Lyric discussion by passionatearts 

This is my favorite song by ELP and a real masterpiece of progressive rock. The song seems to be about the futility of war.

The "Battlefield" section of the song shares a lot of similarities with "Epitaph" by King Crimson. I read that when ELP played "Tarkus" in concert, they'd play some excerpts from "Epitaph" when they got to that section.

Did anyone else notice the band paying tribute to "Mars: Bringer of War" (from "The Planets" by Gustav Holst) at the end of "Tarkus?" The ending to "Tarkus" and ending to "Mars" are very similar.

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