Jon Anderson's worst lyric
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Topic: Jon Anderson's worst lyric
Posted By: Rune2000
Subject: Jon Anderson's worst lyric
Date Posted: March 26 2011 at 18:47
I've managed to make a girl friend of mine a Yes fan, but now this fanaticism is starting to spill overboard as she actually enjoys Jon Anderson's lyrics!  I need you guys to show her everything that is wrong with Jon Anderson's writing! 
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Replies:
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: March 26 2011 at 20:34
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Here are a few small gems that illustrate my own dislike for the Anderson genre of prog. You may be too late, however: "Just like a shakespeare revolution Please organize our spiritual evolution" -Almost Like Love "If time will allow We will judge all who came In the wake of our new age to stand for the frail Don't kill the whale -Don't Kill The Whale "Singing the Rule Britannia And this is where it grabs you There's method in the key of C Toledo's got to be the silver city In this good country" -Our Song "Bluetail, tailfly, Luther, in time, Suntower, asking, Cover, lover, June cast, moon fast, As one changes, Heart gold, leaver, Soul mark, mover, Christian, changer, Called out, saviour, Moon gate, climber, Turn round, glider." -Siberian Khatru (I nearly retched when I got to the last one. Poor Chris Squire, he's had to put up with this sort of drivel for over 40 years) |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: March 26 2011 at 20:39
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I've read that Anderson didn't write lyrics for their intrinsic meanings as much as for their sound, rhyme, etc. My own favorite is "Cha-cha-cha...cha-cha!" from "Soundchaser!" Brilliant!! I'd listen to Anderson sing the phone book if I could. Hell, I'd be thrilled & honored to accompany him with guitar/bass!! |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 02:06
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....then again, it just doesn't get much better than this!! AMAZING poetry! |
Posted By: Rune2000
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 03:58
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^"To Be Over" happens to be one of her favorite! Please note: This thread is not intentended for ridiculing Yes, I'm a big fan myself (read my reviews). The reason for this thread is to prove a point and what better way is there to do so than getting some tips from the fans themselves?  Keep sending in those quotes!  -------------
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Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 04:31
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Sorry. I agree with your girlfriend. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 04:32
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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. Now really. A seasoned witch? Am I supposed to eat her? Oh wait, suddenly the lyrics DO make sense; eating a seaoned witch would certainly rearrange my liver.. -------------  BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 04:33
^Seasoned means "has seen many seasons" so therefore old. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: The Hemulen
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 04:41
| I like Anderson best when he's spouting incomprehensible hippy nonsense. Whenever he tries to convey some kind of accessible meaning he sounds like a semi-literate teenager (i.e. "Don't Go", "Wondrous Stories", "Don't Kill the Whale" etc.). |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 04:43
I think I agree. His free forming "soundscape" stuff is great. The words are great. But when he tries to get sentimental it's a bit gawkish. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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The Hemulen wrote:Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 04:46
I am in the culinary business, so I know of that meaning of "seasoned". But it is used for wine and cheese, not for people. So I still believe I am supposed to eat the witch. ------------- BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 04:48
I know what business you are in, you say it often enough, but it is totally irrelevant. We all know what seasoning is. Know one needs to be a chef for that. And you use seasoning for wine and cheese? German cooking is odd. Seasoned means in this case....aged. QED I suspect I'm falling for a wind up here.  ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Nathaniel607
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 05:11
English[ http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=seasoned&action=edit§ion=2" rel="nofollow - edit ]Verbseasoned
[ http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=seasoned&action=edit§ion=3" rel="nofollow - edit ]Adjectiveseasoned ( http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary#comparable" rel="nofollow - comparative more seasoned, http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary#comparable" rel="nofollow - superlative most seasoned)
[ http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=seasoned&action=edit§ion=4" rel="nofollow - edit ]Anagrams
Sorry. If it's any consolation, I still think it sounds a bit dumb. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Nathaniel607" rel="nofollow - My Last FM Profile 
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Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 05:14
Yes, experienced rather than simply old as I said. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Chris S
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 05:21
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a waste of energy...JA just gives.....salute him :-) ------------- ...As I venture through the slipstream, between the viaducts in your dreams...[/COLOR] |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 05:23
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@ Baldfriede Looking back now I see that you were joking. Sorry about that. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 05:24
Sorry, I can't help you. So many choices that it makes me go bonkers
 .Btw, that doesn''t keep me away from liking his vocals. ------------- 
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Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 05:55
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I am not messing with you at all. Would you really say about someone "he is a seasoned guy"? I sincerely doubt it. But just to be sure I checked a dictionary. Now what do we get for season as a verb: –verb (used with object) 9. to heighten or improve the flavor of (food) by adding condiments, spices, herbs, or the like. 10. to give relish or a certain character to: conversation seasoned with http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wit" rel="nofollow - wit . 11. to mature, ripen, or condition by exposure to suitable conditions or treatment: a writer seasoned by experience. 12. to dry or otherwise treat (lumber) so as to harden and render immune to shrinkage, warpage, etc. 13. to accustom or harden: troops seasoned by battle. So 12 or 13 might apply. A witch seasoned by magic.. ------------- BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 05:59
Yes I would.
Or by experience. As witches didn't use magic. Seems i gave you the benefit of some humour by mistake. I won't be making that mistake again. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 06:13
It appears you don't get my sense of humour, but that can't be helped. ------------- BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 06:15
You admitted yourself that it wasn't a joke. Now you are saying it is? Sorry thats enough madness for me. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: topographicbroadways
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 06:17
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His old lyrics were great but check out some of his modern lyrics. He is clearly happier now Listen to his sentimental rubbish he comes out with "Show me the love bla bla love bla love bla happiness. And Show Me love and love bla bla Love" A paraphrased version of Show Me -------------  
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Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 06:33
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My kind of joking is doing something absurd with a totally deadpan face. Buster Keaton style.
------------- BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 06:34
Hard to spot in a post. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 07:44
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I've always liked Jon's lyrics the weirder and more incomprehensible the better.
------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 08:26
| Yes were determined to be original and the lyrics were no exception--Jon described them as sounds--which can convey anything you feel when you hear them-free form poetry----when they were good--mostly during the classic period, they worked with the music---later in life he gets corny and sentimental---(but then there are great exceptions like In the Presence of ) Personally, I like 75% of his lyrics but, his lyrics bother me when he repeats something....like in Mind Drive...the word "whole" or in Ritual ..."at all..." The Beatles during their psychedelic period had some weird silly lyrics too. |
Posted By: omardiyejon
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 08:29
 ------------- http://www.normalisr.com/?username=omardiyejon" rel="nofollow - http://www.normalisr.com/?username=omardiyejon |
Posted By: Anthony H.
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 08:33
All of this. -------------  |
Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 12:30
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I love his lyrics. I love his sense of wonderment of creation. I admire his almost naive worldview - in fact, in these dark & depressing times, I turn to him in order to cheer myself up. ------------- Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org |
Posted By: refugee
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 12:49
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Cirkus of Heaven. And never let her hear Turn of the Century. Too good lyrics, and even comprehensible. ------------- He say nothing is quite what it seems; I say nothing is nothing (Peter Hammill) |
Posted By: Andy Webb
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 12:55
------------- http://ow.ly/8ymqg" rel="nofollow">  
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Posted By: sleeper
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 12:55
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Errr.... all of them.
------------- Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005  |
Posted By: Progosopher
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 13:42
------------- The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty" |
Posted By: Evolver
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 13:57
The perfect way to wash down that seasoned witch:
 ------------- Trust me. I know what I'm doing. |
Posted By: Paravion
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 14:40
Doesn't your source list the other sense of "seasoned"? - if not, it's hardly a reliable source. I believe we are supposed to eat a seasoned (spicy) and seasoned (experienced) witch.
See? Btw - it's never sufficient to describe words with words - a little away around this is to use google image search rather than the normal search when you don't know what a word means. http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=512&q=seasoned&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=" rel="nofollow - In the case of "seasoned" we find some support for Friedes analysis.. |
Posted By: rdtprog
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 14:43
| There is nothing wrong with Jon's lyrics. It's simply naïve. I must be naïve also by listening to the same Yes song a million times... |
Posted By: thehallway
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 14:54
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Exactly! This thread is kind of nasty to Jon....... I mean, sure, people can dislike his lyrics but why start a thread about it? Instead, the OP could start a thread about the good things about some alternative lyricist. Not all art has to make immediate sense, and even if things are totally incomprehensible, they can still sound beautiful...... Yes music has some of the most positive, uplifting words I have ever heard and they have an effect on me that transcends general criticisms of poetry. There are still some Yes lyrics I find a bit cringeworthy....... I have no reason to write about them then do I? ------------- http://www.thefreshfilmblog.com/" rel="nofollow">  |
Posted By: lazland
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 15:03
There has always been an undercurrent of antipathy to Anderson on the site, which I personally find difficult to get my head around. ------------- Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org |
Posted By: Paravion
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 16:12
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If we all talked exclusively about what is good all the time it will eventually become meaningless. We need to talk about what is bad in order to form conceptions about what is good. I think Jon will survive.
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Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: March 27 2011 at 22:16
...OK, now sing that to the music of "The Revealing Science of God!" Anderson's lyrics have had a profound influence on the course of my life, from my decision to pursue environmental science as a profession ("Let them rape the forests!" really got me), to the passing of my parents ("To Be Over"), etc. I could care less that, when printed on paper, many of the lyrics cause casual readers to go "Huh??" Read Coleridge!!
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Posted By: Moogtron III
Date Posted: March 28 2011 at 02:07
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Jon often used words to create an atmosphere, not for the actual meaning. Anyone trying to piece together a puzzle in old Yes lyrics is therefore bound to fail. It's simple as that.
Jon is being very original in this, and I love for instance the word pairs in Siberian Khatru.
So, I agree with the girl friend.
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Posted By: akaBona
Date Posted: March 28 2011 at 05:23
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what a wonderful and wise girlfriend you have! threat her respect and love or you will be soon ex ... |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: March 28 2011 at 05:53
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^ No don't threat her....be nice to her. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: thehallway
Date Posted: March 28 2011 at 10:36
What? Surely talking about what is good, automatically separates it from what is bad...... because what is bad needn't be spoken about at all. If you don't like Jon Anderson's lyrics...... you can ignore them, right? It saves space. ------------- http://www.thefreshfilmblog.com/" rel="nofollow"> |
Posted By: Paravion
Date Posted: March 28 2011 at 12:48
I never said I dislike Anderson's lyrics - actually I (also) like the meaninglessness of the early yes lyrics, and I feel Anderson has (maybe had) a great talent.
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: March 28 2011 at 13:59
 I consider them to be wide open to interpretation. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: March 28 2011 at 15:22
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I think this whole forum can be summed up in three words: SURJE IR SAMSE
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Posted By: Earendil
Date Posted: March 28 2011 at 15:55
| Many of Jon's lyrics don't literally mean much, but convey meaning through the sounds and images from each individual word, as well as how they flow together. I personally would pick that over lyrics using heartless, mechanical poetry. |
Posted By: giselle
Date Posted: April 05 2011 at 03:37
| Jon is a great vocalist, he makes good use of his voice and his range, and he thinks vocally like a musician. The downside? He doesn't have a great sound, in that sense he isn't a singer; his voice is undistinctive, his melodies tend towards the ethereal and lightweight, and his lyrics are of that ilk, but also laced with pretentiousness. In terms of the balance of the group, and the music taking the foreground, he was the right vocalist for Yes. Nobody's perfect. |
Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: April 09 2011 at 20:22
Only if it was a sand witch. ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: resurrection
Date Posted: April 10 2011 at 01:38
| You're looking in the wrong direction; Jon's forte was always sound not sense. |