Close to the Edge (song)

"Close to the Edge"
Song

"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.

Parts

Part	Start Time	Length
The Solid Time Of Change	0:00	6:04
Puke	6:04	1:55
I Get Up, I Get Down	7:59	6:14
Seasons Of Man	14:13	4:30

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 vocables. 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 4 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. Puke

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.

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 remastered version of Close to the Edge.

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".

References

• Covach, John Rudolph and Boone, Graeme MacDonald Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0195100050

External links

• Lyrics to Close to the Edge
• [http://www.yhwh.com/ctte.htm Religious Interpretation}