Peter John "Pete" Sinfield (27 December 1943 – 14 November 2024) was an English poet, songwriter and singer.

"Peter Sinfield, King Crimson's original roadie, lyricist, lighting operator and live sound engineer, passed away yesterday, November 14, 2024, at the age of 81." The post, which ends with the words: "Have a safe flight, Peter," was also shared on other channels.

Contact with the music scene
In 1968 he began writing music and was a member of a band called World Domination in easy Stages (WDIES), together with Dik Fraser (bass) and Mike Nicols (drums). Ian McDonald joined a little later and together they played an original version of the later King Crimson classic In the Court of the Crimson King, with a completely different melody. The band later changed its name to Infinity, but soon disbanded. Together with singer Judy Dyble, the songwriting team Sinfield/McDonald joined the band Giles, Giles & Fripp, which soon led to the formation of King Crimson.

With King Crimson
Sinfield became known mainly for his role as lyricist for the early King Crimson formations and for Emerson, Lake and Palmer. He contributed the lyrics to the first four King Crimson albums (In the Court of the Crimson King, In the Wake of Poseidon, Lizard and Islands), which he also produced. He was also the lyricist of Greg Lake's Christmas song I Believe in Father Christmas. Sinfield was also responsible for the band's light show and was therefore never seen live on stage.

The band name King Crimson also goes back to him. It is a synonym for Beelzebub, originally the name of the city god of Ekron in the land of the Philistines in the Old Testament. Baal Zebub is translated as Lord of the Flies and is probably a corruption of the actual name Baal Zebul ('exalted lord'), which was used to mock the god and his followers. All forms of the name are epithets of the god Ba'al. In early Jewish times, this Canaanite god became the epitome of the idol and, in dualistic thinking, the leader of the anti-divine powers. He also appears in the New Testament as the chief of the demons. In the epic Paradise Lost by the English poet John Milton (1667), Beelzebub is the second highest prince of hell after Satan. According to Peter Sinfield and band leader Robert Fripp, Beelzebub means man with an aim.

Solo album
After leaving the band at Fripp's request, he remained active in the progressive rock scene. He produced the first Roxy Music album and his own solo album called Still in 1973. Despite a number of well-known guest musicians (Mel Collins, Keith Tippett, Ian Wallace, John Wetton, Greg Lake, etc.), the album was not a great success. In the 1990s, the album was re-released, this time under the name Stillusion and with two bonus tracks.

Further work in pop and rock
Sinfield has also written lyrics for albums by Emerson, Lake and Palmer, the Italian band Premiata Forneria Marconi and Procol Harum singer Gary Brooker, and translated the lyrics of the Italian singer-songwriter Angelo Branduardi into English. In the 80s and 90s he wrote lyrics for Cher, Bucks Fizz and Céline Dion, including for her song Think Twice. He has received the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically & Lyrically three times for his lyrics - as many times as the British band Queen.

Song of the Sea Goat

Still - Peter Sinfield & Greg Lake

Song to Soul: Interview on Early King Crimson with Peter Sinfield and Ian McDonald 2011 (clip 3)

 

EPITAPH, 1969:

"The wall on which the prophets wrote
Is cracking at the seams
Upon the instruments of death
The sunlight brightly gleams
When every man is torn apart
With nightmares and with dreams
Will no one lay the laurel wreath
The silence drowns the screams

Confusion will be my epitaph
As I crawl, a cracked and broken path
If we make it, we can all sit back and laugh
But I fear tomorrow I'll be crying
Yes, I fear tomorrow I'll be crying
Yes, I fear tomorrow I'll be crying

Between the iron gates of fate
The seeds of time were sown
And watered by the deeds of those
Who know and who are known
Well, knowledge is a deadly friend
When no one sets the rules
The fate of all mankind I fear
Is in the hands of fools"

R.I.P., Peter Sinfield

 

Oh no. Pete was my lyrical inspiration...and I fear I failed him.

RIP Pete.

 

So sad news, one of my favourite all-time lyricist.
I spent hours to translate his texts.
May you rest in peace.

Said the straight man to the late man
Where have you been?
I've been here and I've been there
And I've been in between

 

Peter Sinfield - Works --> www.songsouponsea.com/Promenade/lyrics/Works.html

Islands - Lyrics by Pete Sinfield - Played by King Crimson

Earth, stream and tree encircled by sea Waves sweep the sand from my island. My sunsets fade, Field and glade wait only for rain Grain after grain love erodes my High weathered walls which fend off the tide Cradle the wind to my island.

Gaunt granite climbs where gulls wheel and glide Mournfully cry o'er my island. My dawn bride's veil, damp and pale, Dissolves in the sun.
Love's web is spun - cats prowl, mice run Wreathe snatch-hand briars where owls know my eyes

Violet skies Touch my island, touch me.
Beneath the wind turned wave Infinite peace Islands join hands 'Neathe heaven's sea.
Dark harbour quays like fingers of stone Hungrily reach from my island.

Clutch sailors' words, pearls and gourds Are strewn on my shore.
Equal in love, bound in circles. Earth, stream and tree return to the sea Waves sweep the sand from my island,

 

The only lightweight lovely comedy that ELP ever produced:

Pete Sinfield.

Benny The Bouncer

Benny was the bouncer at the Palais de Dance
He'd slash your granny's face up given half a chance.
He'd sell you back the pieces, all for less than half a quid
He thought he was the meanest-
Until he met with Savage Sid.

Now Sidney was a greaser with some nasty roots
He poured a pint of Guinness over Benny's boots
Benny looked at Sidney:
Sidney stared right back in his eye.
Sidney chose a switchblade
And Benny got a cold meat pie.

Oh! what a terrible sight,
Much to the people's delight.
One hell of a fight.

Sidney grabbed a hatchet, buried it, in Benny's head.
The people gasped as he bled:
The end of a Ted?
Well, they dragged him from the wreckage of the Palais in bits.
They tried to stick together all the bits that would fit.
But some of him was missing
And "part of him" arrived too late,
So now he works for Jesus
As the bouncer at St. Peter's Gate.

 

RIP. I didn't realise he had written one of my favourite lyrics.

They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on earth
But instead it just kept on raining
A veil of tears for the virgin birth
I remember one Christmas morning
A winter's light and a distant choir
And the peal of a bell and that Christmas tree smell
And their eyes full of tinsel and fire

They sold me a dream of Christmas
They sold me a silent night
And they told me a fairy story
'Til I believed in the Israelite
And I believed in father Christmas
I looked to the sky with excited eyes
That I woke with a yawn in the first light of dawn
And I saw him and through his disguise

I wish you a hopeful Christmas
I wish you a brave new year
All anguish, pain and sadness
Leave your heart and let your road be clear
They said there'd be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on earth
Hallelujah, Noel be it heaven or hell
The Christmas we get we deserve