Wait till the trip has started to peak, turndown the lights, light some incense, and play
YES's utterly perfect trip album
CLOSE TO THE EDGE from beginning to end, over speakers... LOUD!!!
Your life will never be the same.
Seriously.
This is some phenomenally powerful shit, filled with True Magic... I am convinced some kind of holy spirit was possessing these guys when they made this.
There is NOTHING that comes even remotely CLOSE in deep awesome spiritually uplifting total insight and pure power than this one record in all of history.
Remembering this music and humming to myself, remembering times I had tripping with deep soul-mate friends long ago... feeling things and actually seeing transcendental bonds so potent I never imagined such things were possible, is bringing tears to my eyes even now... I want to hug the people who made this... thank God they were put on the Earth in order to make this for us.
In case you are young and never heard this check this out, prepare to be astonished... I bet you can't NOT shed tears of utter joy at the beginning of "Close To The Edge" Part 2 (of course only AFTER hearing Part 1) so special, so perfect. And of course "And You And I", equally utterly amazing. So intimate and touching like somehow they KNOW your inner soul, then so huge and epic...
Close to the Edge: The SolidTime of Change/Total Mass Retain/I Get Up Anderson, Howe 18:42
And You and I: Cord of Life/Eclipse/The Preacher the Teacher/ApocalypseWakeman Anderson, Bruford, Howe, Squire 10:08
Siberian Khatru Anderson, Howe 8:54
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6xNhksHyXI&feature=related Close To The Edge, Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WunYz7Io-68&feature=related Close To The Edge, Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuiI0kV4joQ&feature=related And You And I
The epic organ passage beginning in And You And I at 4:30, then with Anderson's soaring-above-the-clouds vocal of
Coming quickly to terms of all expression laid
Emotions revealed as the ocean maid
As a movement regained and regarded both the same
All complete in the sight of seeds of life with you
Holy mother of God, I dont know what it means but I am flabergasted, overwhelmed every time, such intense emotion....
Great play by play description of And You And I from the YouTube page, and Wikipedia -
And You and I, need I say more. This is a song for the ages. I am not sure why I never wrote a description. It is a life changing, life forming, life giving song, that is PERFECT in so many ways. As a traveler and a teacher of sorts and a preacher of sorts, I know all too well.
From Wikipedia:
I. Cord of Life
The song opens with Steve Howe tuning his guitar, and his voice can be heard at the beginning of the track, then playing mostly natural harmonics, played around what will become the central melody, using a 12-string Acoustic guitar which quickly forms into a simple chord progression over distant organ chords. Then, the Moog comes, sounding like a child's instrument, for a simple solo, which presents us the main theme of the next part, but in a completely different arrangement. After that, the vocals begin at about 1:40. The line "All Complete in the sight of seeds of life with you" is spoken, which is repeated throughout the song. At about 2:50, there's an utter change: Anderson sings a sharper melody, accompanied by a second vocal track by Anderson harmonizing with himself, plus Chris Squire and Steve Howe providing a counter-melody and alternate lyrics, with their voices fed through a Leslie Speaker.
II. Eclipse is the slowest part of the song based on a measured and deliberate melody reminiscent of Sibelius. It is led by Rick Wakeman's epic Mellotron and Minimoog synthesizer. The lyrics are all from the first stanza of "The Cord of Life", but are sung in a different melody, which is also epic and slightly sad. Finally ending with the 12-string acoustic guitar leading into "The Preacher, The Teacher".
III. The Preacher The Teacher: The melody and lyrical structure is very similar (for the most part) to that of "The Cord of Life", with some variations. The exception is that "The Preacher, The Teacher" has a fast synthesizer solo by Rick Wakeman at one point during the song.
Sad preacher nailed upon the coloured door of time
Insane teacher be there reminded of the rhyme
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
Oooh, ooh
I listened hard but could not see
Life tempo change out and inside me
The preacher trained in all to lose his name
The teacher travels, asking to be shown the same
In the end we'll agree, we'll accept, we'll immortalize
That the truth of man maturing in his eyes
All complete in the sight of seeds of life with you
The last stanza again consists of lines from "The Cord of Life", now sung in a different order and a completely different mood. At 8:34 there is a reprise of the previous section "Eclipse", which lasts until 9:12. The section ends with a cadenza-like orchestral statement, on Mellotron and Moog, reminiscent of neo-Wagnerian compositions from Strauss or Bruckner.
IV. Apocalypse is the shortest piece of the song, only about 40 seconds long, it consists only of four lines, accompanied only by Howe's guitars. The lyrics are taken from "Cord of Life", but are sung in the key of B, making them more upbeat:
And you and I climb, crossing the shapes of the morning
And you and I reach over the sun for the river
And you and I climb, clearer towards the movement
And you and I called over valleys of endless seas
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
