Two bands exist called Kingdom Come - it is also an alias of Ron Allen, hou… Read Full Bio ↴Two bands exist called Kingdom Come - it is also an alias of Ron Allen, house music producer.

For the first, see: Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come. Melodic hard rock band Kingdom Come was formed in 1987 by singer-songwriter Lenny Wolf in Hamburg, Germany, with the revolving cast of other band members soon leaving Wolf the focus. After the release of their first single, 1988's "Get It On", many fans mistakenly regarded the band as a Led Zeppelin reunion. Kingdom Come's close resemblance to that group, particularly with Wolf's Robert Plant like vocals, has led to continuing controversy. Although the bands had a great deal in common, as shown by critics' nickname 'Kingdom Clone', Wolf has pursued his own personal vision of mixing slick rock hooks with a heavy metal ethos for decades.

The group's first album, the self-titled 'Kingdom Come', became quite popular due to its arena-ready hard rock sound. As the guys gained more and more commercial success, the 1988 album had three Billboard top 40 singles: "Get It On", "Living Out Of Touch", and "What Love Can Be". As stated before, supporters and detractors both felt strongly reminded of Led Zeppelin as well as, to a lesser extent, fellow German group Scorpions. Ironically, former Kingdom Come drummer James Kottak later joined the latter band.

Kingdom Come came about after the breakup a moderately successful rock project of Wolf's, known as Stone Fury. Wolf's new record company, Polygram, allowed him incredible freedom to assemble Kingdom Come's lineup and direct its sound. Recruiting Pittsburgh-based lead guitarist Danny Stag, Louisvillians Rick Steier (guitar) and James Kottak (drums), and Californian Johnny B. Frank (bass), this new outfit marked the first band where Wolf sang without playing guitar. The frontman later admitted that, for a while, it was a very awkward adjustment.

As stated before, Kingdom Come's sound was thought by many to be highly derivative of Led Zeppelin's, to the point that some listeners initially thought that Kingdom Come was actually a reunion effort. The band's first single was called "Get It On", being a great example of their aggressive sound. Before long, the group's eponymous debut went gold. Their second single ended up being the power ballad "What Love Can Be", receiving much airplay and having a music video created for it that picked up MTV airplay. By the time the single "Loving You" was released, the album had reached platinum status, fans in United States, Germany, and Canada loving the group despite the controversy.

The guys toured in England supporting Magnum on their "Wings Of Heaven" tour. As well, the band opened for the North American "Monsters of Rock" tour in 1988, supporting the artists Dokken, Scorpions, Metallica, and Van Halen. Following that, the guys were tapped to support the Scorpions on their North American "Savage Amusement" tour, at least until they were forced off. According to Stag, Lenny Wolf found the stage ramps reserved for the Scorpions' set irresistible. After several reprimands from the Scorpions' management, the singer continued to use the full stage, and Kingdom Come were asked to forfeit the rest of the tour.

The band were directed by management and the people at Polygram to get a new recording available soon. In 1989, Kingdom Come released their next album, called 'In Your Face', but some fans believed that the group seemed to have peaked too early. The continuing backlash against the band's perceived appropriating of other artists' sounds (earning them the derisive moniker "Kingdom Clone") hurt their commercial appeal. After time went on and the band's second album simply failed to sell well, all members other than Wolf quit the group.

The 90s would see several releases by the outfit, though with Kingdom Come receiving some critical scorn as well as being unable to breakthrough commercially the same way again. Music critic Jason Anderson has remarked for Allmusic that the band experienced "one of hard rock's most intense backlashes". For his part, Stag went back to Pittsburgh and immersed himself in blues and rock n rock projects. Steier and Kottak went back to Kentucky and assembled the short-lived Wild Horses project, the two of them releasing a poor-selling album on Atlantic Records. Both would later resurface in Warrant. Kottak also has served with Scorpions.

With an all new line-up, Kingdom Come had one more release on Polygram, titled 'Hands of Time', which Wolf managed to see sold internationally. By 1993, Wolf had returned to Germany to regroup, focusing his efforts on central Europe hard rock fans. In recent years, the group is often billed as "Kingdom Come & Lenny Wolf", "Lenny Wolf & Kingdom Come", "Lenny Wolf's Kingdom Come", et cetera. Their latest work as of 2015 is the album 'Outlier', which came out on May 7, 2013.

Website: www.lennywolf.com/

Secondly, Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come (often billed as just "Kingdom Come") was the name of a project by enigmatic British singer-songwriter Arthur Brown. With his larger-than-life stage presence, Brown represented a key link in the evolution of psychedelic rock into what would be become heavy metal. He also had a project by the name of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.

Darling
Kingdom Come Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Thought your heart was strong and free
Full of joy, like springtime leaves
Then you left, on and on
Disbelief, has taught you wrong
And now the magic's gone, your fear has won

Whenever you cried, you knew it was right
But then all your second thoughts, killed you inside

Darling - what a tragedy
Warnings - didn't make you see
Loving - ain't no fantasy

Scared to talk, hiding out
You want my love, but don't know how
You took advise, from so called friends
No surprise, they talked no sense
Security you chose, like a plastic rose

Whenever you cried, you knew it was right
But then all your second thoughts, killed you inside

Darling - what a tragedy

Warnings - didn't make you see
Loving - ain't no fantasy

Overall Meaning

Kingdom Come's "Darling" is a song about a lover who, despite being warned about the consequences of following the bad advice of their so-called friends, experienced heartbreak, lost hope, and succumbed to fear. The song begins by reminding us of how the singer once believed that their lover had a strong and joyful heart, but after leaving, the lover's belief that they were not capable of finding or experiencing love again has only been compounded. The magic that was once present in the relationship is gone, replaced by fear.

The chorus of the song is more optimistic in tone, despite the tragedy that has befallen the couple. The singer insists that love is not a fantasy and that the lover can still be open to it. However, the lover is too scared to talk and hiding out, unsure of how to receive or reciprocate the love that is being offered. They have taken the bad advice of their friends, who have led them astray with their misguided counsel. In the end, they chose a false sense of security, like a plastic rose, rather than pursuing the genuine love that they once had.

The lyrics to "Darling" speak to the universal experience of heartbreak and hopelessness in love. They remind us that love is not always easy and can be filled with many challenges, but it is always worth fighting for. The song also addresses the importance of listening to your own intuition rather than always relying on the opinions of others. By doing so, we can avoid making mistakes that will only lead to more heartache and tragedy.

Line by Line Meaning

Thought your heart was strong and free
You had believed your heart to be unbreakable and independent, free from the constraints of the world

Full of joy, like springtime leaves
Just like fresh leaves in the Spring bring a sense of joy to one's life, your heart was filled with happiness

Then you left, on and on
But then you left, perhaps chasing after something, and kept moving on and on

Disbelief, has taught you wrong
Your skepticism has led you astray, causing you to make wrong choices

And now the magic's gone, your fear has won
The spark and magic that once shined in your heart have been extinguished, and your fears have taken over

Whenever you cried, you knew it was right
Even when others didn't understand that your tears were justified, you knew that you were feeling something real

But then all your second thoughts, killed you inside
However, as you continued to think things over, your doubts began to consume you, ultimately causing pain

Darling - what a tragedy
Addressing someone as 'darling', the situation is a terrible tragedy

Warnings - didn't make you see
Despite being warned or told otherwise, you didn't see the light and continued down an unrewarding path

Loving - ain't no fantasy
Being able to love and be loved is not something to simply fantasize about or take for granted

Scared to talk, hiding out
You may be afraid to open up, hiding and avoiding conversations about your feelings

You want my love, but don't know how
Although you may desire the love of others, you may not be sure how to obtain it

You took advise, from so called friends
You listened to advice from people you thought were friends

No surprise, they talked no sense
But they ultimately offered no helpful or sensible advice

Security you chose, like a plastic rose
You opted for a sense of safety and security that was shallow, just like a fake plastic flower

Whenever you cried, you knew it was right
Even when others didn't understand that your tears were justified, you knew that you were feeling something real

But then all your second thoughts, killed you inside
However, as you continued to think things over, your doubts began to consume you, ultimately causing pain

Darling - what a tragedy
Addressing someone as 'darling', the situation is a terrible tragedy

Warnings - didn't make you see
Despite being warned or told otherwise, you didn't see the light and continued down an unrewarding path

Loving - ain't no fantasy
Being able to love and be loved is not something to simply fantasize about or take for granted

Contributed by Makayla R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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