King Lear
King Lear is a cover of the song "Tragedy" released by William Shakespeare in the Summer of 1603. Originally recorded by the band Steps almost 400 years later, Shakespeare decided to rerecord it under his own name in order to raise money for his theatre productions.
Having squandered his creative arts budget away on vast amounts of opiate and ale the week before (the playwrights of yesterday were the rockstars of today) Willbo needed dough badly. Unlike his last song 'Romeo and Juliet', an avant guarde jazz rehash of the Blue Oyster Cult song 'Don't Fear The Reaper', King Lear differed very little from the original. It differed so little in fact that Shakespeare had to cleverly disguise himself as a tree for 4 weeks to avoid being sued. Despite the fact his paper machét tree costume was put together in an arts and crafts lesson by three year olds and his lawyer was a plucky rodent with a drawn-on moustache, the case was eventually settled. Steps accepted not to sue on account of not existing yet; a move that would later cost 'H' his left eyebrow.
Release and Song Meaning[edit | edit source]
After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 the song was often modified by theatre practitioners who disliked its overall awfulness and the 3 minute fingernail on chalkboard solo, but since the 19th century it has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity, and is widely regarded as one of Shakespeare's supreme achievements.
The song is particularly noted for its probing observations on the nature of human suffering and kinship, whilst at the same time being vapid, and probably already a cover of a Bee Gees song. This blend of shallow pop culture and deep inner-pain intrigued philosophers from the mid 17th century onwards, directly contributing to the "Great Enlightenment" of 1874, and indirectly to the invention of cheese-fueled hovver fridges.
Upon it's release the song was received well by critics, earning 3 and a half stars in NME magazine and having a play written it's honour. Unfortunately the play, 'Lame Self Promotion', was written by Shakespeare himself; an obvious move that would go on to be described by literary experts as "painfully lame."
Song Structure[edit | edit source]
The song is written in a typical verse chorus verse structure for the most part, but after the 2 minute mark the production budget ran out as Shakespeare had again been at the poppy seeds. Contractually obliged to fill the full 15 minutes (songs were /probably/ much longer back then, alongside beards and endless chasms) Shakesbeer filled the time with whatever he had on hand, even sharpening pencils into the microphone with the vain hope the woody splinters that leaked through into the audio equipment would actually 'fill the time', like a cork. The end result is often credited as the first instance of noise music, which later on helped him to spearhead the genre under his alter-ego 'M.C. Abortion Bucket'.
Cover versions[edit | edit source]
Many releases of the song were covered in the mutilated remains of artists interested in covering the song, their charred remains fashioned into a case to protect the disc from the elements. 4 Limited edition versions were released, all of which were wrapped up in the rib cages of former Popes, and came with a free copy of Men's Health.