned this one, pretty much. Sweet..
  • AnonymousMan-this song really brings me back to my 70,s teen years! None of my friends had high fidelity sound systems so we would listen to this song on the mono speaker of our car radios on the am station. We always thought Greg Lake was singing “It’s all clear you were meant to drink beer from the beginning” -so we did
  • Debra Jo from Oklahoma"From the Beginning", THE BEST SONG of all time, I was never more in love with the guy i would marry..... a time that can never be again but the song remains inside of me and no one can take it away....love you always .....
  • Mark from Central TexasI must have listened to this song on the radio hundreds of times and never once absorbed the lyrics, sort of like pleasant background noise. That being said, the month my divorce was finalized I went to an event where I met friends from other parts of the country, one of whom brought a substance that was popular in the 1960's. Inwas feeling guilt wracked for walking away from that toxic marriage, even though it nearly broke me mentally to remain in it. Another friend there had a trailer with an amazing sound system and the wooded location sort of made the sound even more robust, and in the middle of the substances intensity this song came on and for the first time in my life these lyrics penetraited my mind. The first chorus "it is all clear, we were meant to be hear, from the beginning"...I thought when I returned home we would come together again and fix the issues between us and rebuild a relationship because it is meant to work out...but then by the 2nd chorus, "it is all clear we were meant to be here, from the beginning"...I realized that it was always meant to fail and it was never going to work out anyways, and we were always going to fail in that relationship.
    Within the span of that sing my entire philosophy had changed and the path towards healing began. The words never changed but their meaning made absolute sense. Sometimes things are exactly what they are, and they will always be so.
  • Christopher Gilbert from Ocean Isle Beach, North CarolinaThis was by far one of my very favorite songs by E L P. A lot of great memories. Greg Lake might not remember what drove him to write this song but I remember how it made me feel and exactly where I was and who I was dating.
  • Thekeel from Southeast UsaUsed powerfully for the opening title sequence of the great series ESCAPE AT DANNEMORA
  • Cori from Middle Tennessee This is one of those rare songs that, when it came on the radio, no matter what was going on or who else was around, I cranked it.

    I LOVE this song, always have, and always will.
  • Anne from New OrleansSong goes through me like a knife. It's All Clear, you were meant to be here. From the beginning. Wow. Very heavy. Music is heavy too. Filled with mystery and meaning of life to me. And all that you said throughout your life, how you could've done better but in the end it was said and done.
  • Randy from Houghton Lake, MiWhen I was in the Air Force stationed at Travis AFB, CA I used to hang out with a guy named Brian Birch who loved ELP. We would sit in his car out in the parking lot by the barracks, get high (yes you could get away with it back then) and listen to this and just about everything else that ELP did. I knew about Lucky Man but thanks to Brian I became a huge ELP fan.
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyGreg Lake died Wednesday, December 7th, 2016 of cancer at the age of 69... May he R.I.P.
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyPer: http://www.oldiesmusic.com/news.htm
    Keith Emerson, pianist with the Nice and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, died Thursday (March 10th, 2016) in Santa Monica, California, he was 71...
    Born in Todmorden, Yorkshire, England, he grew up in Worthing, West Sussex. Trained in classical music, he played in four local groups before co-founding The Nice in 1967. In 1969, Keith joined King Crimson's Greg Lake in forming ELP with Carl Palmer of Atomic Rooster. Signed to Atlantic Records, they achieved ten gold albums from 1970 to 1992. Though primarily an album-oriented band, they charted four times on the singles charts, as well, with staples like "Lucky Man" (#48-1971 and #51-1972) and "From The Beginning" (#39-1972). The group broke up in 1979 but Keith and Greg re-formed with Cozy Powell. In 2002 Keith toured with a re-formed Nice. His autobiography, "Pictures of an Exhibitionist" (a take-off on the group's album, "Pictures At An Exhibition") was published in 2004...
    May he R.I.P.
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn August 20th 1972, "From the Beginning" by Emerson, Lake, & Palmer entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #89; and on October 8th, 1972 it peaked at #39 {for 1 week} and spent 11 weeks on the Top 100.
  • Michael from Santa Cruz, CaThis song,"Hoedown" & the entirety of "Brain Salad Surgery" are completely insane.Kieth Emerson's keyboards...well,you get the picture.
  • Brad from Topeka, KsFor some reason, this song brings a tear to my eye when I hear it. A beautiful song, beautiful lyrics...and I love the synth near the end. Thanks fyodor of Denver for your insight into the meaning.
  • Cem from Istanbul, TurkeyWhen I was 21 , what a great song and lyrics...
    Still fresh for me
    Cem-Turkey
  • Erica from Barrington , IlSexy song just like 'Still you turn me on'
  • Wes from Sherwood, Argreg lakes voice and acoustics are definately what appealed to me about elp.songs like still,you turn me on,and of course,from the beginning.and i believe in father christmas is still my favorite christmas song despite the controversy and misunderstanding that surrrounds it.
  • Jeff from Bethesda, MdI'm a big fan of this song, but I've always thought the intro sounded a lot like the intro to "Roundabout" by Yes. I wonder if there is any connection between the two groups or between the two songs.
  • Phill from San Anselmo, CaThis is a great song, also one that I feel anyone can relate to. "I shouldn't have said..... but there it is". ELP is definitely underrated
  • Fyodor from Denver, CoThese lyrics seem to be musings about a difficult relationship which are soothed with the resigned notion that if we're still together after all this, it must have been meant to be! :-) Does anyone know if Carl Palmer actually played on Arthur Brown's "Fire"? From the dates given on allmusic.com, it's perfectly feasible, yet they never come out and say he was there for that one....
  • Francisco from Cudahy, Caone amazing song!
  • Bryony from Near BrightonCarl Palmer was also a part of Atomic Rooster, another prog rock band, as well as a part of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
  • Phil from San Jose, CaGreg Lake's ballads are what got ELP much of their commerical success. ELP was more "Prog Rock" and very progressive.
    Greg Lake came from King Crimson
    Keith Emerson came from The Nice
    and Carl Palmer came from Authur Brown (Fire, remember, I am the God of hell fire, and i bring you, fire!)
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