South Side of the Sky
"South Side of the Sky" | |
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Song by Yes | |
from the album Fragile | |
Released |
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Recorded | September 1971 |
Genre |
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Length |
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Label | Atlantic |
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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"South Side of the Sky" is a song by progressive rock band Yes from their album Fragile.
Description
It opens with the sound of a howling wind, then the song starts after a thunder-strike, bursting into a heavy, riff-dominated rock song. At around 2:08,
Ultimate Classic Rock critic Ryan Reed described the song as being Yes' 6th heaviest song saying that "Howe goes wild with some of his most ferocious guitar tones...and engineer Eddy Offord sharpens every angular riff into a dagger."[2]
Anderson stated that "This is a song about climbing mountains. It’s dangerous, but we all must climb mountains every day."[3]
The original and a new "acoustic" version of this song, with piano as the dominant instrument and without the sound effects, appears on the 2004 U.S. version of the three-disc compilation album The Ultimate Yes: 35th Anniversary Collection. This new version is on the third disc, which consists of material newly recorded for the album, while the original version of the track appears on the first.[citation needed]
Production, lyrical content
According to Jon Anderson, the inspiration for lyrics came from an article which claims that "sleep is death's little sister", and the lyrics expand on the idea that death could be beautiful. The mountain referenced in the lyrics is a goal humanity struggles to attain, after which there is death, a set of transitions leading to "eternal sleep or the next life span". Chris Squire explained that Anderson wrote the first verse with acoustic guitar; Squire takes credit for the riff in the chorus (in the words of Steve Howe, "do-de-do-do-do") and for a section in the middle of the song. The guitar riff for the song, said Steve Howe, came from a composition by his earlier band, Bodast, and the song was rarely played live because "the vocal section came up short".[4]
In the liner notes of the remastered edition of Fragile, it is said that this song is about a tragic
Rick Wakeman contributed to the writing of "South Side of the Sky" (and fellow album piece "Heart of the Sunrise") by adding piano interludes to both songs, but was not credited due to contractual conflicts.[citation needed]
Covers
"South Side of the Sky" was covered by the band Spock's Beard. The song is heard on the special edition third disc of their album Snow. A cover of this song, with vocal contributions by Jon Anderson, appears as the first track on Glass Hammer's 2007 album Culture of Ascent, a concept album about mountain climbing in the Himalayas.[citation needed]
Personnel
- Jon Anderson – lead vocals
- Steve Howe – electric guitars, backing vocals
- Chris Squire – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Rick Wakeman – Hammond organ, grand piano, Minimoog
- Bill Bruford – drums, percussion
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
- ^ Reed, Ryan (18 May 2022). "The 10 Heaviest Yes Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- ^ "10 Heavy Yes Songs That Are Surprisingly Great". Society of Rock. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
- ISBN 9780312144531. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
- ^ Yes. Fragile. CD-ROM. 2003. Elektra Entertainment.
- ^ Yes (musical group). Yes: Live at Montreux 2003. [DVD]. Eagle Eye Media.