Keith Emerson

Honestly, picking from the numerous artists, singers, and musicians was a challenge. I have never heard of a lot of the people on the list of musicians that died in 2016; however one caught my eye. Immediately, when I scrolled through the list, together i saw two members of a band next two each other. Sadly, both members of the band passed away in 2016.  I chose to write about Keith Emerson because unlike the other musicians, he played the keyboard. After listening to Emerson’s different solos and Emerson, Lake, & Palmer (ELP) songs, I have chosen the song, “The Art of Falling Down”. The lyrics are down below:

The Art  of Falling Down

From EPL

Falling Down…

Well, you can jump the guns and corners
To save your place
It’ll never hide the guilt that’s on your face
And you can duck and dodge and scramble
And make that sound
It’ll never match the art of falling down

Wishing it away will call them all to stay

Well, you blame the slings and arrows
That curse this fate
And it still won’t shave the cost of coming late
Never a clean escape
Becoming what you hate

And you can justify the cause and nail across to it
But you need to get lost to get you found
And it’s a long drink of faith ’till you believe it
And you come across the art of falling down

Turning it away invites them all to stay

You can light yourself a candle to ease your pain
It’ll never find the song to sing your name
Ain’t it a burning shame
Enough to drive you sane

Chasing it away will call them back to play

You can fly your righteous angels
On a golden chain
But it’s a harder fall than landing on your blade
And you can call it by it’s name and put an end to it
But it’ll never change the art of falling down

Falling Down…

Initially, I chose to listen to the song because of the name of it. The Art of Falling Down. when I heard the first 6 seconds of the song, I immediately loved it. The singer, Greg Lake, sang a chromatic scale going down and it was beautiful almost kind of sounding like a harmonization. Besides the melody and music beats, the lyrics are deep. A few of my favorite lines from this song are “You can light yourself a candle to ease your pain. It’ll never find the song to sing your name” and “You can fly your righteous angels on a golden chain, but it’s a harder fall than landing on your blade, and you can call it by it’s name and put an end to it, but it’ll never change the art of falling down”. Although the lyrics were good, the tune of the keyboard in the background. Emerson carries the tune. His keyboarding skills are a+ and it sounds like he plays each note with care and precision.

On YouTube, there were many piano solo recordings. After listening to a few of his solos, I was in awe. He mixes a bit of classical, jazz, rag, and pop almost flawlessly when he plays. No matter how fast he plays, it always sounds clean and precise.

Unfortunately, this past year, he died on March 11th 2016 from self suicide. He shot himself in the head. Emerson also dealt with heart disease and depression associated with alcohol and worrying how he will play in performances and concerts.

Keith Emerson will always be remembered because of his talent and passion to entertain others with his music.