This was originally written in 2013 while Merlin and I were illustrating the backstory of how Werrew the Usurper overthrew his king in our comic, Project Future. I found myself singing some silly, but horribly violent rhyme which gradually became the opening verse. I was also reading the Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones series at the time. The chorus followed swiftly and the song assembled itself after that.
lyrics
The Man Who Should Be King
Heads bow in line, peaceful sunshine,
Heads bow in tune, they'll be mine soon
The kingdom of Exemplar is a terrible place
Its customs are archaic and its laws a disgrace
The one thing he can't handle if it's said to his face
Is that the King is quickly running out of time and space
And I'm the man who should be king
Think of the golden age I'll bring
And I shall turn things upside-down
When I have seized the kingdom's crown
Heads fall in time, high treason crime
Heads fall in tune, he'll be mine soon
And I'm the man who should be King, another golden age I'll bring
And I shall make this kingdom sound, when I have claimed the golden round
When I am king, I'm going to add protections to the law
So no-one can be killed without a trial any more
'cause that's not right.
And I'm the man who should be king
And hear the bells of judgement ring
And I shall make this kingdom sound
When I have claimed the golden round
Skulls fall in time, high treason crime
Skulls fall in tune, the throne...
The throne will be mine soon
I'm the man who should be king
Think of the golden age I'll bring
And I shall make this kingdom sound
When I have claimed the golden round
The kingdom of Exemplar was a terrible place
Its customs were archaic and its laws a disgrace
The thing he couldn't handle when I showed him my face
Was that I'd come to kill the King and now I've taken his place
supported by 5 fans who also own “The Man Who Should Be King”
"There is lambswool under my naked feet..." - those words always come to my mind while listening to the first bars of "Wide Of The Mark". There's undoubtedly quite some "Genesis" heritage to be found in the music on this album. However, the band that is most closely related to "The ID" is certainly "IQ", which is among the favorite bands and artists named by both Peter Albrektsen (gtr, kbd) and Tim Pepper (v, kbd). So the similarity of the names "ID" vs. "IQ" is obviously not purely coincidental. Being a long-time admirer of the creative output of "IQ", this album inevitably reaches my heart. Sven B. Schreiber (sbs)
supported by 5 fans who also own “The Man Who Should Be King”
Some say it's prog... but actually, it's something much better - although I still can't tell for sure what it really is. Anyway, this eclectic-crossover-what-the-heck-whatever thing has extremely funky guitars, and bursts with all kinds of surprises. I'd say it's genuinely progressive, with the term "progressive" positively not meant as it's typically understood nowadays. Sven B. Schreiber (sbs)
The hard-hitting, genre-agnostic songs on the latest from Dan Webb were inspired by conversations he had with a wide range of musicians. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 18, 2023
supported by 4 fans who also own “The Man Who Should Be King”
Alas, the third and last album of this exceptional Argentine symphonic rock band... frankly, not a masterpiece like the preceding works, due to the fact that it's sort of a "The Rest Of" album. It contains early unreleased material, as well as recordings that probably were intended for another regular album, canceled due to the death of Jorge Antún. Some tracks reflect the band's typical symphonic style, others already exhibit a trend towards a more mainstream sound, quite obviously inspired by the albums released by "Genesis" in the early 80's, which already started creeping in on "2". Sven B. Schreiber (sbs)