Yes Again, Squire

So this is a follow-up to my previous post, Yes, Squire, where I related my longstanding affection for the music of the progressive rock band Yes, on the occasion of the recent passing of their bass player Chris Squire. That post included one of the band's songs that highlight Squire's unique ability to turn the bass into a lead instrument, "Heart of the Sunrise," which appeared on their fourth album, Fragile, released in 1971.

Fragile came out in November of 1971, while earlier that year, in February, Yes released their third album, The Yes Album. Their first two albums were interesting, but this third was the breakthrough that defined the group as a progressive rock band. The album featured 3 songs that were approximately 9 minutes long, and a fourth that was almost 7 minutes, all of them exhibiting the kind of complexity that served to define the progressive genre.

The Yes Album was the first to feature guitarist Steve Howe, who had replaced original member Peter Banks. And it was the last, at least for many years to feature keyboard player Tony Kaye, who was replaced by Rick Wakeman on Fragile. Consequently, the keyboards are less prominent on The Yes Album than on Fragile, allowing for more emphasis on the interplay between guitar and bass. Along with Squire, Howe, and Kaye, the album featured Jon Anderson as the lead singer, and Bill Bruford doing percussion.

One of those 9-minute songs is called "Starship Trooper," a name taken from the Robert Heinlein novel, Starship Troopers, published in 1959. Heinlein, a science fiction writer heavily influenced by general semantics, used the novel to express his own views concerning military service, meritocracy, and individualism, conservative views that have been subject to some criticism. The novel served as the basis for the somewhat satirical, postmodern science fiction film directed by Paul Verhoeven and released in 1997, also called Starship Troopers. It's a very interesting film, and successful enough to have spawned a couple of not so interesting sequels. 


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But that's really besides the point, as the song bears no relation to Heinlein's narrative, aside from the title. And while the title suggests a science fiction theme, and the song has often been thought of in that regard, the lyrics actually have very little to do with that genre, and are more spiritual in nature. But the music does lend itself to a sense of flight and space travel, especially due to Squire's booming bass.

The song is credited to Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, and Chris Squire, listed in alphabetical order. And it's listed on the album as divided into 3 parts:

a. Life Seeker

b. Disillusion

c. Würm

The parts are not credited, although some sources say that "Life Seeker" is primarily by Anderson, "Disillusion" by Squire, and "Würm" by Howe. Some may find this manner of listing the song as pretentious, but it does speak to the complexity of the music, the interweaving of different themes and types of music into a seamless whole. I supposed you could consider side 2 of the 1969 Beatles album, Abbey Road, as a precedent for that sort of thing, as Yes did take pieces that previously were separate and mix them together to create "Starship Trooper." but on Abbey Road the different songs are very distinct, more of a medley than a merging, whereas the transitions that Yes work out are not so much jump cuts as they are a unified montage.

Anyway, this song does not single out Squire's bass as much as "Heart of the Sunrise," but I think you can see how powerful it can be working together in the ensemble. As in the last post, credit goes again to vzqk50HD Productions for the video's visuals:






And here are the lyrics:

Sister bluebird flying high above
Shine your wings forward to the sun
Hide the myst'ries of life on your way
Though you've seen them, please don't say a word
What you don't know, I have never heard

Starship trooper, go sailing on by
Catch my soul, catch the very light
Hide the moment from my eager eye
Though you've seen them, please don't tell a soul
What you can't see, can't be very whole

Speak to me of summer
Long winters longer than time can remember
The setting up of other roads
To travel on in old accustomed ways
I still remember the talks by the water
The proud sons and daughter
That knew the knowledge of the land
Spoke to me in sweet accustomed ways

Mother life, hold firmly on to me
Catch my knowledge higher than the day
Lose as much as only you can show
Though you've seen me, please don't say a word
What I don't know, I have never shared

Loneliness is a power that we possess to give or take away forever
All I know can be shown by your acceptance of the facts there shown before you
Take what I say in a different way and it's easy to say that this is all confusion
As I see a new day in me, I can also show it you and you may follow

Speak to me of summer
Long winters longer than time can remember
The setting up of other roads
To travel on in old accustomed ways
I still remember the talks by the water
The proud sons and daughter
That knew the knowledge of the land
Spoke to me in sweet accustomed ways

Clearly, this is not really a science fiction song, but it does convey a sense of the celestial, and that is very much what Yes is all about it, at least when they are at their best.