King Crimson – Happy Family lyrics

The lyrics are a coded reference to the break up of the beatles, who are here represented as a family - 'cousin silas' is george, 'jonah john', 'uncle rufus' ringo and 'brother judas' paul, probably because he was the one who initiated the break up of the band because he disagreed with the others over the invovlment of allen klein in their business affairs. Some of the clues are easier to decipher than others - obviously the 'whipped the world and beat the clock, wound up with their share of stock' relate to the bands enormous global success, and the 'four went on but none came back' relates to the fact of the band's demise. Grip-pipe thynne was a character in the goons, a favourite series of lennon in particular, so perhaps he's the one crying out 'we're not rin tin'. This is itself a reference to the dog saved in ww1 that was taught to peform amazing feats, so I think this section refers to the band not wanting to be a performing group, certainly not one that made 'cheesecake' (or 'cheesy') music or went on and on as long as the 'mousetrap' (the world's longest running stage play). Perhaps this is because the 'applause' of the crowds has turned 'pale' so everyone is looking for a way out, although the fact that the door is 'revolving' is perhaps a clue that it's not so easy to escape a world of fame when you've been a beatle.