Child in Time

Child in Time appeared on Deep Purple in Rock in June 1970 and runs over ten minutes, built on an organ figure the band took from It's a Beautiful Day's instrumental Bombay Calling. Ian Gillan's wordless vocal ascent above it became the defining test of the band's second line-up. The lyric, written against the background of the Cold War, leaves the line between the good and the bad to be decided by a bullet. Gillan later stopped performing it as written, unwilling to force the highest notes night after night.