A retooled version of DEEP PURPLE‘s “Child In Time”, which originally appeared on the band’s fourth album, 1970’s “Deep Purple In Rock”, is featured in the trailer for Netflix‘s trailer for the fifth and final season of “Stranger Things”. Check it out below.
The newest season of the hit show will be released in three parts: the first debuting on November 26, the second December 25 and the series finale on December 31.
The official synopsis for “Stranger Things 5” reads: “Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will‘s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.”
“Stranger Things” previously featured METALLICA‘s “Master Of Puppets” in the season 4 finale. Apparently as a result of the renewed attention the song received thanks to being featured in Netflix‘s hit original series, “Master Of Puppets” landed on the Spotify charts and later joined Spotify‘s Billions Club.
In a November 2022 interview with Spain’s RockFM, DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan discussed his apparent unwillingness to perform “Child In Time” live. He explained: “No, no. It’s not possible. I could drop the key down, but it wouldn’t sound the same. I always make the analogy… When I was young, I used to be an athlete, and I used to do the pole vault; that was my sport. And when I was 25, I couldn’t do the pole vault anymore. At 26, no, forget it. I can’t do it.
“I always thought of ‘Child In Time’ not as a song but more like an Olympic event. It was so challenging. But yeah, when I was young, it was effortless. So we got to the point when I got to about 38 years old, and it just didn’t sound right. So I thought, ‘Better not to do it badly. Better not to do it.’ So it’s been the same, and I never looked [back].
“When I was 38, when I made that decision, I thought, ‘My god. I’m nearly halfway through my life now,'” Gillan added. ‘And it made me think about the future. Do I want to be a singer for the rest of my life? Well, of course. I must. I’ve been singing since I was five years old in a church choir, or since I was eight. And my whole family was musical — singers, musicians. And so, what do I do then? I don’t wanna just be known for this scream, as it was called; I don’t wanna be screaming when I’m 80 years old or 70 years old. It’s undignified. But here I am, at 77, and I’m still screaming — up to a point. But the control element and the elevation of that note is beyond me, to be honest.”
“Child in Time” was last performed by DEEP PURPLE on its 2002 European tour.
DEEP PURPLE bassist Roger Glover previously talked about Gillan‘s reluctance to perform “Child in Time” during an August 2020 interview with Noise11.com. He said at the time: “This happened quite a few years ago. He drew a line in the sand. He said, ‘I’m not gonna sing that song anymore.’ And that was a personal decision. And we have to abide by that, because he’s our singer, and we respect that.
“We wrote that song when we were 24, and when you’re 24, you can do things a lot differently than you can when you’re 74,” he continued. “I think it was also spoiled a little bit by politics in the band back in the days. Ian Gillan, one night, couldn’t go on and he said, ‘I’ve got a cold. I can’t do ‘Child In Time’ tonight.’ And [then-DEEP PURPLE guitarist] Ritchie [Blackmore] went on and started playing the opening chords. Of course, the audience went nuts, and Ian was forced to do it. So it became a bit of a cause célèbre. And as Ian got older, he tried to do it, but we didn’t wanna cheat and have the top harmony played by a sampler or a guitar or something like that. And so he said, ‘That’s it. I’m not singing that song ever again.’ And it’s not that he’s not proud of it; it’s just that he doesn’t wanna sing it. And this was… I don’t know how long ago this was… Ten, fifteen years ago.”
