Talk:Tarkus (suite)

Lyrics
Much of this section seems to be some fan's interpretive fantasy. There's no evidence that creatures in the sleeve art are literally *named* 'Mass' or 'Iconoclast'. Only "Manticore" plausibly refers to a creature name. In the real world the words 'Mass' and 'iconoclast' have religious meanings -- and Greg Lake's lyrics for 'Mass' are more likely a reference to *that* meaning. The claim that the guitar break in Mass represents the 'Mass' creature being 'overpowered' is also pure conjecture. As for the name Tarkus, I'm aware of William Neal's story about it, but Keith Emerson himself once said it might have been inspired by "Tarka the Otter'!Krabapple (talk) 19:59, 25 October 2021 (UTC)

Second half of the album
I don't see how the second half of the album in ANY WAY is a continuation of the adventures of Tarkus. Seeing as the first track on the second half is about a cross-dresser, not an armadillo-tank-thing. I'm removing this statement accordingly - if someone can justify the second half of the album being a continuation of Tarkus's adventures, then do so, and add the statement back in. --GurTheFred 08:32, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

Image copyright problem with Image:Tarkus.jpg
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"Eruption" Time Signature Change
I changed the "Tarkus theme" time signature in "Eruption" to 5/4 (from 10/8). The official Tarkus music book published by ELP's company Manticore Music lists 5/4 as the time signature. (Also, it's really obvious, or should be, that the tempo is not so fast as the person who listed it as 10/8 would seem to indicate). Do not revert unless you have a more compelling source for the 10/8 reference. Pernoctus (talk) 15:10, 19 May 2012 (UTC)

Estonian?
Long ago, an IP editor added "The word 'tarkus' means wisdom in Estonian Language." It's been there for about four years, but without any explanation of how that relates to the song, other than the coincidence of names. Yesterday, I removed that, explaining the basis in my edit summary. Today it was restored without explanation by.

As I mentioned in my edit summary, there doesn't seem to be any connection between the Estonian word and this musical piece. What does the Estonian word have to do with the song? Is there any indication that Emerson named the piece Tarkus because he knew the Estonian word? McLennonSon, if you could explain the basis for re-adding it, that would be helpful.

I'll hold off reverting for the moment, but absent some non-WP:OR indication that the Estonian word is related to the song, it should be removed.

As an aside, if there is some basis for its retention, it certainly does not belong in the lede, per WP:LEDE. TJRC (talk) 18:51, 8 January 2015 (UTC)


 * I guess you're right about the relevancy of the Estonian thing, but as a mediocre Estonian speaker, I've thought this fact was kind of cool. But I guess that we might move it to the trivia section, instead. –– ♫ Mara ♫  20:05, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
 * If it doesn't have anything to do with the song, it shouldn't be in the article, not even in a trivia section. Note also that "Trivia sections should be avoided."  This article doesn't have one, and it would be a diminishment to the article, not an improvement.  (There must be a better antonym for "improvement," but I'm stumped.) TJRC (talk) 20:19, 8 January 2015 (UTC)

Based on the foregoing discussion, I'm removing the statement. TJRC (talk) 17:16, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

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My Questions and Statements.
When does Tarkus actually "die"? The way I see it, after being defeated, but not killed, by the Manticore, he is simply weakened, so he rests in a lake and obtains a new form, Aquatarkus.

Also, the Keith Emerson Tribute Concert featured an orchestral performance of Tarkus. — Preceding unsigned comment added by TarkusELP (talk • contribs) 19:02, 17 April 2017 (UTC)

Since "Aquatarkus" is the last movement, this creates a sort of "Buried, but not dead" effect to the story.
What the hell is this? The words "Buried, but not dead" do not appear in the linked article, plus the 'source' cited is fucking songfacts.com, lol. I'm excising this.