Beat was inspired by the history and writings of the
Beat Generation, spurred on by the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of Beat writer
Jack Kerouac's novel
On the Road. Adrian Belew recalls being "prompted by a note saying 'I'm wheels, I am moving wheels'" given to him by Robert Fripp, who suggested that Beat writings become the "lyrical underpinning" of the album after he saw Belew reading a work by Kerouac. Opening track "Neal and Jack and Me" references Kerouac and
Neal Cassady. Besides
On the Road, the lyrics also mention Kerouac's novels
The Subterraneans,
Visions of Cody and
Satori in Paris. The song was released as a B-side to "
Heartbeat", the album's lone single. Musically, "Neal and Jack and Me" picks up where
Discipline left off, with Fripp and Belew playing patterns in and . "Heartbeat" is also the name of a book written by Cassady's wife
Carolyn. "Sartori in Tangier" derives its title from Kerouac's
Satori in Paris and the city of
Tangier in
Morocco, where a number of Beat writers and
Paul Bowles (whose
The Sheltering Sky provided the title for a track on
Discipline) spent time. The instrumental's distinctive intro was performed by
Tony Levin on the
Chapman Stick; the introduction was longer on early live versions. "Neurotica" shares its title with
Neurotica, a Beat-era magazine. The song's
Frippertronics intro is lifted directly from "Hååden Two" from Fripp's 1979 solo album
Exposure. It had been performed live in 1981 as an instrumental titled "Manhattan". The recording of the final track, "Requiem", created tension between Fripp and Belew. The instrumental was built on a Frippertronics loop from Fripp's 1979 solo tour. After Levin and Bruford recorded rhythm tracks, Belew returned to the studio alone to record additional guitar overdubs. Fripp later did the same, though when the group had re-convened, Belew told Fripp to leave the studio in response. Fripp, though visibly upset, complied and headed for his home in
Wimborne Minster. He was not heard from for several days, though a letter from Bruford and a phone call from manager Paddy Spinks led the group to "piece it all back together" and Belew would later apologise. However, the group did not reconvene until the beginning of their subsequent tour. Fripp recalled that "at the time, Bill and Adrian thought that
Beat was better than
Discipline. For me, this [was] an indication of how far the band had already drifted from its original vision. The group broke up at the end of [the sessions]...I had nothing to do with the mixing of
Beat, nor did I feel able to promote it. Somehow we absorbed that fact, and kept going." Belew considered the sessions "the most awful record-making experience of [his] life and one [he] would never choose to repeat", and both he and Bruford have stated in retrospect that "Heartbeat" and "Two Hands" should not have been included on the album. == Release and reception ==