The story behind the record cover - Discipline (1981) - King Crimson
What we see here is not only King Crimson's LP “Discipline”, but also the first in a series of albums with which the British band would bring about their second stage in the early 1980s. “Discipline” is red; then “Beat” came with a blue cover and “Three of a perfect pair” with a yellow cover. Guitarist Robert Fripp conceived this trilogy in the early 1980s, after seven years of silence surrounding King Crimson. He once again picked up where he left off, together with drummer Bill Bruford with whom he had played before in King Crimson. This time they were joined by Tony Levin, known as bassist for Peter Gabriel, and by guitarist and vocalist Adrian Belew of Talking Heads fame.
The music on “Discipline”, “Beat” and “Three of a perfect pair” is beautiful and innovative. Unmistakably King Crimson, but updated with the new wave sound of the eighties and Ornette Coleman’s minimalist funk-jazz-rock. Mainly due to the new wave influences, it is slightly more accessible than King Crimson's earlier music. However...when I played the song Indiscipline from the red album at my birthday party, I suddenly found myself alone in the room. The cover art for all three albums is amazingly simple. ‘Back to the essence’, King Crimson seems to want to express. Red, blue and yellow are basic colors, and the symbols on the covers – such as the Celtic Dara knot on “Discipline” – represent the essence of life: power, infinity, rhythm and love.
During the previous seven years Fripp had been inspired by Greek-Armenian philosopher and mystic George Gurdjieff. In his quest for truth, Gurdjieff's books come across ancient myths such as those of the Celts. That's how Fripp came up with the Dara symbol for “Discipline”; it comes from the Celtic culture and represents power and infinity. Illustrator Steve Ball created his own version because the original is copyrighted. (Celtic symbols are very popular as a tattoo these days). Not only is the music beautiful, the lyrics are also brilliant. Take for instance Elephant Talk, about people's useless chatter and babble. The talk is reminiscent of the shrieking of an elephant. Adrian Belew literally manages to distract the trumpet-like sound of elephants from of his guitar.
The Celtic symbols were a prelude for me to go to Ireland, where Celts lived in the centuries before and around our era. A wonderful country, with an important role for nature and music. I once went hiking in the Wicklow Mountains with a group of Irish. The day started out sunny, but soon dark clouds were hanging over us and I was absolutely soaking wet. “There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing,” an Irishman next to me remarked delicately. “Cheers”, I said and continued walking around in my soaking sneakers. To keep up spirits, Irish people sing folk songs after every rainstorm. Brilliant. Then they asked me if I wanted to sing a typical Dutch folksong. I totally cramped up. The only thing that came to mind was an old tune like 'Take me home country roads', but that didn’t seem quite appropriate. Suddenly Gruppo Sportivo's Oh Tokyo popped into my mind. The Irish were falling over with laughter and all the way through they sang ‘Oh Tokyo, I'm on my way. In my new Toyota it's not so far away'. Everyone patted me on the shoulders exuberantly when we ended up in a pub, and here as well, the locals started singing this Gruppo Sportivo song.
Would Robert Fripp have sung along if he happened to be in the pub? I doubt it. Fripp is a serious man. On the other hand, he seems to like a joke. So who knows, the guitar solo of Oh Tokyo suddenly may sound from his guitar during a King Crimson gig. Because these guys are still performing live. It would also fit in with Gurdjieff's philosophy, because he states that everything is connected through music: past and present, east and west. Even the English and the Irish. To infinity. Such is the power of music, as expressed by the Celtic symbol on “Discipline”.
By Gerrit-Jan Vrielink
Translation: Alex Driessen