21st Century Schizoid Man

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .
21st Century Schizoid Man, Seasons Version. (audio removed by youtube duo to alleged copyright violation)

Seasons is a 4-girls japanase violin group.

The original song is progressive rock, called by same name, performed by King Crimson, year 1969

The song is written by Robert Fripp, Ian McDonald, Greg Lake, Michael Giles, Peter Sinfield. The lyrics is by Peter Sinfield. It's sung by Greg Lake.

Here's the lyrics.

Cat's foot iron claw
Neuro-surgeons scream for more
At paranoia's poison door.
Twenty first century schizoid man.

Blood rack barbed wire
Polititians' funeral pyre
Innocents raped with napalm fire
Twenty first century schizoid man.

Death seed blind man's greed
Poets' starving children bleed
Nothing he's got he really needs
Twenty first century schizoid man.
Polititians this mostly refers to Spiro Agnew (1918 to 1996), 39th Vice President of US (1969 to 1973). He is charged for accepting bribery and is forced to resign.
pyre wood heaped for burning a dead body as a funeral rite.
napalm fire Napalm is a sticky substance for burning, used in military. This line refers to Vietnam War.

Schizoid is actually a technically term in psychiatry. The full term is Schizoid Personality Disorder. Vernacularly, schizoid man means something like a crazy or delusional person, however, the real meaning is entirely different.

Schizoid personality disorder (SPD) is characterized by a emotionless personality. That is, the person lacks the normal human desire for friendship, being part of community, or any relationship, affinity. Schizoids are loners. They prefer to be alone, and usually live alone. (I am a mild schizoid)

Each human animal, has a personality. That is, likes and dislikes, manner, deportment, behavior pattern. When a personality trait is so extreme, that causes him to be dysfunctional in society, that's when psychiatrists call it a “personality disorder”.

All of us sometimes prefer to be alone. Some more than others, with qualities of being shy, timid, introvert. However, when a person prefers to be alone at all times to a degree that it interferes his normal daily social function, such as work, marriage, having children, he is technical a schizoid personality disorder (SPD). The “disorder” label may not be appropriate, because SPD typically do not cause the person to have any problem with law, e.g. become criminals or disrupt others. In contrast to, for example, antisocial personality disorder or having schizophrenia.

21st century schizoid man
“In the Court of the Crimson King” Buy at amazon