Close To The Edge is simply mind blowing.
To me, the lyrics are about an "enlightenment" or "ego death", influenced by the book Siddhartha (like Anderson once confirmed), and perhaps influenced by the use of psychedelics.
"Down at 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."
You know that you're on the edge of enlightenment, but are cautious of it "not right away"
"Now that it's all over and done,
Now that you find, now that you're whole."
By the end of Part 1, you have gloriously tasted enlightenment, and become one with nature/the universe
"Sudden problems shouldn't take away the startled memory.
All in all, the journey takes you all the way......
......Passing paths that climb halfway into the void.
As we cross from side to side, we hear the total mass retain."
This is one of the most intriguing lyrical passages. It's talking about how amazing the journey of enlightenment is, but I still cannot figure out the phrase "total mass retain"
In part three, now that you essentially know everything, are one with nature, and have become enlightened about the world, you explore the big problems in humanity and struggle with them:
"Two million people barely satisfy.
Two hundred women watch one woman cry, too late.
The eyes of honesty can achieve.
How many millions do we deceive each day?"
After the lyrical passage in Part 3, comes the amazing instrumental section and the fantastic keyboard solo, leading up to one of the most marvelous pieces of music, IMO.
"The time between the notes relates the color to the scenes"
YES is famous for lyrics that basically have no meaning, but sound cool. This is one of the most famous ones, but anyone who has used psychedelics and listened to music knows what this means. "Time between the notes" = rhythm, the rhythm of the music makes sense of the color and the extraordinary visuals you see that go along with the music. This may not actually be what they meant, but is an interesting thought nonetheless.
"Then according to the man who showed his outstretched arm to space,
He turned around and pointed, revealing all the human race.
I shook my head and smiled a whisper, knowing all about the place."
What an amazing few lines. Pretty self explanatory if you're considering the theme of enlightenment or ego death, but the combination of the musical and rhythmic themes(especially at the end of the passage) that come along with this part make it one of my favorites.
At the end, you hear the main themes of the song "close to the edge..." "I get up, I get down" in a grand finale that makes you feel, well, enlightened!
Topic: The Official Yes Thread (Read 265134 times)
