Yesterday a morning came, a smile upon your face
Caesar's palace, morning glory, silly human race,
On a sailing ship to nowhere, leaving any place,
If the summer change to winter, yours is no disgrace

Battleships confide in me and tell me where you are,
Shining, flying, purple wolfhound, show me where you are,
Lost in summer, morning, winter, travel very far,
Lost in musing circumstances, that's just where you are

Yesterday a morning came, a smile upon your face
Caesar's palace, morning glory, silly human, silly human race,
On a sailing ship to nowhere, leaving any place,
If the summer change to winter, yours is no,
Yours is no disgrace
Yours is no disgrace
Yours is no disgrace

Death defying, mutilated armies scatter the earth,
Crawling out of dirty holes, their morals,
Their morals disappear

Yesterday a morning came, a smile upon your face
Caesar's palace, morning glory, silly human, silly human, silly human race,
On a sailing ship to nowhere, leaving any place,
If the summer change to winter, yours is no,
Yours is no disgrace
Yours is no disgrace
Yours is no disgrace

Battleships confide in me and tell me where you are,
Shining, flying, purple wolfhound, show me where you are,
Lost in summer, morning, winter, travel very far,
Lost in musing circumstances, that's just where you are


Lyrics submitted by RoboLuncheon

Yours Is No Disgrace Lyrics as written by Jon Anderson Chris Squire

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Yours Is No Disgrace song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

30 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +8
    My Interpretation

    I think its important to look at he line that the artist repeats in a song, because that is the line he's meaning to have make an impression on you; what his preoccupation was that he's meaning to make yours. In this case its "yours is no disgrace." You have to look at that line in its various contexts, the line being what connects the contexts. In this case, it is always preceded by "if the summer change to winter", which I think is a metaphor for aging. Then I notice that there is a contrast between a sailing ship (one's meandering - musing - life journey) and a battleship which confides in him and tells him where you are. But what about those who don't have anyone looking over them? "Death defying, mutilated armies scatter the earth, Crawling out of dirty holes, their morals, their morals disappear." But you? Your life "is no disgrace." I think it's a song about a guardian angel.

    Musically:

    The song starts out quite militarily, but turns dreamy before the intro is finished. Then it seems to awaken with the lyrics about birth, then the journey of life. Then the revelation and the lost between the seasons of life. The guardian angel has found the man. Then the two-step almost a Capella part where the angel take a patronly stance towards the man, but reminds him that his is no disgrace, his life will be a good one. The part where the music travels from the right to the left channel is the struggles of man, who doesn't know he has a guardian angel. Conflict to resolve, conflict to resolve. Then a victorious "death-defying" re-intro. Same situation, re-examined with a sly smile. Silly human race, on a sailing ship, leaving anyplace... Return to conflict but this time with a happier feeling. The man is starting to know and trust his guardian angel. Then the sound of elevators, going up! Then the same military refrain. Spaceship sounds. Climax: Repetition of the intro, which is a summary of what the whole song is about. Repeat again, once again reconfirming that despite all the meanderings, the person who is the subject of this song will be saved, there will not be a disgraceful ending.

    Zygonon September 13, 2014   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    P.S. in case you didn't know, a Purple Wolfhound is a slang term for a particular British jet fighter.

    tripleseeon December 16, 2006   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    For me, this song is about the dangers of war, and represents more specifically Anderson & co's vision of a post-nuclear holocaust. That's why the summer suddenly changes to (nuclear) winter, why the human race has been 'silly.' And so the 'death-defying' survivors crawl 'mutilated' out of their 'dirty holes' to face a world where the traditional 'morals' of society have collapsed,and in which all will have to be rebuilt from scratch.

    bjlon December 13, 2007   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    I always think this is my favorite Yes song. Then, when I listen to Heart of the Sunrise, I'm totally positive that THAT'S my favorite Yes song...but then, when I listen to And You and I, well, you get where I'm going with this! As far as the meaning goes, I think Yes sent us all a message in the lyrics of Heart of the Sunrise... "Long last treatment of the telling that relates to all the words sung Dreamer easy in the chair that really fits you" Meaning...you are the one that brings your own meaning into these magnificent lyrics by interacting with them and making them yours. So the war ideas are there, and so is the Las Vegas metaphor that Fedder described.
    Whatever it means to YOU when YOU listen to it is the true meaning of the song... "Straight light moving and removing sharpness of the color sunshine Straight light searching all the meanings of the song" Shining a "straight light" on the lyrics and trying to make them mean only one thing removes their beauty..

    susiesutton December 17, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Beautiful interplay between guitar & keyboards

    nagromnaion September 28, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song is about how much he loves a woman. Time and reality have no bearing on her - she is above it all. The most powerful forces of man and nature draw him to her. She is an oasis in a dessert of the most terrible things in life.

    tripleseeon December 16, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Another good one. Linked to war, maybe?

    xmakesherflyxon April 28, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Jon Anderson is a mad genius. All of his songs have different meanings to different people. Like "Shining, flying, purple wolfhounds"? What is that supposed to mean? It is just like most of Yes' songs in the sense that it is non-sensical in a purposeful and meaningful way.

    twisteness5on September 13, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    AMAZING SONG!! fav part personally is the acoustic part.

    burntfireon March 11, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Best Yes song, imho. Never really thought about what it means, so I'd be inclined to agree with tinderbox. I love the stereo guitar bit!

    whapcapnon May 02, 2005   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
In regards to the meaning of this song: Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.” That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Album art
Page
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.