Classical Composer Reacts to "Close To the Edge" by Yes (I bought this when I was 16 y.o.). Nice to hear this again. It was and still is awesome.......... His reaction between 19:06 to 23:04 minutes is priceless.
I bought it in 74 or 75 so I was about 16 too. My favourite Yes stuff is the early stuff, The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge, it is still really good and it is fun to see someone discover this anew so many years later.
I had Tales too, also Relayer and saw them twice at the Apollo in Glasgow, the Relayer tour being one of them but I did see them with Wakeman as well.
I really liked (and still do) "The Yes Album", "Time And A Word" and "Close To The Edge". I didn't like all the noodling on Topographic Oceans and don't care for the others either, especially the commercial stuff that came later which was nauseating. I saw them at the Reading Festival in 1975 and they were very good. From https://bangnzdrum.blogspot.com/2020/08/memories-of-reading-festival-1975.html: Rick Wakeman had left the band earlier in 1975, after a series of disagreements over what he saw as the over-indulgent music on their last album Tales From Topographic Oceans. https://vintagerock.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/the-reading-festival-22nd-24th-august-1975/#:~:text=Friday line-up: Stella,,very successful during the '70s.
I saw then in Manchester, think it was 76. It was the same year I saw Pink Floyd my favorite group and still is.
As I've said before Pink Floyd's music has aged best out of all the progressive bands of that era, my tastes moved more towards folk as I aged but of all those big bands back then it was Floyd for me too.
BTW, there was no heartbeat at the end of the original track as was on his reaction video. For me, the track "Close To The Edge" is always a wonderful journey, if I am the right mood and it is possible to give maximum concentration with headphones on. I was close to the edge recently and I came back. Mentally, I really was also close to the edge when at home after the procedure in the hospital and hearing this track once again realigned my dark thoughts. Our ward had a 50% covid outbreak too. Life moves on even though we cannot see the wood for the trees at times. Song lyrics: (I believe "Siddharta" by Herman Hesse was an influence for Yes.) "A seasoned witch could call you from the depths of your disgrace, And rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace, And achieve it all with music that came quickly from afar, Then taste the fruit of man recorded losing all against the hour And assessing points to nowhere, leading every single one A dewdrop can exalt us like the music of the sun, And take away the plain in which we move, And choose the course you're running 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 Crossed the line around the changes of the summer, Reaching out to call the color of the sky Passed around a moment clothed in mornings faster than we see Getting over all the time I had to worry, Leaving all the changes far from far behind We relieve the tension only to find out the master's name Down at the end, round by the corner Close to the edge, just by a river Seasons will pass you by I get up, I get down Now that it's all over and done, Now that you find, now that you're whole My eyes convinced, eclipsed with the younger moon attained with love It changed as almost strained amidst clear manna from above I crucified my hate and held the word within my hand There's you, the time, the logic, or the reasons we don't understand Sad courage claimed the victims standing still for all to see, As armored movers took approached to overlook the sea There since the cord, the license, or the reasons we understood will be Down at the edge, close by a river Close to the edge, round by the corner Close to the end, down by the corner Down at the edge, round by the river Sudden call shouldn't take away the startled memory All in all, the journey takes you all the way As apart from any reality that you've ever seen and known Guessing problems only to deceive the mention, Passing paths that climb halfway into the void As we cross from side to side, we hear the total mass retain Down at the edge, round by the corner Close to the end, down by a river Seasons will pass you by I get up, I get down In her white lace, you could clearly see the lady sadly looking Saying that she'd take the blame For the crucifixion of her own domain I get up, I get down, I get up, I get down 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? I get up, I get down I get up, I get down In charge of who is there in charge of me Do I look on blindly and say I see the way? The truth is written all along the page How old will I be before I come of age for you? I get up, I get down I get up, I get down I get up, I get down The time between the notes relates the color to the scenes A constant vogue of triumphs dislocate man, it seems And space between the focus shape ascend knowledge of love As song and chance develop time, lost social temperance rules above Ah, ah 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 On the hill we viewed the silence of the valley, Called to witness cycles only of the past And we reach all this with movements in between the said remark Close to the edge, down by the river Down at the end, round by the corner Seasons will pass you by, Now that it's all over and done, Called to the seed, right to the sun Now that you find, now that you're whole Seasons will pass you by, I get up, I get down I get up, I get down I get up, I get down I get up"
