Child in Time

This article is about the song. For the album, see Child in Time (album)

"Child in Time"
Song

"Child in Time" is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple. Featured on their 1970 album In Rock, the song is 10 minutes and 18 seconds long.

History and characteristics

Written by the band in 1969, it is said by the band members themselves to have been inspired by a riff featured in a song by Purple contemporaries It's a Beautiful Day, called "Bombay Calling". The riff was played on violins and very much faster in tempo.

"Child in Time" is an essentially simple composition, featuring an organ intro, three power chords, and a two minute long solo. Lyrically dark, it is set around the theme of Cold War. Vocalist Ian Gillan utilizes his full vocal range and goes from quiet singing to loud, high-pitched, banshee-esque screaming. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore comes in with a slow solo, which builds up to a fast-pace playing and then ends abruptly, with the whole song cycle starting over again.

A staple of the Deep Purple live concerts in 1970–73, the song has not featured regularly at concerts since the reunion of the line up in 1993. Gillan cites many personal reasons for leaving the song out, but it is likely that, given his advancing years, the song is becoming increasingly difficult to perform without sampled vocal backings. Its last appearance in Deep Purple's live set was at Harrogate in 2002. In that performance, high-pitched guitar was used to cover up Gillan's now-limited vocal range during the "screaming" parts. A similar technique is used on current live performances of "Space Truckin'".

Covers and references in popular culture

• Former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's current band, Blackmore's Night, featured a new truncated version on their 2006 studio album The Village Lanterne, titled "Mond Tanz / Child in Time".

• A portion of this song was featured in the 1996 films Twister, Breaking the Waves and in 23.

• A live version later appeared on the 1972 live album Made in Japan. Another live version can be found on the Scandinavian Nights live album.

• The song is used in the 1999 documentary One Day in September, which is about the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis. It plays during a rapid montage of the violent aftermath of the concluding airport shootout.

• The song was covered by Yngwie Malmsteen on his 1996 album Inspiration.

• Jon Lord's solo organ introduction was sampled by Big Audio Dynamite and used in the introduction to their song "Rush".

Trivia

• Some fans have suggested that the grammar in the lyrics is incorrect, and that the first line is in fact 'Sweet child, in time' rather than the line given by the CD, missing the comma.

• Blackmore is normally associated with playing a Fender Stratocaster; however he played a Gibson ES-335 on the studio version of the song.

References

Kusnur, Narendra (2002-05-03). "Ian Gillan, Mumbai, India. 3 May 2002". Mid-Day Newspaper. Retrieved 2006-12-30.