Spirit of the Age

Spirit of the Age is a 1977 song by the UK rock group Hawkwind. It was originally recorded and issued on the album Quark, Strangeness and Charm.

The lyrics of the song are composed of two of Robert Calvert's science fiction poems, the first verse being "The Starfarer's Despatch", which he had recited at shows whilst being the "resident poet" in the band in 1971, and the second being "The Clone's Poem". Both of these poems were published amongst a collection of his poetry issued as Centigrade 232, published by Quasar in 1978. Throughout the song is a rhythmic electronic pulse. This repeated sound is the Morse Code for SOS (dot-dot-dot,dash-dash-dash,dot-dot-dot).

The song was a popular addition to the band's live set and even remained after Calvert's departure from the band in 1979. A more aggressive version of the song with vocals by Brock was issued on the Live Seventy Nine album in 1980.

1993 Mixes

The song was subject to various remixes and issued as the Spirit Of The Age - Solstice Mixes EP in June 1993 on 4-Real Records (4R1). Mixes were by Astralasia (Marc Swordfish, Nosmo) and produced by Salt Tank (David Gates & Malcolm Stanners).

12"

"Spirit Of The Age" Full Vocal Mix (Calvert/Brock) – 9:56
"Spirit Of The Age" Hard Trance Mix (Calvert/Brock) – 8:43
"Spirit Of The Age" Cyber Trance Mix (Calvert/Brock) – 9:52
"Spirit Of The Age" Flesh To Phantasy Mix (Calvert/Brock) – 12:06

CD

"Spirit Of The Age" Radio Edit (Calvert/Brock)
"Spirit Of The Age" Full Vocal Mix (Calvert/Brock)
"Spirit Of The Age" Cyber Trance Mix (Calvert/Brock)
"Spirit Of The Age" Flesh to Phantasy Ambient Remix (Calvert/Brock)

Note: The band performed a very rare second encore at the 1993 Brixton Academy gig, where they mimed along to "The Full Vocal Mix", with both members of Salt Tank on stage.

2004 single

In 2004 the band recorded a new studio version of the song which was issued as a single in two different formats. The first verse featured a vocal by tabloid journalist Matthew Wright who, while interviewing the band on a London radio show, had revealed that he was a big fan of the band. This version was included on their Take Me to Your Leader album.

CD1

"Spirit Of The Age" (Calvert/Brock) – Radio Edit
"Angela Android" (Chadwick) – Live Version
"Assassins of Allah" [aka "Hassan-i Sabbah"/"Space is Their (Palestine)"] (Calvert/Rudolph/Brock) – Live Version

CD2

"Spirit Of The Age" (Calvert/Brock) – Live Version
"Paradox" (Brock) – New studio version

External links

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

Hawkwind

Dave Brock Richard Chadwick Mr Dibs Niall Hone Dead Fred Haz Wheaton Nik Turner Dik Mik Terry Ollis John Harrison Mick Slattery Huw Lloyd-Langton Thomas Crimble Del Dettmar Dave Anderson Simon King Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister Robert Calvert Simon House Alan Powell Paul Rudolph Adrian Shaw Harvey Bainbridge Paul Hayles Steve Swindells Martin Griffin Keith Hale Ginger Baker Andy Anderson Robert Heaton Rik Martinez Alan Davey Clive Deamer Danny Thompson Jr. Bridget Wishart Ron Tree Jerry Richards Jason Stuart Tim Blake

Studio albums	Hawkwind In Search of Space Doremi Fasol Latido Hall of the Mountain Grill Warrior on the Edge of Time Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music Quark, Strangeness and Charm 25 Years On (as Hawklords) PXR5 Levitation Sonic Attack Church of Hawkwind Choose Your Masques The Chronicle of the Black Sword The Xenon Codex Space Bandits Electric Tepee It Is the Business of the Future to Be Dangerous White Zone Alien 4 Distant Horizons In Your Area Spacebrock Take Me to Your Leader Take Me to Your Future Blood of the Earth Onward Stellar Variations (as Hawkwind Light Orchestra) The Machine Stops

Live albums	Space Ritual Live Seventy Nine Live Chronicles Palace Springs The Business Trip Love in Space Hawkwind 1997 Yule Ritual Canterbury Fayre 2001 Spaced Out in London Knights of Space Space Ritual Live

Archive albums	The Weird Tapes Hawkwind, Friends and Relations The Text of Festival Zones This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic Bring Me the Head of Yuri Gagarin Space Ritual Volume 2 Hawkwind Anthology Out & Intake BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert The Friday Rock Show Sessions Hawklords Live California Brainstorm Undisclosed Files Addendum The 1999 Party Glastonbury 90 Choose Your Masques: Collectors Series Volume 2 Complete '79: Collectors Series Volume 1 Atomhenge 76 Live 1990

Compilation albums	Roadhawks Masters of the Universe Repeat Performance Angels of Death Spirit of the Age Stasis (The UA Years 1971 – 1975) Tales from Atom Henge Epocheclipse Future Reconstructions – Ritual of the Solstice Masters of Rock The Collection Spirit of the Age Anthology The Dream Goes On Spacehawks

Singles	"Hurry On Sundown" "Silver Machine" "Urban Guerrilla" "Psychedelic Warlords" "Kings of Speed" "Kerb Crawler" "Back on the Streets" "Quark, Strangeness and Charm" "Psi Power" "25 Years" "Shot Down in the Night" "Who's Gonna Win the War?" "Angels of Death" The Earth Ritual Preview EP "Needle Gun" "Zarozinia" Decide Your Future EP Quark, Strangeness and Charm EP Area S4 EP "Love In Space" "Spirit of the Age" Sonic Attack (with Brian Blessed) A Solitary Man

Associated acts	Ant-Bee Sonic Assassins Hawklords Space Ritual Hawklords (2008)

Related articles	Discography Members Videography Barney Bubbles Liquid Len Stacia Hawkfest Michael Moorcock

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