Gentle Giantformed out of the blues based group Simon Dupree & The Big Sound, which featured the multi-instrumental Shulman brothers Derek, Ray, and Phil. They joined with guitarist Gary Green, keyboard player Kerry Minnear, and a series of drummers (John Weathers most consistently) to play music beyond the scope of ordinary rock, though with still a hint of blues in Green's guitar. Minnear's elaborate arrangements featured elements of both medieval polyphony and twentieth century composition. In particular, the complex four-part vocal arrangements give the band its unusual character, with each part functioning independently rather than forming simple harmonies. The instrumental parts were just as complex, often featuring interlocking parts often in odd meters, all backed by a solid drum pattern.
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Gentle Giant
Once I was a boy, an innocent to life and my role in it,
This world played my game, and anyone a clown or foil for
myself.
The harmless affairs, and no-one seemed to care for any
meaning
My life was my own, The debt I paid, I paid it only to
myself.
The unseeing youth, how can it be so shallow and short-
sighted
These years passed me by, to realise the folly of these unripe
years.
Now I am a man, I realise
My unworldly sins pained many lives
Yet I heard, heard with ears that wouldn't listen
And still I watched and I saw with blinkered eyes.
But with age the conscience slowly dawns and bonds of
duty gently tied
All my sins, seen through now there is experience and
recollecting act in virgin guise.
Master inner voices, making the choices.
Once I could rebel and consequences then had no reflection
And I am a man, And I am bound by adult age discretion
now