Composer Reacts to Yes - And You And I (REACTION & ANALYSIS) 

Q: What's your favorite Yes song? A: The one I'm currently listening to.

Two things about Yes I've observed over the years (I'm 61): All their music is uplifting and positive in nature (just look at how many times you've smiled when listening to Close to the Edge and this song), and they make it a point not to record something they can't play live. For example, for this song, Steve Howe plays the Spanish guitar on a stand while having his electric guitar strapped around his shoulder, so he can switch back and forth when live. For some songs, he and/or Chris Squire play multi-neck guitars. Also, they expand some ideas even more in their live versions. They are all master musicians in this line-up of Yes. When you get a chance, I'd like to hear your review of "Yesband" Awaken, from the Going for the One album.

Counterpoint is a hallmark of classic Yes. The interplay of guitar, bass (the bass player, Chris Squire, grew up singing classical pieces in a high profile London church choir, so had a great ear for arrangement and counterpoint) and lead vocals (Jon Anderson often uses his voice more as another instrument in the band than simply singing a song, and his lyrics are more vehicles for the vocal sound than purely semantic elements). Those three also handle the vocal harmonies. Rick Wakeman on keyboards is classically trained so brings an orchestral skill to the arrangement. I would also argue that Bill Bruford on drums adds to the counterpoint with his unique and highly creative percussion lines. BTW the intro and its reprise are played on a single 12-string acoustic guitar. Steve Howe is a master of guitar in many styles.

I've never associated this song with 'vulnerability'. For me, the song is an example of a classic Yes song that is confident, positive and uplifting, and takes you on a journey.

5 members, all savants. Brilliant writers, players and arrangers. Check out for live version, Symphonic Yes And You and I. The guitarist, for instance plays the acoustic guitar on a stand. He then leans over a pedal steel while wearing an electric gtr around his neck. Check out also Yessongs and Yes at Montreaux.

It was Chris Squire of Yes and John Wetton of King Crimson that turned me into a bass head. An interesting fact about Chris Squire's fat bass sound was revealed on a forum discussion: "Rickenbacker basses have the option of splitting the output of the two different pickups into two different pathways. This gives you a "bridge" signal and a "neck" signal. Chris Squire would biamp with those signals. The Rickenbacker's bridge pickup is already biased toward a very thin sound, and the neck pickup is really meaty. He would run his "bridge" signal into an overdriven tube amp, and then run the "neck" signal either direct into the mixing board or into a clean amp. This way, he's taking up a huge amount of space in the mix: he's acting both as a bass player and as an additional guitar. Add an aggressive picking style and stainless steel strings, and you've got a really angry bass sound." I was seventeen when I discovered Yes, along with an endless number of amazing bands of the early 70s. As for the remix, my brain is wired to the original. For the chosen theme I would have chosen Suzanne Vegas and "Luka".

My favorite Yes song. I used to sing it to my daughter to sleep. Actually that entire side is my favorite Yes, and I know most Yes fans consider CTTE their magnum opus, but these 2 songs are just magic.

Great tune. Jon was born in the northern town of Accrington, a couple of miles from me in Blackburn .. I can still hear his northern, Lancashire accent.

The opening is in 6, or a bar of 4 followed by a bar of 2. Or three bars of 2. Whatever works. Jon's vocal phrasings came from many places, but Donovan was a big influence, as well as Simon and Garfunkle. I love how he (to this day) tags some of his lyrics with "northern-isms" where his Lancashire accent comes to the fore. You hear it in words like "time-ah"/"rhyme-ah". Now cover "Siberian Khatru" and you'll have reviewed your first complete Yes album. :D If you want a "vulnerable" Yes song, try "Turn of the Century" (Going for the One), "To Be Over" (Relayer), or "Onward" (Tormato).

They brought it live as strong - if not stronger - as/than the studio version. I saw them doing it a few times. Quite an experience live.

The intro harmonics include Steve Howe tuning his guitar before the start of the song. The producer thought it was part of the arrangement and left it in the mix. The band were taken by surprise when they heard the mix but liked it and left it in 🤷

My first best song of all times!!! MASTERPIECE!!

No reason to be disappointed with this song by any of your expectations or what you're looking for. It is perfection as it is. Don't bring expectations to any song or piece. Your expectations will limit you and block you from experiencing something else in all its grandeur.

So for me, the most important thing about yeses music for me, especially the old stuff, is that I get goosebumps listening to it. Yes is the only group that does this commonly for me. But what higher praise can you give a piece of music then to say that it gave you Goosebumps?

I heard things in this 2003 remaster that I don’r recall having heard before, even via the good over-the-ear headphones I’m wearing. But then, with a lot of Yes’ songs notice new things every now and then since the first time I heard them in the ‘70s.

Love how you breakdown the song. To address what your goal was for the music, listen to the “Turn of the Century”.

There are 5 members. In concert, the guitar player typically handles 3-4 different guitars, the keyboard player has 6 to 10 different keyboards which he plays two at a time, most of the time... for you to know !

Hugs from a Yes admirer from Brazil 🎉

I've listened to this song probably hundreds of times. Tonight as I listened to it with you and it got to the guitar lead into the outro I heard it for the first time as a simple folk song. Very intricate, very beautiful, but a simple folk song about "And You and I".

Yes 👍💪. For a kind of themed song that you are looking for maybe do Awaken, or In the presence of (live symphonic version) of Yes.

I read something by Rick Wakeman where he said that many of the time signature changes they did was to account for Jon's lyrics. I don't know enough about mvsik to know about it, but it sounds pretty Jon like. Rules; how quaint.

This song is very special to me as it reminds me of a very happy period in my life. Two of the songs mentioned in the comments, The Gates of Delirium and Awaken have absolutely spectacular live versions. I'm always very happy to see reactions to songs from this one of my favorite bands in life.

Even though I didn't really think this song was a good fit for the week's theme I still voted for it, if only because it's such an achingly beautiful song and definitely one of Yes's best. I love how deftly it moves through such a variety of styles and tones. Within the first ~four minutes we basically move from a folk-ish intro, to an uplifting pop song, to a psychedelic prog piece, to a gentle ballad, to that epic part where the mellotron and strings/keyboards take over... yet it never feels disjointed. It's also really awesome how it utilizes repeated motifs (like the vocal melody) to tie many of the sections together, like the folky section that arrives after the recapitulation of the intro. Even though I've heard this dozens of times it still takes me back to the magic of hearing it (and Yes, in general) for the first time. It just doesn't get old, and I think that combination of a rich, complex, multi-faceted tonality and emotion with the inherent beauty of so many of the sections just make it a masterpiece and something that just gets better with repeat listens.

This song is simply gorgeous and emotional, and I do feel it fits the theme as I interpreted at least. Even if I also was expecting more of a singer-songwriter feel as other comments mention, I still voted for Yes since it felt appropriate. For Yes, it feels quite intimate and pensive imo. Great analysis as always, Bryan!

Saw them live in 1979, somewhere in Massachusetts. 😉 I think the word epic was first thrown around that night.

Interesting you mention "journey." The theme of Close to The Edge is inspired by Hermann Hesse's 1922 book 'Siddhartha' which is a journey in itself, so there might be some common thread throughout the album..

As the same for Rush, in that period of prog genre ,musicians would tend to reproduce the music the closest to the original recording. So they where surrounded by tons of instruments on stage, played by the originals members, three for Rush, five for Yes.

dude..almost all of it is in 6...there's some bars of 7 here and there but it's mostly all in 6...the thing is, they keep changing the feel, instrumentation and groove to make it seem more than what's there...a YES trick

A song truly laden with leslie effect. On the opening part it on bass, then backing vocals then the leading electric guitar parts. About the band's name, when there was the quarrel over the use of the group's name between what was named Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe and Yes led by Chris Squire, ABWH considered jokingly to call themselves "Affirmative".

Yeah, it's a gorgeous track and I do think it fits as well as I thought the last one fitted your theme description in the intro... Btw, that band recording this in 1972 was a very different one from the band in the thumbnail photo... Following your reaction and analysis was a pure delight 😊

Enjoyed your reaction. You killed me with “we went to space in the middle “ Lush is a good description

Definitely in the "One of the greatest pieces of music ever created" category. The live version from the 4 disc box set is literally stunning.

Main piece of music in my wedding.

Such a beautiful optimistic Yes Song! Great Review!

Love this album Rick Wakeman had inspired me to play the Keyboards. I love the way he snuck in the last note of the piano the A. It's at the end of the fall off right before the Outro.

I view this song in two halves. The first half is And You And I. The second half (which starts after that enormous bridge calms down) is the version of And You And I that was written in an alternate universe. It’s like waking up and things are vaguely familiar, yet completely different, almost like Déjà vu.

Yes! YES! YES! YES! YES! OH YES!

Tbh, the even newer remaster is superb.

P.S. Just watch Yes live, Yessongs 1973 video.

It is a love song to Jon's wife.

Ladies and gentlemen Chris Squire and Yes the greatest show on earth. For something from space I suggest Arriving UFO for a trip try Awaken and for for a little of both try South Side Of The Sky off their 35th Anniversary vid Songs From Tsongas.

And You And I was played at my wedding on Brockway Mountain

BTW, if you want to try this week's themes again with something closer to what you were describing, I'd recommend doing either a folk/indie-folk/singer-songwriter week. I think those are the genres that are predominantly what you're describing. You can have music in those genres that isn't necessarily pensive, but you could even specify "pensive folk/singer-songwriter" if you wanted to get really specific!

Howe will fairly often use as many as five or six different guitars in the same song. His main electric guitar on a strap, another electric on a stand, an acoustic &/or a 12-string and a pedal steel (that is often mistaken for a synth). Wakeman has always had a huge bank of keyboards (pianos /organs/mellotron/synths). Squire just plays his Rickenbacher bass, but does so with such virtuosity it can (at times) seem like he's switched instruments).

Thanks for this Bryan.. It's good to listen to your musical knowledge when breaking down the song.

Very appreciables comments and constructive analyse, tanks.

a lot of the sounds you are hearing is Steve on slide guitar, he also has the ability to make one guitar sound like two, listen to his live acoustic solo "clap"

Hey Bryan , here's two great Yes tunes, " The Gates of Delirium ", and , " Awaken".

One of the five on the picture plays on this track.

...you are puzzled as to instrumental usage. Look at their live performances and you will then see the depth at which they reproduce their recorded music. Augmenting is little to none as opposed to playing real instruments. Whats slso amazing is they can reproduce the pieces with little to no changes unless intentional. Master musicianship.

And you and I agree

YES!!!!!!!!!!!! great reaction video. this one and the Tenacious D one

This song is one of my favourite yes songs. Would be cool if you could come back to some Flower Kings. Have a listen to their song "Devil's Playground" (but not the remastered version on RU-vid some dude created himself)

Is there any chance that when you referred to the "synth on the left", you actually hear Steve Howe's pedal steel guitar?

“There’s no verb.” 😂 Thanks for the analysis! For some reason I love the ascending slide at the end just as the sound fades out. Question: I haven’t noticed any Rush on the channel. Am I unobservant, do you already know all their stuff, or have they just not come up? Idea: Double features where you do an early song from a band and then a late song, talking about growth and stylistic changes. Obviously works better for bands with a history, like Yes, Rush, and Jethro Tull on the prog side. Maybe Devin Townsend, Dream Theater, or Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree too. Then there’s always Ronnie James Dio’s start in Do Wop. ;)

beautifully done dear! may we make suggestions on works you maybe never seen? ♥

They were with 5: guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and a vocalist. The guitarist and the bass player did additional vocals. If you are really interested in how they pulled it off live: check the version on Yessongs of the same period. The only difference is the drummer: Alan White had replaced Bill Bruford by then.

...also, I think the remaster version its from Steven Wilson works

👏

Turn of the Century

One 12 string acoustic intro and middle. Spacey guitar is a Gibson electric 345 stereo through an organ leslie. Mellotron provides the strings and Minimoog for the leads. There’s also pedal steel guitar played by Steve Howe. So it’s a 5 piece band and when they play it live like on 1973’s monumental album YESSONGS Steve used a double neck Gibson SG 6/12 and the steel and it works perfectly. There’s also a movie that shows everything I just mentioned. Have you done Close To The Edge yet? Here’s And You And I live: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PbS56p4Xt4I.html

2 guys in the picture actually played on the cut

I always find it very interesting to listen to two live versions of this song in addition to the original studio version. On the one hand from the album YESSONGS (1973, a little more bombastic) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jPmikQHnlIM.html And then from Yes ARW live at the Apollo (2018, almost up to date) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-00xvW4ZSJ9M.html Have fun.

want Yes vulnerability ? try Turn of the Century. off the Going for the One. album

Remaster just means it is a new digital transfer from the original analog master. It might have some eq and a little compression added but it is the original recording and mix. Remasters "usually" sound better than some of the early CDs that were made back in eighties when they had primitive 16 bit AD converters. Also some early CDs were made from second or third generation master tapes and remasters try to use the original first generation tapes. Basically remaster just means better quality than the earlier versions. Of course it is subjective. Some remasters might not sound better. Some may have to much compressions or drastic eq. The Yes CDs have actually been remastered more than once. At least three times. And there are Japanese pressings that I think were remastered. I like the Joe Gastwirt versions but generally speaking the differences are very minimal. Most all the Yes stuff sounds good. Even the remixes that were done by Steven Wilson which is another topic altogether.

"The The" is also pretty hard to find. "Einsturzende Neubauten" not so much. Both great for review though. "And You and I" fast became a favorite, when it was even more fresh and green that it even still seems to be. The title cut of the album is Cinema Paradiso of the Progressive Rock catalog, so far as climaxes go. "Supper's Ready" and several King Crimson and Renaissance and Strawbs and Gryphon songs are also representing in the '65-'75 window of creative freedom. Your grasp of the music reminds me of certain glance exercises, where you practice glancing at something or place, etc. and then noting 10, then 20, then 50, then 100, the 1000 details within that short glance. You pick up so many details that would generally otherwise take many listenings to glean. As such, you do, as Horace would hope of a young poet...delight and instruct, or inform. Some colleagues, while emotive, are not always terribly informative. But keeping good music alive is a form of health care. And there are many paths. Happy trails to you.

3:00 pretty sure it's in 3/4.

Now go watch it live.....

Please check out their song AWAKEN

Not moody or brooding in the least. Sounds like you were expecting Floyd .Yes singer, Jon Anderson does not do ballads. Whatever he does, it is usually upbeat. If you truly want intensely personal and wrenching writing and orchestrating, try Peter Gabriel's , Signal to Noise., off the Up Album. His songs, like Here Comes the Flood. or Wallflower .hit deep emotions. As for Yes. I think you will like Awakening, off the Going For the One. album. I like the original release. Talented singer songwriters the likes of John Denver. Harry Chapin and Gordon Lightfoot and Paul Simon.

I see studio versions as “baby photos” of musical ideas. As a song is played over years or decades of performances, it matures. This particular song has evolved considerably from its baby photo. I think it peaked in 2004. To my ears, this studio version now sounds incomplete and rushed. To see this played to its full potential (yes backed by an orchestra), please react to this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wygdzRPsJa0.html

and here goes Siberian with Earthquake... But you know it's the weakest (if you can use that word with YES) on this album?

All "remaster" means is that they've cranked up the inputs to match newer recordings. You possibly lose some subtlety, but those of us familiar with the original LP's have lost too much of hearing to blame the transition to digital for what we miss.

Yeah yeah..but do you like the song..?

It was 6/8 not 7/8

I love the original Yes Album, Fragile and CTTE but don't like any of the remastered stuff. The remastered sound doesn't jell; it's mechanical, abrasive and jarring. It sounds like a band which hasn't played together for ten years doing a benefit gig using someone else's sound system without any rehearsal.

first

No

Your thumbnail makes a mockery of the band that created this song, because other than one person that is not these people