Greg Lake was born in Poole, Dorset, and first learned to play guitar aged 12. He came to prominence as a founding member of King Crimson. He was a school friend of guitarist Robert Fripp, who invited Lake to join the new band and take on the tasks of lead singer and bass player. Lake was primarily a guitarist, but agreed to switch to bass at Fripp's request. Lake had some involvement in writing the lyrics for King Crimson's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, although Peter Sinfield was the primary lyricist. Aside from being the lead singer and bass player, Lake also ended up producing the album after their contracted producer, Tony Clarke, walked away from the project.
"In the Court of the Crimson King", released in 1969, made King Crimson far more successful than any of Fripp and Lake's earlier projects (such as the Shy Limbs or Giles, Giles and Fripp), and became a key influence and landmark in the emerging progressive rock genre. Lake's vocals, which ranged from serene and soothing to acerbic and distorted, were a striking element of the album. However, Lake stayed with King Crimson for only about a year, leaving soon after their debut album to start the rock trio Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Though at Fripp's request, Lake provided the vocals for King Crimson's second album, In the Wake of Poseidon.
King Crimson played a couple of venues with The Nice, during which Lake struck up a friendship with The Nice's precocious keyboardist Keith Emerson. Lake and Emerson eventually teamed up and brought in the drummer from The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Atomic Rooster, Carl Palmer—forming the progressive rock 'supergroup' Emerson Lake & Palmer (ELP). Lake contributed acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, lyrics, vocals and production work to the band. The trio did not make use of external producers for any of their albums in the 1970s, nor did they employ session players for studio work or live performances. During concerts, Lake would play acoustic guitar, electric guitar or bass as required. Beginning with the 1973 album Brain Salad Surgery, Lake did collaborate with Peter Sinfield to write lyrics.
ELP sold more than 30 million albums in the 1970s, and made a significant musical contribution to the evolution of progressive rock. Lake co-wrote many of ELP's songs but was known for his guitar-oriented, soulful ballads. On their debut album (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), Lake included an acoustic song (with a keyboard outro hastily recorded by Emerson) called "Lucky Man", based on a poem he had written at the age of 12. In determining the direction of the band, Lake's focus on ballads, radio-friendly material and "down-to-earth" compositions contrasted sharply with Emerson's desire to create rock symphonies and polyphonic, poly-rhythmic suites. Their collaboration led to ELP creating albums with an eclectic mixture of classical pieces, ballads, hard rock songs and epic-length suites.
In 1975, while still a member of ELP, Lake achieved solo chart success when his single, "I Believe in Father Christmas", reached number two on the UK Singles Chart. It has become a Yuletide perennial.
Lake subsequently joined Asia, briefly replacing fellow King Crimson alumnus John Wetton, and then co-formed Emerson, Lake & Powell.
In 2005, Lake toured Germany and the United Kingdom with his "Greg Lake Band" which included David Arch, Florian Opahle, Trevor Barry on bass, and Brett Morgan.
Lake performed "Karn Evil 9" with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at several shows. He was a special guest on the album Night Castle (2009).
In 2010, he toured with Keith Emerson, from which came the live album Live from Manticore Hall. In 2012, Lake toured England, The United States and Italy with the "Songs Of A Lifetime" show. He played a career retrospective, along with select covers, for small audiences.
On 25 July 2010, Lake joined Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer for what was to be the final live concert by Emerson, Lake and Palmer, at the High Voltage rock festival, in Victoria Park, London. The entire concert was later released as the double-CD live album, High Voltage.
In late June 2013 Lake was invited to star at Genoa's International Poetry Festival where he performed a reading of "Pirates", a drama piece in music he wrote with Peter Sinfield, then performed some of his classic songs.
On 9 January 2016 he was awarded an honorary degree in music and lyrics composition by Conservatorio Nicolini in Piacenza, Italy, the first degree awarded by the conservatory.
Lake died following a lengthy battle with cancer on 7 December 2016 at the age of 69.
Discography
Solo
Greg Lake with Gary Moore (1981) US #62; UK No. 62
Manoeuvres with Gary Moore (1983) US No. 209
Ride the Tiger with Geoff Downes (2015)
Live albums
King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Greg Lake in Concert (aka Nuclear Attack/Live/In Concert) with Gary Moore (1995)
Greg Lake (2007)
Songs of a Lifetime (2013)
Live from Manticore Hall with Keith Emerson (2014)
Compilations
The Greg Lake Retrospective: From The Beginning (1997)
From The Underground: The Official Bootleg (1998)
From The Underground 2 : Deeper Into The Mine : An Official Greg Lake Bootleg (2003)
Singles
I Believe in Father Christmas (1975)
C'est La Vie (1977)
Watching Over You (1977)
Love You Too Much (1981)
Let Me Love You Once (1981)
It Hurts/Retribution Drive (1982)
Famous Last Words (1983)
DVDs
Greg Lake: Live In Concert (2006)
Welcome Backstage (2006)
with the Shame
singles
Don't Go Away Little Girl/Dreams Don't Bother Me (1967)
with Shy Limbs
singles
Reputation/Love (1968; side B only)
with King Crimson
In the Court of the Crimson King (October 1969); US No. 28 UK No. 5
In the Wake of Poseidon (May 1970); US No. 31 UK No. 4
Epitaph (1997)
with Emerson, Lake and Palmer
The discography of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, an English progressive rock band, includes 9 studio albums, 17 live albums, 13 compilation albums, and 13 singles.
with Asia
Enso Kai (2001), Recorded live at the Budokan in Tokyo, Japan, on 6 December 1983.
with Emerson, Lake and Powell
Emerson, Lake & Powell (1986)
The Sprocket Sessions (2003(An Official Bootleg), 2010(Reissue))
Live in Concert (2003(An Official Bootleg), 2010(Reissue))
Live in Concert & More... (2012), 2CDs Contains 2 previously released official bootlegs, Live in Concert and The Sprocket Sessions
c'est la vie
Greg Lake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Have your leaves all turned to brown
Will you scatter them around you
C'est la vie
Do you love
And then how am I to know
If you dont let your love show for me
C'est la vie
Oh c'est la vie
Oh c'est la vie
Who knows, who cares, for me
C'est la vie
In the night
Do you light a lover's fire
Do the ashes of desire for you remain
Like the sea
There's a love to deep to show
Took a storm before my love
Flowed for you
C'est la vie
Oh c'est la vie
Oh c'est la vie
Who knows, who cares, for me
C'est la vie
Like a song
Out of tune and out of time
All I needed was a rhyme for you
C'est la vie
Do you give
Do you live from day to day
Is there no song I can play for you
C'est la vie
Oh c'est la vie
Oh c'est la vie
Who knows, who cares, for me
C'est la vie
The lyrics to Greg Lake's song C'est La Vie are about lost love and the uncertainty of the future. The opening lines talk about the leaves turning brown and being scattered around, which could be interpreted as a metaphor for the relationship that has come to an end. 'C'est la vie' means 'that's life' in French, which emphasizes the acceptance of the situation and the inevitability of change.
The chorus repeats the phrase "who knows, who cares, for me" which is a reflection of the singer's feelings of abandonment and loneliness. The lyrics continue to explore whether the person he loves still feels the same way and wonders if they are too afraid to show it. A metaphor is used to describe the love being too deep to show and taking a storm before flowing for the singer. In this sense, the storm could be interpreted as a difficult time that tested the relationship, and even though it passed, the love remained hidden.
Line by Line Meaning
C'est la vie
This is life.
Have your leaves all turned to brown
Have you aged and gone past your prime?
Will you scatter them around you
Will you let go of the past and move forward?
Do you love
Do you have feelings of affection?
And then how am I to know
And how will I be able to tell?
If you dont let your love show for me
If you don't express your love towards me.
Oh c'est la vie
Oh, this is life.
Who knows, who cares, for me
No one knows or cares about me.
In the night
During the nighttime.
Do you light a lover's fire
Do you have passionate feelings towards someone?
Do the ashes of desire for you remain
Do you still have unfulfilled desires?
Like the sea
Like the ocean.
There's a love to deep to show
Feelings of love that are too intense to be expressed.
Took a storm before my love
My love needed a significant event to be realized.
Flowed for you
Directly shown towards you.
Oh c'est la vie
Oh, this is life.
Who knows, who cares, for me
No one knows or cares about me.
Like a song
Like a piece of music.
Out of tune and out of time
Not matching up with expectations or reality.
All I needed was a rhyme for you
All I needed was the right words or actions towards you.
Do you live from day to day
Do you live life casually or without much planning?
Is there no song I can play for you
Do I not have anything I can offer you?
Oh c'est la vie
Oh, this is life.
Who knows, who cares, for me
No one knows or cares about me.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: EDWARD R WHITE, MAXWELL A WOLFSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@vincetomanelli2172
In 1977, I was lucky enough to have met the members of E.L.P.
(Emerson, Lake And Palmer) KEITH EMERSON, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer. Back then I was 12 years old and a few friends and I were playing baseball outside the Saint Michel Arena in Montreal Canada. Little did we know that E.L.P. had rented the arena to practice for their upcoming show at the Olympic Stadium (Montreal) on 26 August 1977, just a few days after ELVIS PRESLEY passed away.
We heard music being played inside the arena, but we didn't think anything of it. About an hour into us playing baseball, three people approached us (E.L.P.) and asked us if they can play baseball with us. We still had no idea who they were and we said...sure why not, the more the merrier. After playing for about another hour with Keith, Greg and Carl, they invited us in the arena to watch them practice. We accepted and watched them play for about an hour or so. We were amazed at how professional and kind these people were to us. After their practice was over, they thanked us for having played baseball with them and gave us each a **memento** (an object kept as a reminder or souvenir of a person or event) I remember getting a Tambourine. To this day I have no idea where I put it.
On march 11, 2016, we lost KEITH EMERSON. Just a few days ago on December 7, 2016, we lost Greg Lake.
E.L.P. Were known for being one of the greatest progressive rock band ever.
Rest in peace Greg Lake and KEITH EMERSON. Thank you for the music and the memories. I will cherish them for the rest of my life.
@ConstantinCatalin
This must be one of the most beautiful song in history of all music...you can listen 1000 times and still has same magic effect... totally masterpiece.
@robertbos5484
Absolutely true.
@kurtwicklund8901
Subdued and uncomplicated and great.
@Barbara-jd5lb
Hail fellows well met ...Emerson and Palmer...from The Wrong Number Montreal...'76, Canada 🇨🇦
@debikami1
I know, right!😍
@rogeralmanzora5397
Magnífica, impresionante. Con letra de Pete Sinfield.
@raymondsenecal8943
August 1977 Montreal Olympique Stadium, i was theyre fantastic show, mark for life.❤
@RD-ut2fy
I was there......Omg.....full orchestra....what a fantastic band. I get goosebumps whenever I hear this song. Amazing!!!!!
@ConstantinCatalin
Sooo fortunately
@Notalwaysrightbutmostly
Remember listening to this album , it was brilliant.Greg Lake has a wonderful voice .Like so many musicians from this era a true artist. 70’s and 80’s were special