This song makes me cry every time I hear it. When my late son was two years old, he would sit in my lap on the floor and we would listen to this over and over, swaying the whole time. A parent should never outlive their child.
Not a sharp critique, but I have noticed that Andy, especially in the last year, tends to stop a track before it actually finishes. Yeah, last split-second gem-of-moments get lost. What happened to "proper fade?" How would you know if you don't hold on until the track is actually over? Again, respect. But that's been getting sloppy recently.
Glad I saw this before it happened to my viewing. “I insist on knowing bad news up front”. It still won’t be good, but I will probably not wish death upon them. 😅
Someone pointed me to a spreadsheet of all the songs you've already hit. Of course, I can't find it now so . . . A small list, in order, Awaken Parallels Machine Messiah Sound Chaser
My favourite live version is the one included on their box set from about ‘95 (yellow packaging, disc 4). I think that was from a concert in Houston. The studio version seems watered down by comparison.
Saw him play it three weeks ago in Peachtree City...Sounded exactly like the album...Including his voice. He's 79 and still putting on EXCELLENT concerts.
Part of the magic of "And You And I" is how it perfectly bridges between "Close To The Edge" and "Siberian Khatru". It is actually quite a unique track, focused upon lushness in a way that few progressive tracks before it ever had.
If only they had had the sense on the "Tales From Topographic Oceans" to distill the ideas to four pieces in this vein for one album instead of four sidelong songs on double album.
I had 2 $500 each JBL speakers with my full stereo set I bought during high school with my first summer job. Then I heard they'll be in Vancouver, with a friend of mine we drove 20 hours to get there. The concert was excellent. Nearly everyone there were serious musicphiles there, listening and experiencing Yes In The Round concert. It was the first concert that wasn't thick with smoke, just enough to enjoy the experience better. Their the group that made me want to learn how to play music, guitar first then piano.
Awaken might be the greatest prog song ever. Jon Anderson's version with the Icelandic ensemble called Todmobile made this 56 year old Southern boy ugly cry.
@@JimGeigerMusic Mmm. I like me some Awaken but I see Fragile and CttE with Bruford and Wakeman as their peak. Better than the song CttE? Better than Khatru? Roundabout? South Side of the Sky? Heart of the Sunrise?
Junior High School ice skating at my friend’s pond. He had these incredible outdoor speakers. We’d listen to Close to the Edge and skate; floating, spinning and singing at the top of our lungs. It was a time that will never be forgotten. ❤️.
Often considered the greatest prog rock album of all time. Steve Howe plays 12 string, electric guitar through a leslie, a vihuela, and pedal steel guitar! Rick Wakeman playing piano, mellotron, synth(mini moog), B3 organ… Chris Squire bass, Bill Bruford drums, and of course Jon Anderson on vocals!!! Wow this album is perfection ❤️
The sheer amount of time spent in-studio to achieve this level of precise, complex perfection is something lost to today's music artists. A huge part of what defined the "Yes" generation of music.
Class of '74 here. Way back in 1971, after reading a review in Rolling Stone, I took a chance and spent my meager allowance on an unknown band called YES, and it turned out to be their breakthrough record, "The Yes Album." It changed everything I thought I knew about music. Rock and roll was never the same. Rock came of age in the 70s and so did I. Glorious days!
This song always reminded me of The Hobbit I was reading it in Middle School while smoking dirt weed in my garage highly recommend closing your eyes all the lights out and listen to this song😮
Still treasure my "Close to the Edge" and "Yes Songs" albums. My absolute favorite out of all the songs is this one. Learned the lyrics very early and still can sing along like I used to do 50 years ago. The orchestration takes me to another place when I listen to this. I’m 66 and this makes me feel young again. Thanks for loving this song like I do. You guys are wise beyond your years.
Yay! Back to Yes! This was the very first album I ever bought. I was 14, it was 1977. Rode my bicycle 2 miles to the record store (remember those?) and bought the 8-track of Close to the Edge. It became the soundtrack of high school homework because it would just keep playing until you pulled the cartridge out. 47 years later and it still isn't old.
Close to the edge was my first concert ever, in Detroit, Cobo Arena. I was barely a teen ager. The laser show, The over the top mush-roomy fantasy multi level stage, the perfect flawless recreation of the album… it literally changed my life musically. I was blown away. It was perfect.
Turn of the Century is a captivating song which showcases Jon Anderson's vocal prowess along with Howe's guitar splendor. It will be an impactful listen!
I was in 4th grade ( early 70's ) when I heard Yes , Roundabout and I was FLOORED . I was on vacation at the time at my Grandmothers house and she didn't have a stereo or record player . But I walked to this strip mall and bought the 45 of Roundabout . I had to wait nearly two months to get back home and play it . Then I saved my 1 dollar a week allowance once home and bought the Yes , Fragile album at a Dime store ( called Ben Franklin's ) on the way to school . I kept opening my desk just amazed at the cover and when I got home I played it NONSTOP . That's when my Dad handed me a set of headphones he got from Radio Shack and it made the album come alive ! It will always be my favorite album I ( out of over 1500 ) , As you can see I LOVE MUSIC . I don't understand how people only like one type of music or don't spend most of their time listening to it . I can listen to Patsy Cline one minute and Ministry the next and get the same lost in it feeling as the other . I think I got it from my aunt and uncle they also have large collections . I love music...and concerts ( about 170 or so of them ) . I hope don't think I am bragging ...I just love music that much . Enjoy life , it's much too short and goes by fast . PK
I had just moved to a new place and didn’t know anyone so it was lonely. This song came on in my car and life was ok for a moment. Music is a forever bond.
One band that Geddy Lee has never been scared to effuse about is English prog-rock pioneers Yes... In fact, the group’s original frontman, Jon Anderson, is the Rush vocalist’s favourite singer of all time... There’s no surprise that when it comes to the song that makes him cry, it’s a Yes number... Geddy revealed that it was this classic song. Explaining that it’s a “combination” of nostalgia and sonic magnificence that forces his tears ducts open, he said: “‘And You and I’ by Yes is so beautiful, especially when I listen to it now. The combination of nostalgia and pure sonic beauty is pretty moving.” - Excerpts from Far Out Magazine 2023
Takes me back to my school days in the early 70’s getting all my mates into groups like Yes Genesis Pink Floyd ELP etc What great times feel very lucky it was in our time
These songs are so tied to us on so many levels. Our memories are woven amoung the music we had the priviledge of growing to adulthood with. Tears will be shed. ❤
Some of the greatest concerts I've ever attended (between 1973 and 1979) were Yes shows. In the end, my all-time favorite prog band and one of the greatest bands period. Someone get me a time machine and two floor-seat tickets for the Relayer tour.
Yes, Yes has to be listened to. It is not a party song or a radio groove. It is a song for just drifting along. More like jazz or classical than rock in that way.
I can also suggest “Awaken” from Yes’ “Going For the One” (1977). A 15-minute epic closer of a track. They reach the heights of their previous, best work, perhaps for the last time. Wakeman’s church organ. Anderson’s angelic voice. Highly recommended.
Alex needs to do that voice more often. It’s been a while since I genuinely laughed watching RUclips. 😅…. massive Yes fan here. Had all there albums from the early 70’s to 90125 in ‘83.
Many of us first heard this song in the 3:25 single version in the fall of 1972, which almost (but not quite) broke into the Billboard Top 40. As with their Your Move (a/k/a I've Seen All Good People), the original 45 has been largely forgotten.
For me this is S Tier, beautifully conceived and performed, no attention paid to trends, the charts, or any of that show biz stuff, just pure art of music. In my mind it just doesn't get any better than this.
Summer 1979 , sitting on a Connecticut beach with friends. Spur of the moment idea to see Yes playing that night "in the round" at New Haven Coliseum. First of five times seeing them. Eargasms, start to finish.
Arguably this song is part of one of the greatest albums of our time. All 3 songs are perfectly created and performed. I say this every time you cover a Yes track, but do yourselves a favour and listen to the triple album Yessongs that was recorded live during this era. It honestly changed the trajectory of my young life back in 1972.
1977 I was 15. I was invited to my neighbors house to hang out with 18 year olds from the local high school. It was a “Yes Party” and everyone was stoned and they made green spinach pasta and super hippie foods like deviled eggs and fondue! I was amazed, just a kid lucky enough to hang with them. Then everyone shut up, I cozied up on the couch in between this long haired guy and girl, they smelled of patchouli and oils we’d get at the local orient bong store. Again they’re 18, and I was 15, we listened and literally drifted into an entirely different universe for over an hour. Silence. And a reverence for this band that I had never experienced before. People just meditated and I just drifted. “Close to the Edge” title track was monumental. Nothing compares to this experience, except the first time I heard Rush’s Hemispheres. But, that’s a whole other story.
When your mind gets opened by this music when you’re just 12 years old… it never fails to communicate to that part of your soul & sensibilities. Yes has been part of my imagination now for 54 years and I still listen to them all the time. So many travels with them!
"Light yet transcendent at the same time." Perfect description Andy. In fact this was a great song breakdown by both of you. The one comment I would add is that "And You And I" is one of the best examples of how Jon Anderson's voice functions as a musical instrument that's vital to the composition.
Me too. My college roommate was an acoustic guitar savant and would warm up for a practice session by playing the opening riffs of this song. When I asked what it was he put the album on. After that I was mesmerized... for life.
What prog means is that it is the S-tier of rock. The summum bonum. The mistletoe that is evergreen by living on the highest branches. To give "Brandy" an S but this less is, well, assbackwards. "Brandy, you're a fine girl, what a good wife you would be." is in kindergarten while Yes is getting their PhD. But I am glad you got it up to a point. Age and experience will fill in those gaps, he said with mock condescension. But just as it incumbent upon us to read above our level, for us to grow, it is also important to listen above our level. So I am glad to be listening to these prog renaissance masterpieces. We are at the very beginning of yet another renaissance, just like '94 with the net and ''64 with the British Invasion bringing color and culture to America. Exciting times!
❤❤❤❤❤❤YES!! Such a great song !! Yes Jon Anderson had a beautiful voice!! The harmonies are perfect and the transitions are out of this world!! A mesmerizing song ❤️❤️❤️❤️!!
In the USA, pedal steel guitar was synonymous with old-style country and western music. To hear Howe master the instrument and use it to play progressive rock wa a real stunner.
In today's hectic, polarized, stress inducing, blood-pressure-raising atmosphere, any Yes epic can calm and center me within seconds. The effect on me seems magical. Seeing this music done well live has the same effect times 100. I have been blessed to have seen Yes at least a dozen times.
A&A, I appreciate you keep hitting my all time favorite group. I highly recommend Awaken, which Anderson and Wakman have called their favorite Yes song. You may find your first song that goes beyond S tier.
Oh yes, this is easily one of my top 5 favorite songs of all time. Such a masterpiece. Everything just sounds so Lush. Can’t believe the made this in 72
I saw Yes in Jersey City New Jersey in 1974 never realizing how rich and blessed I was at 14 years old. I wouldn’t trade those years for anything. Glad you can enjoy the beauty of music we enjoyed so freely in the seventies 😊
Finally. This is one of the best songs Yes ever recorded. The feel of the song as it enters the last verse in the "The Preacher, The Teacher" section ("I listened hard, but could not see...") when the bass and drums come back in is just sublime. The way the instrumental melodies gel with Jon's vocals brings a tear to my eyes every time. If you're feeling like reacting to more prog stuff, you really need to hit some more Genesis. The Cinema Show, Dancing with the Moonlit Knight, The Musical Box and Dance on a Volcano are my suggestions.
![Twenty One Pilots - The Line (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XCz7WUotXs8/mqdefault.jpg)
I graduated HS in 1972. How spoiled was my generation in all things? 71 now and I would not trade my life with you young men. It has been glorious.
We were blessed with the BEST music, tv, etc. Thankfully we have technology to access it now
I'm 72 and I saw Yes in 73. I still have that album. We had a great youth back then.
@@Mr05Chuck 1973 here. I agree! Don't really think the reviews can fully understand , they would have to have lived through it.
66 here, but most of the people who we hung with played the good stuff from the past
Hear hear! I cannot imagine growing up in a different time. It had its rough spots but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Peace!
This song makes me cry every time I hear it. When my late son was two years old, he would sit in my lap on the floor and we would listen to this over and over, swaying the whole time. A parent should never outlive their child.
So sorry.
🙏🎶🙏
Love and light to you- he lives on, held gently in your heart.
I hear you..❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
😢❤ Sorry for your loss
Im 70 now and listening to this is like a big warm blanket full of memories 💕
❤
Yes !!!
Class of 72 ya .😮
Guy's, you DON'T cut the track at the end. You missed the final note sliding up into the heavens!
I was waiting for that final note!
Agree, I can’t believe you guys missed the end of the song! Left me hanging on the edge of my seat!
Not a sharp critique, but I have noticed that Andy, especially in the last year, tends to stop a track before it actually finishes. Yeah, last split-second gem-of-moments get lost. What happened to "proper fade?" How would you know if you don't hold on until the track is actually over? Again, respect. But that's been getting sloppy recently.
Glad I saw this before it happened to my viewing. “I insist on knowing bad news up front”. It still won’t be good, but I will probably not wish death upon them. 😅
Someone pointed me to a spreadsheet of all the songs you've already hit. Of course, I can't find it now so . . .
A small list, in order,
Awaken
Parallels
Machine Messiah
Sound Chaser
This song is so intense in concert. Always brings the house down.
My favourite live version is the one included on their box set from about ‘95 (yellow packaging, disc 4). I think that was from a concert in Houston. The studio version seems watered down by comparison.
that first 'ping' live where it drops just like heaven
Saw him play it three weeks ago in Peachtree City...Sounded exactly like the album...Including his voice. He's 79 and still putting on EXCELLENT concerts.
Seeing it live is a religious experience
This is one act I missed. I did hear about their revolving stage tour Ida loved to have seen.
Part of the magic of "And You And I" is how it perfectly bridges between "Close To The Edge" and "Siberian Khatru". It is actually quite a unique track, focused upon lushness in a way that few progressive tracks before it ever had.
If only they had had the sense on the "Tales From Topographic Oceans" to distill the ideas to four pieces in this vein for one album instead of four sidelong songs on double album.
One of my favorite songs of all time. Nothing else quite like it.
I’m so glad I can revisit my musical youth through you guys, thanks from a 64yr old
Me Too!
Same. 62 here!! We had the best music !!
Can't go wrong with Yes. One of the greatest, most innovative bands ever.
Glorious uplifting song that brings & spreads joy!!! Sublime - the best musicians in rock.😉
I absolutely love this song!! I used to listen to it back in 72 at my parents house using my JBL headphones. Amazing!!
I used to bring this CD (and Steely Dan's AJA) with me to test out new stereo speakers before buying!
Same here! I think i was 16.
You had headphones???!? I lay myself down between the two speakers…. 🤪
On a MARANTZ stereo!!! Go class of 74'
I had 2 $500 each JBL speakers with my full stereo set I bought during high school with my first summer job. Then I heard they'll be in Vancouver, with a friend of mine we drove 20 hours to get there. The concert was excellent. Nearly everyone there were serious musicphiles there, listening and experiencing Yes In The Round concert. It was the first concert that wasn't thick with smoke, just enough to enjoy the experience better. Their the group that made me want to learn how to play music, guitar first then piano.
Now you need to listen to Awaken. A lot of people need to listen to Awaken.
Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes to this!
Wow have they not done it? My god , what an omission!
Awaken might be the greatest prog song ever. Jon Anderson's version with the Icelandic ensemble called Todmobile made this 56 year old Southern boy ugly cry.
@@JimGeigerMusic Mmm. I like me some Awaken but I see Fragile and CttE with Bruford and Wakeman as their peak. Better than the song CttE? Better than Khatru? Roundabout? South Side of the Sky? Heart of the Sunrise?
Junior High School ice skating at my friend’s pond. He had these incredible outdoor speakers. We’d listen to Close to the Edge and skate; floating, spinning and singing at the top of our lungs. It was a time that will never be forgotten. ❤️.
Often considered the greatest prog rock album of all time. Steve Howe plays 12 string, electric guitar through a leslie, a vihuela, and pedal steel guitar! Rick Wakeman playing piano, mellotron, synth(mini moog), B3 organ… Chris Squire bass, Bill Bruford drums, and of course Jon Anderson on vocals!!! Wow this album is perfection ❤️
So much talent in YES !! Phenomenal band !!! Always one of my favs!!
The sheer amount of time spent in-studio to achieve this level of precise, complex perfection is something lost to today's music artists. A huge part of what defined the "Yes" generation of music.
“There'll be no mutant enemy we shall certify
Political ends as sad remains will die
Reach out as forward tastes begin to enter you”
💗
Mutant enemies are the WORST!
@@davidhart8621 😂
My favorite line!
I'm 57 and pray to GOD the new musical talent appreciates and learns from my era's instrumental talents n voices
Class of '74 here. Way back in 1971, after reading a review in Rolling Stone, I took a chance and spent my meager allowance on an unknown band called YES, and it turned out to be their breakthrough record, "The Yes Album." It changed everything I thought I knew about music. Rock and roll was never the same.
Rock came of age in the 70s and so did I. Glorious days!
My story word for word. We've been transfixed by this music for a long, long time.
This song always reminded me of The Hobbit I was reading it in Middle School while smoking dirt weed in my garage highly recommend closing your eyes all the lights out and listen to this song😮
Yes was a breath of fresh air back in the day saw them in their prime and man they could play live as good as the albums
Still treasure my "Close to the Edge" and "Yes Songs" albums. My absolute favorite out of all the songs is this one. Learned the lyrics very early and still can sing along like I used to do 50 years ago. The orchestration takes me to another place when I listen to this. I’m 66 and this makes me feel young again. Thanks for loving this song like I do. You guys are wise beyond your years.
Yay! Back to Yes! This was the very first album I ever bought. I was 14, it was 1977. Rode my bicycle 2 miles to the record store (remember those?) and bought the 8-track of Close to the Edge. It became the soundtrack of high school homework because it would just keep playing until you pulled the cartridge out. 47 years later and it still isn't old.
Nice ✨️🎶✨️
Rick Wakeman is awesome
one of the most amazing songs ever recorded, by ANYONE
Close to the edge is my favorite yes album
Me too, saw it live in 1972, beyond words...
Close to the edge was my first concert ever, in Detroit, Cobo Arena. I was barely a teen ager. The laser show, The over the top mush-roomy fantasy multi level stage, the perfect flawless recreation of the album… it literally changed my life musically. I was blown away. It was perfect.
When I first heard this song as a little girl, I felt like I stepped into a fairy realm. 🧚♀️ 🌼 🌸
This was my first album I ever bought as a teenager. I still absoulutely love these songs.
U guys can still see Jon Anderson live. You'll be amazed 👏 😅
I just saw him in Emhlewood NJ. Amazing as always.
Turn of the Century is a captivating song which showcases Jon Anderson's vocal prowess along with Howe's guitar splendor. It will be an impactful listen!
One of the most beautiful love songs ever written. Like leaves we touch... we dance.
@@MongooseTalesperfect fall song
Yes!!! They should definitely hit this one too!
That whole album IMO is their best.
The greatest of all bands!!!
Their use of time-signatures in this song are simply mind-blowing! Yes has always been great . . . soooo great!
I was in 4th grade ( early 70's ) when I heard Yes , Roundabout and I was FLOORED . I was on vacation at the time at my Grandmothers house and she didn't have a stereo or record player . But I walked to this strip mall and bought the 45 of Roundabout . I had to wait nearly two months to get back home and play it . Then I saved my 1 dollar a week allowance once home and bought the Yes , Fragile album at a Dime store ( called Ben Franklin's ) on the way to school . I kept opening my desk just amazed at the cover and when I got home I played it NONSTOP . That's when my Dad handed me a set of headphones he got from Radio Shack and it made the album come alive ! It will always be my favorite album I ( out of over 1500 ) , As you can see I LOVE MUSIC . I don't understand how people only like one type of music or don't spend most of their time listening to it . I can listen to Patsy Cline one minute and Ministry the next and get the same lost in it feeling as the other . I think I got it from my aunt and uncle they also have large collections . I love music...and concerts ( about 170 or so of them ) . I hope don't think I am bragging ...I just love music that much . Enjoy life , it's much too short and goes by fast . PK
I had just moved to a new place and didn’t know anyone so it was lonely. This song came on in my car and life was ok for a moment. Music is a forever bond.
One band that Geddy Lee has never been scared to effuse about is English prog-rock pioneers Yes... In fact, the group’s original frontman, Jon Anderson, is the Rush vocalist’s favourite singer of all time... There’s no surprise that when it comes to the song that makes him cry, it’s a Yes number... Geddy revealed that it was this classic song. Explaining that it’s a “combination” of nostalgia and sonic magnificence that forces his tears ducts open, he said: “‘And You and I’ by Yes is so beautiful, especially when I listen to it now. The combination of nostalgia and pure sonic beauty is pretty moving.” - Excerpts from Far Out Magazine 2023
A top 3 Yes song for me 🎶
Takes me back to my school days in the early 70’s getting all my mates into groups like Yes Genesis Pink Floyd ELP etc
What great times feel very lucky it was in our time
YES, the greatest show on earth. Love whistling Squire's Harmonica part we heard live. Why am l crying?
✨️🎶✨️
❤
These songs are so tied to us on so many levels. Our memories are woven amoung the music we had the priviledge of growing to adulthood with. Tears will be shed. ❤
Some of the greatest concerts I've ever attended (between 1973 and 1979) were Yes shows. In the end, my all-time favorite prog band and one of the greatest bands period. Someone get me a time machine and two floor-seat tickets for the Relayer tour.
If you well up with tears, you've heard it right.
50 years later and I still cry. Used to sing this to my daughter at bedtime
Yes, Yes has to be listened to. It is not a party song or a radio groove. It is a song for just drifting along. More like jazz or classical than rock in that way.
I can also suggest “Awaken” from Yes’ “Going For the One” (1977). A 15-minute epic closer of a track. They reach the heights of their previous, best work, perhaps for the last time. Wakeman’s church organ. Anderson’s angelic voice. Highly recommended.
Alex needs to do that voice more often. It’s been a while since I genuinely laughed watching RUclips. 😅…. massive Yes fan here. Had all there albums from the early 70’s to 90125 in ‘83.
The greatest album ever recorded 💚
Agree.
One of my favorite Yes songs. You never quite forget where you were the first time you took this listening journey.
YES❣️ One word...masterpiece❗️😎
🎶👑🎶
@@lesblatnyak5947 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👍😎
@@jeffschielka7845 👋🎶🎶🖖
@@chriso6719👍😎
One of my favorites of all time. ❤
Many of us first heard this song in the 3:25 single version in the fall of 1972, which almost (but not quite) broke into the Billboard Top 40. As with their Your Move (a/k/a I've Seen All Good People), the original 45 has been largely forgotten.
thanks to the two of you after listening and owning YES albums for over 50 years i now understand why i love them...thank you
This made me go get all the old Yes albums. Many great songs, different.
For me this is S Tier, beautifully conceived and performed, no attention paid to trends, the charts, or any of that show biz stuff, just pure art of music. In my mind it just doesn't get any better than this.
In concert, magical!
This song is exactly what you need when you filp the record after close to the edge. What a great record♡
Gives me flashbacks of HIGH school 73
This song for me is a journey. A beautiful one❤
Oh, this song is like part of my very DNA now... Yes is my "stranded with only one band to listen to forever" band.❤
Love this song! Also Wondrous Stories! All of yes’ music really is another level!! RIP Chris Squire!❤️
This song never made radio airplay but its probably been my favorite Yes song for a long time. the Live version from Yessongs is amazing.
8th grade, this came out. So exciting. Right after, Yes came to town and my boyfriend had a van and we all went to see them, my first concert, 14 y.o.
I got to see YES 5 times, and each show was spectacular!
49 times live for me. I can die a happy man.
@YESFan1971 I would have seen them more if they came around. Every time they came to town I saw them.
A little lysergic some top notch headphones and a crawl into the hallway closet back in the 70's with this album was where we were at.
Yes! At 6:20 is the best part of the shrooms or windowpane “coming on”!
It also was in the 90s. Don't bother asking me how I know. 🤫
Only one--YES
Summer 1979 , sitting on a Connecticut beach with friends. Spur of the moment idea to see Yes playing that night "in the round" at New Haven Coliseum. First of five times seeing them. Eargasms, start to finish.
Which beach?
I think I had the bootleg tape to that concert.
Such a beautiful track and such a beautiful band🙏❤️
Seeing this song live is a real moving experience. More Yes and Genesis!
Glad to see you guys getting back to this, your Prog reactions were what drew me, and many others, to the channel.
The album is a masterpiece.
The Yessongs version is even more astounding, believe it! Thanks.
I wore out my YesSongs vinyl long ago.
they should watch the entire Yessongs video at the next live stream
The Yessongs version of anything is astounding. Perpetual Change in particular is amazing live.
Please go watch a live version. You will love the pedal steel in this one!
Arguably this song is part of one of the greatest albums of our time. All 3 songs are perfectly created and performed. I say this every time you cover a Yes track, but do yourselves a favour and listen to the triple album Yessongs that was recorded live during this era. It honestly changed the trajectory of my young life back in 1972.
It's hard to pick one, but this may be my favorite Yes song ever. I'm also a class of '72 Yes fan.
1977 I was 15. I was invited to my neighbors house to hang out with 18 year olds from the local high school. It was a “Yes Party” and everyone was stoned and they made green spinach pasta and super hippie foods like deviled eggs and fondue! I was amazed, just a kid lucky enough to hang with them. Then everyone shut up, I cozied up on the couch in between this long haired guy and girl, they smelled of patchouli and oils we’d get at the local orient bong store. Again they’re 18, and I was 15, we listened and literally drifted into an entirely different universe for over an hour. Silence. And a reverence for this band that I had never experienced before. People just meditated and I just drifted. “Close to the Edge” title track was monumental. Nothing compares to this experience, except the first time I heard Rush’s Hemispheres. But, that’s a whole other story.
Finally!!!! Back to some Prog! The best genre and this is the best prog album and band in history! Great song. Thank you. ❤
One of my favourite Yes songs. CTTE album never gets old
“Masterpiece” by masterclass musicians is the only way to describe it!!!!!!
When your mind gets opened by this music when you’re just 12 years old… it never fails to communicate to that part of your soul & sensibilities.
Yes has been part of my imagination now for 54 years and I still listen to them all the time.
So many travels with them!
Back in the 70's, we had "album rock" radio stations. This was a big one. I was a kid when it came out, but I fell in love with it in my teens.
"Light yet transcendent at the same time." Perfect description Andy. In fact this was a great song breakdown by both of you. The one comment I would add is that "And You And I" is one of the best examples of how Jon Anderson's voice functions as a musical instrument that's vital to the composition.
This was the first Yes song I ever heard. Ran out and got both albums they had, and I have seen them 3 times. So good 😊
Me too. My college roommate was an acoustic guitar savant and would warm up for a practice session by playing the opening riffs of this song. When I asked what it was he put the album on. After that I was mesmerized... for life.
What prog means is that it is the S-tier of rock. The summum bonum. The mistletoe that is evergreen by living on the highest branches. To give "Brandy" an S but this less is, well, assbackwards. "Brandy, you're a fine girl, what a good wife you would be." is in kindergarten while Yes is getting their PhD. But I am glad you got it up to a point. Age and experience will fill in those gaps, he said with mock condescension. But just as it incumbent upon us to read above our level, for us to grow, it is also important to listen above our level. So I am glad to be listening to these prog renaissance masterpieces. We are at the very beginning of yet another renaissance, just like '94 with the net and ''64 with the British Invasion bringing color and culture to America. Exciting times!
They were soooo great in concert!❤️
❤❤❤❤❤❤YES!! Such a great song !! Yes Jon Anderson had a beautiful voice!! The harmonies are perfect and the transitions are out of this world!! A mesmerizing song ❤️❤️❤️❤️!!
The live versions of this song are amazing as well.
I still have the album from 1972 and saw them in 1973.
Excellent for the cloudy, foggy day outside as the sun peeks thru
Steve's pedal steel playing adds another sonic level to the song
In the USA, pedal steel guitar was synonymous with old-style country and western music. To hear Howe master the instrument and use it to play progressive rock wa a real stunner.
So glad you mentioned this -- it's easy to think it's synths
Musicianship.....❤
This and "Heart of the Sunrise," 2 songs that have everything I love about this band!
This song is about Jon's journey toward enlightenment and personal relationship with God.
I'm pretty sure he wrote this for his wife....
In today's hectic, polarized, stress inducing, blood-pressure-raising atmosphere, any Yes epic can calm and center me within seconds. The effect on me seems magical. Seeing this music done well live has the same effect times 100. I have been blessed to have seen Yes at least a dozen times.
A&A, I appreciate you keep hitting my all time favorite group. I highly recommend Awaken, which Anderson and Wakman have called their favorite Yes song. You may find your first song that goes beyond S tier.
That intro, wow, always loved it. The whole song is amazing as well.
I'm sorry that you didn't get to experience Close to the Edge the way it was meant...in one sitting while peaking. I miss the seventies.
Oh yes, this is easily one of my top 5 favorite songs of all time. Such a masterpiece. Everything just sounds so Lush. Can’t believe the made this in 72
I saw Yes in Jersey City New Jersey in 1974 never realizing how rich and blessed I was at 14 years old. I wouldn’t trade those years for anything. Glad you can enjoy the beauty of music we enjoyed so freely in the seventies 😊
Another Yes masterpiece.
Soundtrack to my life.
Chris Squire's bass is tremendous on this!
I was 15 when this album came out. and I think every time i hear this track i think its YES best .
Finally. This is one of the best songs Yes ever recorded. The feel of the song as it enters the last verse in the "The Preacher, The Teacher" section ("I listened hard, but could not see...") when the bass and drums come back in is just sublime. The way the instrumental melodies gel with Jon's vocals brings a tear to my eyes every time. If you're feeling like reacting to more prog stuff, you really need to hit some more Genesis. The Cinema Show, Dancing with the Moonlit Knight, The Musical Box and Dance on a Volcano are my suggestions.