Sometimes, a piece of music just finds a way to be heard in the face of any odds stacked against it. You can start to appreciate that notion when it comes to Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s “Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression, Part 2,” which emerged from a much longer suite of songs to become a classic rock standard.
What is the song about? What was behind the making of the album that contained it? And how did it relate to the rest of the song suite? Here’s how it all happened for one of the wordiest titles you’ll ever see on your car radio display: “Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression, Part 2” by Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
ELP Goes B-I-G
Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, and Carl Palmer released three albums from 1970 to 1972 that established the trio as one of the leading outfits in the burgeoning genre known as progressive rock. Emerson acted as the kind of mad musical genius, melding classical and rock influences in his compositions, while also becoming an early master of the synthesizer. Lake (guitar and bass) and Palmer (drums) filled out the rest of the expansive soundscapes, while Lake also contributed as a songwriter and lyricist.
By 1973, they had formed their own record label, which afforded them a little bit of freedom for their next move. They rented out a theater in London and started the process of creating Brain Salad Surgery. Emerson wrote most of the music (save for Lake’s folk ballad “Still…You Turn Me On”) with the idea that it should be a record the trio would be able to play live.
The centerpiece of the record was a kind of mini-concept album within the album. Music for the piece, which was broken down into four movements, or “impressions,” lasted nearly a half-hour. In fact, it was so long the first part of the piece had to be tacked onto the end of the first side of Brain Salad Surgery.
That meant that Side Two would begin with “Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression, Part 2.” The larger “Karn Evil 9” piece deals with a kind of tug of war between man and machine. Humanity embraces technology to help solve their problems, only for the technology to eventually overrun humanity. “1st Impression, Part 2” highlights a time when the last vestiges of nature and humankind, as they once were, are corralled into a museum for display to gawking onlookers.
To help write the lyrics to this massive undertaking, Lake enlisted Peter Sinfield, with whom he had previously worked in King Crimson. It was Sinfield who heard Emerson’s organ chirping through the piece and suggested the “Karn Evil” title as a play on “carnival.” In an interview with MusicRadar about the making of Brain Salad Surgery, Emerson explained that proximity might have had a lot to do with the radio success of “Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression, Part 2”:
“I think the fact that it started off Side 2 didn’t hurt. You had to flip over the vinyl, and this was the first thing you heard–[sings] ‘Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends.'”
What is the Meaning of “Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression, Part 2”?
This particular portion of “Karn Evil 9” is certainly the catchiest part of the suite, with Greg Lake playing the role of carnival barker to the hilt. The exhibits on display aren’t what you would normally expect, but he keeps the patter going to sustain the illusion: There behind the glass stands a real blade of grass / Be careful as you pass, move along, move along.
Knowing that this was a piece meant to be played live, Lake and Sinfield included lyrics that would work very well among screaming fans: You’ve got to see the show, it’s a dynamo / You’ve got to see the show, it’s rock and roll. As the exhibits begin to pile up and show off the human race as it’s headed to extinction, the owners of the museum leave a disclaimer to make sure they’re properly compensated for their efforts to keep this dying breed alive: We would like it to be known the exhibits that were shown / Were exclusively our own, all our own, all our own.
Most people listening to Keith Emerson’s keyboards surrounding them on “Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression, Part 2” might simply get caught up in the song’s momentum without giving a thought to the lyrics. But a deeper dive reveals a fascinating story behind Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s most ambitious gambit.
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