Lyrics for Close to the Edge as interpreted by yesfan86

Close to the Edge Lyrics
I. The Solid Time Of Change

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 ev'ry 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 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.

II. Total Mass Retain

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 armoured movers took approach 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.

III. I Get Up, I Get Down

In her white lace
You can 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?

[Thru the duty she would coil their said
amusement of her story asking only interest
could be laid upon the children of her domain]

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.

IV. Seasons Of Man

The time between the notes relates the color to the scenes.
A constant vogue of triumphs dislocate man, so it seems.
And space between the focus shape ascend knowledge of love.
As song and chance develop time, lost social temp'rance 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.

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  • 42 Comments
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yesfan86
05-01-2002

Rated 0 
How could I do this??? In the song title of course it is supposed to be "to", not "ot":)

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yesfan86
05-01-2002

Rated 0 
How could I do this??? In the song title of course it is supposed to be "to", not "ot":)

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progrockdude
06-03-2002

Rated +1 
This song is about feeling the presence of God and love, forgetting about the evils of the world, and seeign the truth.

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paranoidandroidhead
08-28-2002

Rated +1 
Even before I knew the actual lyrics to this song, the way it builds up to the part that goes "I get up, I get down" almost brings a tear of joy to my eye every freakin' time just because of the emotional and musical set-up. In terms of musical technical ability and lyrics and emotion, Yes is probably the best band I've ever heard. This song is pure genius in every aspect through and through; almost all of their songs are. This song is 18 minutes long and I couldn't find a spot where I wanted to stop listening.

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liverdude
06-25-2003

Rated 0 
I love Yes. They are incredible musicians and singers however I wouldn't get too hung up trying to understand Yes lyrics. My understanding is they are all basically meaningless except in a real general way. They are written basically for how the words sound tonally. They are intentionally intricate, complicated and obtuse to match the incredible musical virtuosity throughout their music. Simple lyrics just wouldn't cut it in these songs.

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nescient
04-18-2004

Rated +1 
Yes have long been criticised (often by Yes fans) as being overblown, pretentious, even silly. Well, if pretentious, silly people can create something like CTTE, then bring them on.

CTTE is one of the most powerful, haunting, mesmerising things I have ever come across.

(In case you're wondering, I call it a 'thing' because I compare it not only to other music, but to other things of wonder, musical or not).

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SongMeaningGuy
06-10-2004

Rated +1 
I think liverdude is wrong is saying Yes's lyrics are meaningless.

In my view, Yes's lyrics are incredibly deep and meaningful, evocative of great truth, beauty, and insight.

I'll post some of my interpretations in a bit. But for now, can you imagine anyone writing a song called "The Revealing Science of God" (a great Yes song that I just requested be added) without endowing the song with meaning? Maybe there are some artists as cynical as that, but Jon Anderson of Yes isn't one of them.

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Mahakala
06-26-2004

Rated -1 
To liverdude, I know that Syd Barrett did a lot of that, using words for their sounds rather than meaning, and I suppose the Beatles did too, but I don't think that that's the case with Yes at all, this song especially.

I think that this song is about life, growing old, becoming wise, embracing the world, but there are elements of the lyrics I don't particularly understand. A large portion of Total Mass Retain appears to be about waking from a dream and I'm not quite sure of the context of a lot of the lines.

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SongMeaningGuy
06-26-2004

Rated +1 
I. The Solid Time Of Change

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.

--------------------

INTERPRETATION:

Every seeker of truth on the journey through life needs a guru or spiritual teacher, "a seasoned witch" who can point the way out from "the depths of your disgrace." Concrete changes in one's lifestyle -- to "rearrange your liver" (evocative of freedom from alcoholism, drug addiction, food addiction, etc.) -- must take place if one is to attain "the solid mental grace."

Yes music itself can be the guru/spiritual teacher, this profound, powerful "music that came quickly from afar," bearing the "fruits of man recorded" for us to taste as we venture toward health, wholeness, and meaning. But to be on this spiritual is to enter a timeless dimension, which our unenlightened, time-obsessed society necessarily will regard as a waste of time, a "losing all against the hour."

-----------------------------------

And assessing points to nowhere, leading ev'ry single one.
A dewdrop can exalt us like the music of the sun,
And take away the plane 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.

--------------------

INTERPRETATION:

The soul's journey through a timeless dimension appears from the outside to be "asssessing points to nowhere," that is, directionless and goalless. Yet this beckoning toward meaningless is "leading every single one" of us, whether we are conscious of this spiritual journey or not. To the extent we become conscious of the soul's journey, we will be inspired by what might otherwise seem the smallest, most insignificant of nature's wonders, the "dewdrop" that "can exalt us like the music of the sun."

But to remain consciously on this spiritual journey, each of us must "take away the plane in which we move and choose the course you're running." That is, we must risk nonconformity, we must march to the beath of a different drummer (Bill Bruford, preferably!), we must consciously reject the temporal values of conventional society that prevent us from experiencing the depths and wonders of our own souls' journey toward truth and enlightenment.

As we do this, we will know ourselves to be outcasts, experiencing life at the margins of mainstream society, living our lives "down by the corner" and "close to the edge." We also will encounter internal resistance to such radical spirituality, a voice inside that protests "not right away, not right away."

MORE TO COME....

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stickynotewraith
11-30-2004

Rated 0 
This song is based on the book Sidhartha, it's almost as beautiful as the song. you should read it, it's only about 100 pages. It's about the search for enlightenment. at one point the main character actually meets the buddha, and rejects his views.

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heartofthesun
06-25-2005

Rated +1 
I continue to play this song occasionally, as I did in 1976, and it never fails to send chills up my spine. I consider this to be the greatest single piece of music in the Rock genre ever written. Bar none. It transcends rockand roll. In fact, for the genre, it is worthy of being put into the same category as some of the best pieces by the Classical masters. Awaken is similar in its greatness. Given the fact that these guys were in their 20s when they put masterpieces like this together is just mind-blowing. There have been times when I was tempted to email Jon Anderson to ask him about the meanings, but I think that would ruin it for me. The lyrics allow me to relate at a personal level. At different times in my life different lines and movements have jumped out at me. From lyrics to song, this is the ultimate piece of music for me. It's going on 30 years and nothing has yet surpassed.

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whapcapn
08-31-2005

Rated +1 
I think Yes have reached heights with this reached by few other bands - namely Radiohead, Pink Floyd, possibly the Beatles at times. The fact is that most popular music is not nearly as good music as most classical music, but these bands, I think, amke exceptions to that.

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findsomepeace
12-06-2005

Rated +1 
i bought the album a few weeks ago. i love the sound effects at the beginning. did anyone else notice how 'crufixtion' is mentioned several times on the album? i think it has to do with enlightenment by getting rid of old prejudices.

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spacepirate
12-12-2005

Rated +1 
yes, well he crucified his hate and held the word within his hand ;) thats probably a reference to forgiving and loving your enemies as Jesus told us to do.

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spacepirate
12-12-2005

Rated 0 
hey songmeaningguy, when you gonna finish your analysis?

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z22
12-13-2005

Rated 0 
Awesome song. Yes rocks, along with all other progressive and classic rock.

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_alex_
01-10-2006

Rated +1 
I LOVE Yes. This is there best album/ song for many reason.

!. musically this is there most original effort because most other yes albukms just sond like this one.
(ex gates of delirium, maybe its just me but it sound almost like close to the edge, plus i keep hearing CTTE playing in my heed when i hear gates of delirium)

You know the old saying" its like ordering you favorite pizza, its new and it taste great but its always the same thing.

2.The lyrics on the albums have a deeper meaning then they did on Fragile wich make this album a better one.

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ColdCat
03-26-2006

Rated -1 
Ummm, progrockdude, this song is definitely NOT about God.

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saxypepper
05-22-2006

Rated 0 
I definitely agree with SongMeaningGuy 's interpretation of the "rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace" part. No matter what substance you're talking about, it's all an attempt to help your body toward a state it could achieve naturally or though some other means..... even the state of hallucination and psychadelic experience can be produced without drugs. And as much as I believe some of the band members partook of the 70's fun, I believe they were in it for opening the window of the mind to see what was on the other side, but they, unlike others, found the substance-free door which allowed them to walk through and be able to experience and live in a world unlike the one in which most of us live, and to give all of us a chance to view it in this way.

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AnalHerpes
07-27-2006

Rated 0 
I believe the "rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace" refers to not just substances, but to all "impurities" such as lust, greed, and desire in general.

One thing to remember is that this song is inspired by Hermann Hesse's "Siddartha" so it has a lot of Bhuddist references, such as

"On the hill we viewed the silence of the valley,
Called to witness cycles only of the past."

Referring to someone who is fully enlightened and is freed from the cycle of death and rebirth.

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Camel fan
07-29-2006

Rated -1 
Frankly, I think these lyrics donīt mean anything at all. Jon Anderson just chose words that fit well together(and he chose them VERY well!), and sat some points said some interesting things.

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inpraiseoffolly
09-01-2006

Rated +1 
A very good song. Definitely a staple of progressive rock, along with songs by such great bands as King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Pink Floyd, and co (I expect and Co will soon include Jethro Tull and Rush for me).

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inpraiseoffolly
12-13-2006

Rated +1 
I just went on a Yes experience, as I used to find them the weakest of the prog giants. How foolish I was. Fragile is now one of ten masterpieces for me, and CTTE and the Yes Album are giving me good vibes. Tales unimpressed me, and Relayer I need to listen to again.

As a response to Camel Fan, they do mean something, but it would be incredibly difficult to figure it out unless you were Jon Anderson. Very spiritual, that's for sure.

The first four minutes are the best. As is the next part. And the ending of the song has a power to rival the ending of Genesis's Supper's Ready.

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Camel fan
01-23-2007

Rated +1 
Yes, inpraiseoffolly, you're wright, and in these 4 months since my last review I've been understanding these song more, more and more. Nowadays, it is my favourite piece of lyrics, and I see many wonderful things in this song about the seek for enlightment, wholeness and plenitude. Of course I don't necessarily see it exactly as Jon Anderson meant, but it's the most marvelous thing about Yes lyrics: they're so vague that the way you regard depends equally on the lyrics themselves and on you.

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Unsound
06-12-2007

Rated 0 
Hey guys, I listened to this album last night for the first time. Amazing. I think I was more impressed with CTTE than with Echoes on my first listen. Anyway, when I have the money I'm planning on buying a few Yes albums... Any recommendations?

Shine on

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