Occasionally we like to listen to Yes, it reminds us how lucky we are not to have to listen to Yes. Right now we're listening to "I've Seen All Good People," which has going for it in the good advice department the classic line "Don't surround yourself with yourself." We hate it when we surround ourselves with ourselves, we find ourselves boxed in and there's no way to get to the kitchen for a glass of water. And now we're listening to "Roundabout," which is a great song in its way, a real prog classic, even if it doesn't make any sense. "Mountains come out of the sky and they stand there." Loitering mountains, just what you need in a song. Anyway, our oldest brother owned the Fragile album and we never warmed up to it, the lead singer sounds like a bird and we have never cottoned to singers who sound like birds. But we've grown to respect Yes for their firm commitment to progging it to the very limits of progness, like in their album Tales from Topographic Oceans which has songs that last like eight hours, or at least it seems like it. Later in their career Yes went pop and we lost all respect for them. Bands like Yes should never aim for the top 40, they should aim for hippies lying in bean bag chairs enjoying their bong hit connection with the cosmos via a Yessong that transports them to a distant astral plane. It should be added that Yes without pot is a no-no. You need the pot, or better yet some acid. Which is why Yes put out an album (1973's Azid) that was made out of LSD, and whenever you wanted you could lean over the turntable and take a big lick. It could take years to lick the album to nothingness, but what years! And what topographic oceans were crossed!
I'm not a huge Yes fan, but besides Owner of a Lonely Heart and Leave It, I like I've Seen All Good People. It's hokey, but sweet. That karma line is awesome. And I love the part about 3 minutes in when they start singing, "All we are saying is give peace a chance." However, I wish the song ended at the 3 1/2 minute mark so I wouldn't have to sit through the whole jazzy part. I'm sure most people would consider it blasphemy, but I think the song is great up until that point and then it turns into a totally different song that I don't like.
Oh well.
Posted by: gillian | March 24, 2011 at 06:47 PM
By the way, Leave It was one of the coolest videos of its time, so why is it so hard to find? I had to hit like 15 different sites and sit through several ads just to discover the video was no longer available. Then, I found it, but the quality totally blows:
http://videosift.com/video/Yes-Leave-It
Posted by: gillian | March 24, 2011 at 07:02 PM
I'd never hear "Leave It" before. Thanks. Like many things I make fun of, I like "I've Seen All Good People." I even like the longness of it. And the extended chess metaphor, of course.
Posted by: UF MIKE | March 25, 2011 at 08:02 AM
just checked out the "leave it" video, thanks Gillian, I remember that song but not the video, that was my anti Tv time, from watching the video I had the realization that yes sings in the tradition of the beach boys, especially in that song. it was creepy neat to see that the album title was picked up by the makers of 90210, if I got the order right.
Posted by: karoline | March 25, 2011 at 08:18 AM
I watched plenty of MTV in the early days. It was fun while drunk. And 120 minutes was great!
Posted by: UF MIKE | March 25, 2011 at 09:53 AM
karoline, Leave It came up in conversation a few months back and I was searching for it then, too. I love the song, but hadn't thought of it or heard it in years.
Mike, 120 Minutes is where I saw Sinead O'Connor's Troy video and was hooked. Only she could sing "I'd kill a dragon for you" and not sound utterly ridiculous. Or maybe she does, but not to me.
Posted by: gillian | March 25, 2011 at 05:10 PM