Music Monday: Yes/Close to the Edge (Side One)

Well now we have reached the point where Yes is well established and start to expand their horizons. They have progressed to the point where some of their songs have gotten longer and longer (Heart of the Sunrise was over 10 minutes). This time, they created a piece of music that took up the entire length of side one. But first, the album cover:

Another Roger Dean cover. This one is very simple (it's the inside cover that continues the story from Fragile). The main thing is the "new" Yes logo. The classic logo began right here.

And now the music. I must say that it takes awhile for this one to sink in. It took me many listens over several months to fully appreciate this song. Side One is the title track, and it is composed of four parts. According to co-composer Jon Anderson, it is inspired by Hermann Hesse's book Siddhartha. The song tracks 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. This album is a masterpiece and is considered one of the best progressive albums of all time.

Here's the song with a breakdown of the movements following it.

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I. The Solid Time of Change

The progressive nature of the piece is revealed immediately as the song fades in with the sounds of running water, wind chimes, and birds chirping; a layering of sounds derived primarily from "environmental tapes" collected by lead vocalist Jon Anderson. These nature sounds move through a crescendo and into a somewhat menacing guitar solo, the backdrop for which is a cacophonous musical passage that serves as a replacement for the natural cacophony that preceded it. The guitar solo is punctuated by a series of sudden vocals. Again, a crescendo signals a transformation, this time into a more down to earth melody. Like a classical composition, this melodic passage is the establishment of a theme that will go through many variations throughout the life of the song. About four minutes into the piece, the lyrics are introduced, along with a chorus that remains throughout the song. Like the previously established melody, this chorus will be developed in many different ways, which will include changes to the lyrical content, as well as changes in time and key signatures, tempo, 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 ( (Beginning at 6:04)

The song continues with generally the same melody and style, though the bass part changes significantly. 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.
This section, along with a sped-up version of the introduction of birds chirping at the beginning and a small part of the beginning of "I Get Up I Get Down" at the end, was remixed as a 3:21 single prior to the release of the album. It was included as a bonus track on the re-mastered version of "Close to the Edge". This is the shortest of the four sections of "Close to the Edge".

 III. I Get Up I Get Down (Beginning at 8:29)

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 major to a minor key as the music progresses.

 IV. Seasons of Man (Beginning at 14:13)

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. It is worth noting that the bass line of this segment is actually a combination of the bass lines from the first two movements of the song.

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