The Court Of The Crimson King (Including The Return Of The Fire Witch/The Dance Of The Puppets) (track)
by King Crimson
Year: 1969
From the album In The Court Of The Crimson King (An Observation By King Crimson) (track #5)
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The Court Of The Crimson King (Including The Return Of The Fire Witch/The Dance Of The Puppets) appears on the following album(s) by King Crimson:
- In The Court Of The Crimson King (An Observation By King Crimson) (track #5) (this album) (1969)
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Listen to The Court Of The Crimson King (Including The Return Of The Fire Witch/The Dance Of The Puppets) on YouTube
The Court Of The Crimson King (Including The Return Of The Fire Witch/The Dance Of The Puppets) ratings
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
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AV = the site mean average rating.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Track ratings | Avg. track rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
80/100  | 5 days ago | machiaj | | 74/100 |
90/100 | 10/16/2025 08:34 | Johnnyo | | 80/100 |
95/100 | 10/13/2025 21:13 |  Superunknown | | 86/100 |
90/100 | 09/15/2025 17:20 | gmessian | | 55/100 |
100/100 | 09/06/2025 02:30 | JoshN125 | | 94/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some tracks can have several thousand ratings)
This track is rated in the top 1% of all tracks on BestEverAlbums.com. This track has a Bayesian average rating of 93.3/100, a mean average of 91.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 93.5/100. The standard deviation for this track is 13.1.
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What I would consider a classic prog track. Great introduction. Love the almost operatic / orchestral (well to my eras anyway) start to the track.
At about seven minutes in, we get a change of tempo and the song changes into, what feels to me, a slightly different song but with a reprise of the main theme at the end.
I really like this track a lot
DeusExMackia 03/27/2024 11:35
Intangible from that scene in Children Of Men for me, and all the better for it. Crushing totality and political degradation; haunted by its own failures and inability to foresee a future; the end of the world, boring style. Our boring dystopia.
The only single to chart in the US.
The Court Of The Crimson King is the perfect album closer. King Crimson delivered perfection from beginning to end.
Never has a mellotron been played to such outstanding affect. The mellotron riff dominates, but this song has so many layers it doesn't overpower the other instruments of which there are many. The instrumental 'the return of the fire witch' is sublime and the reprise 'the dance of the puppets' a welcome digestif to an exceellent album.
VictorVale 12/25/2020 13:09
Pleo amor de Deus,, Crimson, vai com clama! Musicão do caralho!
pjohnsongolf 12/13/2020 18:44
This song sucks the soul out of your body
Grouse 07/29/2018 11:56
I still can't deicide if I like this song or 21st Century Schizoid man more, both of them are such amazing tracks. This song also has pretty much everything. But the drums and the breathtaking mellotron are the things that really makes this song great for me.
KIIIIIIIIIIII-IIIIIIIIINGGGG AHHHHH AH AAAAAHHHHHHH
That crushing mellotron!!
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