Close To The Edge. ( Archived) (9)

Close to the Edge (song)
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"Close to the Edge"

Song by Yes
from the album Close to the Edge
Released 1972
Genre Progressive Rock
Length 18:44
Label Atlantic Records
Producer(s) Yes and Eddie Offord
Close to the Edge track listing
Beginning of album "Close to the Edge"
(1) "And You and I"
(2)

"Close to the Edge" is the title track to progressive rock band Yes's album of the same name. The song is over 18 minutes in length and takes up the entire first side of the album. It consists of four movements.
Contents


* 1 I. The Solid Time of Change
* 2 II. Total Mass Retain
* 3 III. I Get Up I Get Down
* 4 IV. Seasons of Man
* 5 Lyrics
* 6 External links

I. The Solid Time of Change

The song begins with low sounds of birds chirping, taken from "environmental tapes" that Jon Anderson collected, suddenly bursting into a much louder riff. The first several minutes include vocals without lyrics that hum along with the melody. About 4 minutes in, the lyrics are introduced; along with a chorus that remains throughout the song, though it will be developed in many different ways, with changes on the lyrics, time signature, tempo, key and harmony:

Close to the edge, round by the corner...
Not right away, not right away
Close to the edge, down by a river...
Not right away, not right away

II. Total Mass Retain

The song continues with generally the same melody and style. It should be noted that the chorus here changes to a faster pace, and then slows down again at the end of the section. The final words "I get up, I get down" introduce the next segment.

III. I Get Up I Get Down

The song significantly slows its tempo and lowers its volume. This segment, beginning with a small baroque piece, consists of two sets of vocals: the main vocals, sung by Anderson which contain most of the lyrics, and the backing vocals, sung by Chris Squire and Steve Howe, which are noticeably slower and contain some non-lyrical parts. At about 12 minutes into the song, a church organ begins to play the main theme of this segment which changes from a minor to a major key as the music progresses.

IV. Seasons of Man

The original, fast-paced theme picks up followed by musical and lyrical structure which sounds similar to "The Solid Time of Change," though here Rick Wakeman's organ parts are particularly complex. The chorus is sung one last time before the vocals build up to the climax of the song in which all three motifs presented in the prior movements ("A seasoned witch...", "close to the edge, down by the river", "Seasons will pass you by, I get up I get down") are combined to a fugue-like whole. Afterwards, the final lyrics "I get up, I get down" are repeated as the song fades away into the "sounds of nature" in which it began.

Lyrics

According to the band's official website, Yesworld, the song is inspired by Hermann Hesse's book Siddhartha, an explanation which can cast the cryptic and mysterious lyrics in a new light, tracking the awakening of Hesse's character "close to the edge" of a river (and, symbolically, of the serial lifetimes of his soul) where he experiences a spiritual awakening. According to that point of view, the lyrics are about how people can seek spiritual illumination, and find a new state of mind, living a whole life. In addition, Anderson was also concerned about how the words sounded, sometimes more than what they meant, creating, thus, verses that often don't seem to mean anything, such as "The time between the notes relates the colour to the scenes".

Excellent post Sir.

I loved this album from almost the first time I heard it. To this day, it is one of the few that I still listen to with great pleasure. Yes, what an enduring gift to lovers of music!

Don't forget their song Round About. I love all of YES'S song/albums

Song, South side of the sky.

Moody Blues and YES What a bunch of Rocking music.!!!!!!

Hey!
I see you've been doing some musical homework again Bulldog!!

You know I am one of the biggest "YES" fans in the world!!

An "Emerson, Lake and Palmer" fan too!
The other day on our local news station during the weather report, they were playing "Welcome Back My friends" from "Brain Salad Surgery", I couldn't believe it, but it was fun to hear!!