OK. I confess. I only put sex in the title to lure you into reading the rest. I really am surveying something sensual and alluring, but also innocent and mysterious, with which Yes music is well-endowed. Coupled with some very passionate and often emotional music, Jon Anderson's lyrics possess a unparalleled ability to move the listener in a very personal way. This is true of his work both in and out of Yes, although he is far more "demonstrative" in his solo efforts. Jon has said that ALL the music he writes and plays is Yes music and I happen to agree; so, from here on, I will not distinguish among his solo work, collaborations, and Yes proper. Now, to clarify what is meant by SEX: 1. Either of two divisions into which things are divided. 2. Character of being male or female, and all the attributes by which males and females are distinguished. 3. Anything connected with sexual gratification. 4. Sexual intercourse. Now, we are all subjects of a culture with definitions 3 and 4 of "sex" on the brain, so there is the temptation to touch upon them first. I would prefer, however, to ease into it, in order to properly address -- or would that be undress -- the pervasiveness of "permissiveness" within Yes music. In the immortal words of Jon, "slow down, just relax, don't move fast, take your time."
In a radio interview at the time of "Going for the One," Yes' lead singer was asked about his intentions toward the audience. Jon Anderson's response alluded to the sensual world.
"I feel like I basically want the audience to get off (replay: "get off") on what's happening, whether it be a fearful feeling, a very deep thoughtful feeling, a very happy feeling, a very ah... SENSUAL feeling, which isn't something that you readily find in Yes music, but it's somewhere there if you look, 'cause the ingredients of all music are the senses."
There's a challenge if I ever heard one: OK, let's look.
Before we go any further, I feel you should know I am a little tentative when it comes to drawing conclusions about Yes music. I don't believe anything so resembling a force of nature should be placed in an intellectual package and labeled. Also, the subject of sex is always mysterious to me and I wonder at the sense in seeing this life as being neatly divided into two categories. While I am curious as to why opposites appear in nature and society, whether I have a bias and what to make of the differences, I prefer to see the harmony, to relate myself and them back to being whole. With regard to women and men, it seems unrealistically simple to see us as separate species (or as coming from different planets), more true to imagine sexuality as a continuum of feminine and masculine qualities which we all possess, in varying degrees. We have, after all, more in common than not (a mere fourth-of-a-gene difference, isn't it?). With respect to values and behavior, men gravitate toward one end of the sex spectrum and women toward the other, and, as any contemporary talkshow will verify, there is some degree of middle ground and crossover as well. This endeavor, then, is more to question and suggest than declare, because I am exploring a view of Yes' music which is subjective and I am still learning as I go. In the musings that follow, please pardon any extremities of conclusion, and try not to feel as if I am passing judgment on either sex. My intentions are not to dissect or isolate the sexes, but to better understand and appreciate their interplay because, "after all is said and done there's only us and we can make it right."
My take on Yes, and life for that matter, succumbs to the strong magnetic pull of Jon Anderson's designs on me, the listener. It has been his influence, more than any of the many remaining musicians, that has lured me into the ever-changing and always-exhilarating world of Yes. Anderson does not possess the buff physique of Bill Bruford or the deep, sexy voice of Steve Howe, but he does own a quality I feel is irresistibly attractive and unique: the power to invoke potent emotion. Many of the individuals that comprise the audience have been moved by Jon's words to a lifelong loyalty, myself among them. The personality and the intensity Jon's poetry-songs display elicit a corresponding response "in the heart of my hearts," feeding my devotion to this musical form.
In order to better understand my own feelings about Jon and Yes, I spoke with others who I know have a high regard for the group, to compare and contrast. When asked whether Yes music was sexy, five out of six men were hard-pressed to make any connection, two said it absolutely was not, and one later gave a carefully considered answer. Most said the music was stirring only on an intellectual level, and in this respect, innocent. I don't believe any of the women asked would deny these qualities, but they all certainly had more to say. All five out of five female fans questioned immediately and ardently insisted Jon and his music ARE sexy.
With respect to intimacy, it seems as if the sacred and the secular have been rendered as separate experiences in the minds of the men questioned, that love (and Yes) falls into some consecrated category, and sexiness into a relatively desecrated (although not necessarily undesirable) place. This may help to explain the following answers, five of the six men's responses, most of whom saw no sex in Yes.
One said, "No.'"
Another commented like so: "Nope."
A third said, honestly, "No, I would be too busy playing air guitar to think about doing anything else."
One did wonder a few minutes before articulating as follows.
"No. But if you want a longer answer...Sex is a spiritual AND mental experience. When you first think about sex, physical comes to mind. You wouldn't have Yes behind an x-rated movie, for example.'"
Here is a fifth male perspective:
"As far as Yes and sex, even with you soliciting ideas from me, I must admit that my tablet in that respect is quite blank as Yes have always seemed so, well, pure. There are no Yessongs (with possibly the exception of "City of Love" and "Real Love" and MAYBE "State of Play") which convey sex in any way, shape or form. That's the one thing that I have truly missed in listening to them -- they never write love songs, and there is never any sexual reference in any of their tunes. They write of full essence, they play of pure energy. I suppose I could add "Ritual" to the list above. Their love is pure innocence. I mean, they know about the walks of life, and the rituals, and even the joyous and occasionally lustful pursuits of being alive, but, for the most part, they are innocent.'"
The women asked make little or no distinction between sex and Yes. Their experiences bespeak a more inclusive view of sexuality, sensuality and their feel for the music. Allow me to elaborate, courtesy of comments from the five women mentioned earlier.
One woman phrases it this way:
"I am drawn to Yes' music following an inner sense of elation, pure wonder at being alive. The feeling of love for me is always a call to come, to move in a certain direction, and Jon's music and lyrics beckon me in this way. I have been following the irresistible sound all of my adult life. I more than enjoy Yes; I am obsessed. I would go so far as to say I am married to Yes in the sense that no musical suitor has wooed me and won since I first thrilled to the sound of Jon's voice twenty years ago, proposed to initially, as I was, at the end of 'And You and I.' Existing within any Jon-featured Yes music is a lover's picnic on a verdant hillside where silent and invisible angels hover among piles of clouds, whispering inspiration. Sweet wine bubbles, flowing slowly over hungry lips and tongues, between poignant glances and unabashed gazing. Berries tempt, bread crumbs fall. Birds see, alight, steal a morsel, fly off, return, sing. Shimmering sunlight flickers through tossing trees whose boughs are vibrant with deep color and heavy with exotic flowers, fruit and leaves all at the same time. A warm wind lifts our hair (his is long), introducing a sequence of aromas that originate in secret bowers: jasmine, honeysuckle, lilac, mock orange, apple blossom, rose, more. My lover is smiling, reclined, willing, waiting like me for what might happen next, wrapt within the same bliss-of-being."
Now, some choice ravings from a second female fan...
"Here I sit, waiting for 'Lady of Dreams' to begin. My hormones are in high gear today, so it's a good time to address this particular topic. There are times (like these) when the hormones *sigh*. 'Lady of Dreams,' 'Man of Dreams!' Oh what a shiver runs through me when I listen to Jon sing this song! His voice, those words, are like a caress. A looooooong, tender caress... Yes, Jon is sexy! I think Yes is sexy, too. It always confuses me when I hear them accused of being cold and mechanical. Shiver! Some guys don't get it, do they? They just don't understand what really turns us on. A sweet, heavenly voice, gentle embracing words, sensitivity. This song moves me to the point of tears. Ah, sweet, gentle, seduction.'"
Here is another...
"I think that many of Jon's gentle, poetic lyrics are very suggestive and romantically sexual. His "Private Collection" album is very explicit! But I also enjoy his subtler phrases. "Like leaves we touch" brings to mind a scene of two people in a courting dance beneath two interwoven trees at the edge of a wood. Also, I am convinced that in the "Dance of the Dawn" from "The Revealing Science of God" the lyrics are somewhat sexual: 'craving penetrations offer links with the self-instructor's sharp and tender love...as only to teach love as to reveal passion chasing late into corners..Dawn of love sent within us colors of awakening... As the links span our endless caresses for the freedom of life everlasting.' Anyway, it feels like love to listen to Jon sing into the depths of my heart and soul! There are countless phrases where you can catch a glimpse of his romantic thoughts of love and ecstasy so interwoven in words of poetry that it transcends most people's idea of what love is all about. I'm glad to know that many women (and some men) have been touched by Jon's passionately alluring (and very enticing) sexuality and personal charm."
One woman has a hair fetish...
"I had a dream. Jon's head was in my lap and I was running my fingers through his hair. If only I could get close enough to really touch it. I want to wash his hair -- BAD. I enjoy his lyrics because he writes like a woman would write, with so much thought and feeling. He's like an angel. He IS an angel! He's totally sincere, so what he says is true. He is true love! I love all my Yes men but I love Jon the most!"
Finally...
"Jon = sex and sex = Jon. I'm not sure if the erotic thoughts I have about Jon are respectable let alone printable! My husband certainly wouldn't approve of them. Even so, I feel totally guiltless about my fantasies. Jon reaches so far back into my past that recollections of life before him are but hazy memories. His bright image constantly wanders through the dark rooms of my mind. His voice caresses me and I thrill to his touch. To see Jon, to hear Jon is to walk naked into a forest glade and see golden sunbeams filter through a canopy of green, bringing light and life to the earth beneath, to hear the first bird song of a summer morning or the crystal clear water of a mountain stream cascading over a waterfall. To feel Jon's embrace is for every nerve ending in my body to scream out in the ecstasy of the moment. I'd love to, maybe just once, wake up one morning and realize a dream: to roll over and find Jon lying close to me."
The answers provided by women above have some interesting similarities. One is the reference to heaven and angels (these views were submitted before the appearance of "Angel's Embrace," a Jon solo effort). Another is a tendency to associate, instinctively, the idea of nature -- trees, flowers, water, sunlight, etc. -- with Jon's music. I feel this indicates an inclination in both the master of lyrics and the listener to regard as important an active connection with Nature -- one's own nature and the Mother Earth, "for our own ecology." Finally, without any physical contact having taken place, there is the distinct sensation of being caressed by Jon himself . It can only be that they are stimulated on levels more profound than the physical, and being touched in this place affects all the senses as well.
This arousal of intimate sensations is accomplished by a tendency on Jon's part to be suggestive rather than obvious. The message of any one song is often nebulous, indirect, difficult, perhaps, for the mind to grasp, but pouring over one's awareness anyway and registering somewhere deep inside. Just as the sex act is best when anticipated with a glance, a gesture, touching, and holding, likewise it is alluded to, with these same inducements, all across the body of Jon's lyrics.
The poet W.B.Yeats said, "wine comes in at the lips, and love comes in at the eye." Most people would agree that eye contact is key in getting and maintaining a person's attention, and Anderson is an accomplished flirt in this respect. Seeing, the visual stimulation of desire, is rampant in Yes lyrics:
I see you. La la la ... I love you. Watching your eyes, feeling your sighs. Look how I move. Chance would have me glance at you to know how you move me. As is my want, I only reach to look in your eyes. Was it sun through the haze that made all your looks as warm as moonlight (mentioning the moon, too, is an instant aphrodisiac). In the giving of my eyes to see your face. Warm in my secrets, lost in your eyes.
I find it very telling that the "Brother of Mine" video begins and ends inside of Jon's eyes.
Once our attention has been captured, the involvement of our physical beings begins. "Onward" now, to the sense of touch...
How we chased a million stars and touched as only one can. Awaken gentle mass touching. Like leaves we touch. We walk hands in the sun, memories when we're young love lingers so. From the moment I reached out to hold I felt a sound, and what touches our soul slowly moves as touch rebounds. Love, like a signal you call, touching my body my soul. Only when we touched did it all come through.'
Phase two is complete, and serious seduction is about to ensue. All reservations regarding personal space are abandoned as we progress to holding...
How can the wind with it's arms all around me? Holding you so closely. Hold me my love, call me today, call me 'round. Lay upon me, hold me around lasting hours. Holding you closer in my arms we drift to heaven bringing in the morning light. The stairways of love, the starlight, telling me that there's something else to cling on to. And when the night comes and you relax with me I'll take you in my arms...Come to me, say you will. You are divine, your body holds me tight. We experience, we hold together, lost in one embrace. What's the matter? Don't you want to risk, don't you want to hold me, hold me dance in the rain. Holding on -- was it ever like this? Holding on. It's the most important thing. It was the first time that I saw you. It was the first time that I knew. Out of all my disbelieving. Holding on. I was holding you.
We see appreciated in these excerpts anticipation, taking time to pay full attention to the details of pleasure, a playfulness indicating a willingness to leave the world of time and responsibility and a preference for romance. To encourage sexual interaction, suggestion is more effective than stating, serving to spark interest and encourage curiosity. For example, instead of weakening the lyric, a vague phrasing such as "as if" in the following line adds a certain emphasis to the song's focus, in this case, penetrating the haziness of recollection: "As if I knew the words I'm sure you'll hear of memories known that met us long ago, so clear." There are memories here, there are secrets, and, of course, the answer to the question, "will you?" Saying "yes" in itself is giving license; it is licentious. "And if you answer 'yes' the same you'll give me more than all reasons will." Let's say at this point that the listener has succumbed to Jon's overtures and is willing to go further, "all the way, every day." Here are some of the more explicit references to physical intimacy...
Sun smiling sun through the cave of her hair. On a clear day we will love forever. ("Craving penetrations..." has been used above.) Holding you closer in my arms we drift to heaven bringing in the morning light . Let us be together in the morning light. Like the summer sun -- so hot! In my heart it feels so right . How can this be wrong? We love. We give it all we got. We danced 'til midnight serious, first time I'm alive. She made me love deliriously, we made love all night long. Take my love so sexual, we'll never be apart. I'm your lover. I'm your everything. Wanting only just to be with you. We're so good at finding pleasure as to what we are and how we fit together. I can feel the love in your eyes. I can see you coming. I can see what you think you want. I can see what you think you need: must be love. Everybody needs it. Don't show your body. So dangerous. Can you handle it? Hold me in your arms lay by my side let me be inside of you. Wanting and dreaming you each time I think of you lying naked beside me. Oh! but I know this is right. We kiss in a special way. Coming together this love.
If you don't mind, I'd like to linger in the ecstasy of this climactic moment and wonder awhile. What are the implications of the view from this "peak" of human experience? We turn to sex, music, dreaming, drugs as a means of release and escape: from what? The mundane, maybe, all the pressing activity that feels less-than-fulfilling or stifling. Into what? Where we go in this moment is harder to describe. Jon seems to consider sexual ecstasy to be a gateway to mysticism, an entering or return into the very mystery of life, "out of all where we came from." By mysticism I mean a merging of one's individual awareness with all that is, and feeling completely at peace as a result. Some of us "practice" sex to achieve this, and the act itself can take on all the qualities of a sacred experience. Jon frequently uses the unity of man and woman to indicate mystic philosophy, the truth of the one energy that connects all forms of life. Especially in the recurring mention of the intensity of first love, the human awe and wonderment of experiencing the mystery of one's very being comes through...
After the first embrace from you my senses knew the look of love was in your eyes. And after we first make love our senses tingle to the touch, oh how we hypnotize. All to get the feeling on and on. All just to get the feeling. Like the first time: heaven, heaven. Dance of heaven, feel the feeling of delight. I'll be ready to kiss you and love you infinity, dancing in gravity, dancing in gravity.
Jon does not make the intellectual distinction between the sacred and the secular. Rather, he sings about life energies as related and relating to one another, indicating a wholesome and intelligent insight. His lyrics go further than encouraging the listener to explore the body of one's partner. Here, physical and spiritual love are expressed as arising, existing, and falling asleep hopelessly intertwined. A woman friend wondered how it was possible that many of Jon's words seemed so intimate and pertinent, as if written for her alone. One of the responses above includes a reference to Jon as one of HER Yes men, so completely does she identify with the music.
I could only laugh because I feel the same way, and it does boggle the brain. It is pure magic -- or simply the wonder of technology -- that so many people can have the same experience, as if the audience, despite its size, were one individual, or Jon many. There is a story amid the rich and abundant symbolism of Hindu mythology that illustrates this mysterious phenomenon. Krishna, who is a manifestation of the one divine energy, is portrayed as a youthful cowherd in a small village. All the women (who experience the inner life more readily and sense something special in this young man apart from the fact he is blue) want him for a lover. On a full moon night he meets with them all, away from the village, and easily obliges each of them by cloning himself into as many Krishnas as there are women! They all pair off, in and alongside the river, among blooming trees, to indulge in night long physical pleasure.
Am I saying Jon Anderson is a manifestation of divine energy? Well, yes, but then, mystically speaking, we all are, because all of life is divine in this context. He does differ from most performers in that, rather than being motivated solely by the usual desires for power, money and fame, he very simply wishes to sincerely relay to as many as will listen the potent possibilities of love.
Jon's approach is very much in keeping with the European troubadour tradition, which used poetry and song to exalt love as the highest possible pursuit in life. Mythologist Joseph Campbell explained that according to oral bardic custom, the eyes go forth to find an image to recommend to the gentle heart, which instructs the seeker how to respond. The poetry and song that result celebrate the inner ecstasy of love, an awareness of the heart that imparts a direct and personal sense of spirituality, delight in the manifestation of the divine in a person. Not distinguishing between physical and spiritual pleasure, but moving to unite them, Jon repeatedly exalts the senses in this way. "Ave Verum" is a song on Jon's "Toltec" that addresses the sanctity of sensual experience:
See-through this teaching life shines around my being. Out in the mists of timelessness I see your face. Hold me closer now. Each and every feeling now is God, at last this majesty is God.
There is something far less casual here than what might be perceived intellectually as hedonism. To return to troubadour times, marriages were still arranged by families, not by personal choice. Guided into love following an inner signal rather than an outer dictate was a radical concept at the time, and the practice knew no boundaries. A married individual, for example, was fair game in the heart's arena, although the penalty for physical indiscretion might be the death of both persons. In these most intense of love relationships, no ritual of the society verified the union (excepting that of execution). Sex was the sacrament of love. The need to be together may not be as life-threatening as it once was, but the desperation lives on in every present-day true-love story, and the exquisite joy experienced therein is relayed convincingly in the works of Anderson/Yes:
Legends can be now and forever teaching us to love for goodness' sake. Legends can be now and forever loved by the sun... Who sings of all of love's eternity? Who shines so bright in all the songs of life's unending spell? [Jon does.]
Love represents the union of the grossest and subtlest of human energies, animal and divine. The sex act is a climax of the senses in both, many, all senses. Anderson is aware of the many levels of stimulation that contact between lovers can convey. He readily communicates this experience, more so on his solo efforts, and more so in recent years: "the act of love will come a long, long glorious way." Here is Jon's explanation of the song, "Real Love."
Real love isn't physical. It's a spiritual entity. To activate that spiritual entity is to be on a mission, to believe in being. It's just to believe, you know; it's just a sense of agreeing with the force. That there is this incredible force that is controlling and there is order in what might seem to be a bit of confusion. But there is this order and it's there and it's a great feeling to realize it. I always felt it was just a means of expression, so I just said it. And I never thought too much about the after effect. It's saying it, the affirmative, to actually say the thing and then, if anybody agrees, fantastic! And you might not see it in the music, you might enjoy the music totally, but not see what I saw. But as it happens, a lot of people do.
Related to elation and retreat into mystic experience are Jon's tendencies to avoid grammar, take leave of lyrics entirely and ascend into inarticulate chanting, to sing in other languages, and even make up language. The sung interlude in "South Side of the Sky" is a good example in which the listener is captivated, disbelief suspended, and carried willingly along on an imaginary journey. "Italian Song" and much of "Deseo" is probably more romantic because it cannot be understood. Despite or maybe because of the lack of verbal meaning, the force of the singer's heart's intent comes across powerfully. One song I wish Jon HAD opted to sing in English is "Chagall Duet."
You ask of me move time for you. You're in my heart, the air that I breathe should fan the flame of my desire. Hearing your name sets me afire. I never felt as I do with you. My feet don't even touch the ground. As one and one with love, you're never far from me. All my dreams begin with you, each breathing moment, each singing flame, each whispered sigh, each song we sing. We speak of love, such as the mood, then all at once I only care. To be my friend, to be my guide, I need the spark, I need the soul. We've walked the earth, we've climbed the stars to fly to the sun. All love is the color of the spiritual ground. As all is one, so this we are holding the flower, being the star. How sweet you are. My love you are. My life you are. My soul you are. My heart you are. I'm yours for evermore.
The translation of the parts sung in French are so replete in their naked allure it seems a shame to conceal them from the non-french-speaking listener.
In conjunction with these vague vocalizations, Jon sometimes makes use of a Celtic device, the circular song. The repetition of a lyrical line or a melody can be very hypnotic, bypassing the brain, inviting you into a tune, and simultaneously into an inner state of resonance and the repose of attunement with the life's rhythm. Consider the memorable acoustic guitar theme of "And You And I;" it is powerful and engaging despite it's simplicity and repetitiveness. "Where Will You Be" is a musical mantra coupled with some very seductive lines by Jon and it's capable of lulling the unsuspecting listener into a swoon. (When Yes played it during the Cleveland concert of the "Talk" tour, I remember standing and swaying, helplessly, in the seventh row. I think i was the only one. though.)
Now, having won over another being's affection and tasted, possibly, the very bliss of being in the consummation, a need arises, proportional to the intensity experienced, to be together again and over a period of time: "just the thought of your sweet face over and over again." In the same way the lover petitioning his would-be love assures her of his fidelity and commitment, Jon promises the listener that he will continue to care about this relationship he has brought into being. Loyalty runs high among Yes fans. We are devoted at least in part because of a convincing, supportive, reassurance in Jon's voice:
On a clear day we will love forever. So our love will carry on and on. Now our love will be free. Yes, I do know why I'm alive. To love and be with you, day by day by dayyay. Let all nights be like this. Forever I could hold you. Outside of this and inside of that the memory lingers so right completely as that. We've loved a long time. Be my friend. I need you. From a dream so far away I was sent to your heart. With the stars shining we are asked to live this one love. Never forget.
Decades of fidelity on the part of Yes toward its audience, especially now as we enjoy the latest manifestation the new/old Yes line-up, reinforces the status we enjoy as eternal admirers. The performers and audience seem continually to justify one another's existence.
The very distinct responses by Yes enthusiasts above did surprise me a little, and they have encouraged a curiosity that has led me to question the meaning of sex#2: what DOES it mean to be male and/or female? Why do the affects of Yes differ so completely, according to your sex? One obvious answer would be because Jon is a man and opposites attract: a man respects a woman with a brain and a woman admires a man who is sensitive. In this music (as in a real relationship), both men and women are attracted to external intricacies of form, both visual and aural, and also an air of mystery about and a corresponding curiosity toward the alluring sound. From here, men and woman have described the sensation according to what seems like very different perspectives, he according more to the objective preferences of the mind and she to the subjective beat of her own heart. Men might describe the beauty of the music, try to understand and explain its outward intricacies and musical meaning, as Thomas Mosbo did in his book, Yes But What Does It Mean? Women might be more inclined to describe the way they feel when they are at the mercy of Yes. The feminine counterpart to his effort (and possibly a more appropriate title for this essay) could be: Yes But How Does It Feel?
While singing, bouncing and swaying during a Yesshow, I am never sure how everyone else in the audience, so close to the band, perhaps to their favorite member (in my case, Jon), can keep so calm and still during a performance. There is, though, this very concentrated approach to the music, causing many of the fans, to want to sit as quietly as possible, watch and listen transfixed, that they not miss a trick. I attribute this to the primarily mental focus of the male experience and the fact that most Yes fans are men. For the emotional component of the audience, women and men acquainted with their feminine powers, and also those whose brains are dead with drink, the desire to dance runs high.
To better illustrate my argument, let's have a look at the sex organs themselves. Men's stick out and women's are hidden. Now imagine, as our anatomy might indicate, the masculine aspect of love to be outward, objective, and feminine aspect as inward, subjective. For any individual, this might translate into an active seeking for someone or something "attractive" and so, desired, outside oneself, and a passive, but willing or eager acceptance of what presents itself as the sensation of love, within. Jon has discussed the inspiration for "And You And I" in this way, defining "you" as the "operative outward energy" and "I" as the "operative inward energy." Love, for anyone, encompasses both. Whereas it is a masculine quality to be fascinated with what is obvious, it is feminine to delight in what is not. Accomplishment, for example, could be seen as masculine, possibility as feminine. Accordingly, the male experience might be seen as one which places emphasis on sorting through the multitude of appearances outside oneself, so that the selective gathering of sense data, mental activity, may also be seen to be masculine. Once acquired, information about life enters into the feminine realm to be interpreted, and corresponding adjustments are made in one's perspective.
The repetition of this process, a kind of breathing, if you like, amounts to the activity of one's whole life. Moving inward, awareness moves away from the many and toward the one, the soul, the feel of the source of our being, the single energy that has become ourselves and all the forms around us. Femininity, for this reason, encompasses spirituality, emotion, attachment, connection, trust, all arising out of the heart's wisdom, if you will, the knowing of the One, the soul. If a person bases his belief on outward appearances alone, he usually tends toward detachment, discrimination, and skepticism in his grasp of and approach to reality. These attributes are not uncommon features of the modern male experience. Masculinity, then, would more concerned with and convinced by contrivances of the mind, while femininity seems forever fascinated with affairs of the heart.
Human gender, while easily ascertained by observing anatomical attributes, is far more complicated and unclear on the psychological level. Here a mixture of masculine and feminine qualities unique to any individual dictate that person's perceptions and behavior. Society used to offer clear clues each of us when it came to choosing roles and relating to one another. Today "the character of being male and female" is less easily defined and each of us is on our own in making these distinctions. Consequently the whole human order is in disarray as it grapples to understand itself. This disparity between the perceptions of the sexes, between masculine and feminine values, seems infinitely complicated, possibly unsolvable to some. The pessimist might see this predicament as a decline of civilization. The optimist, on the other hand, embraces the indefinite as an opportunity for change.
Jon's music seems like a kind of vessel to me, afloat on a sea of sentiment and destined toward the shore of a "New Civilization" where each of our destinies is easier to read, our roles more obvious and fulfilling, and opposite forces more attuned to one another. The lyrics foster an awareness of the energies within ourselves, convey them as balancing one another, rather than conflicting. "Hear me when I say to you it's really down to your heart. It's the beginning of a new love inside." Our feminine heart tries endlessly to convince the masculine mind of the wisdom of oneness, while the brain is processing, non-stop, all of its sensory input into a semblance of reality that sees what seems: people, things and situations as separate and sometimes opposing entities. This perspective alone can lead to fear, distrust, and the extreme of war. On the other hand, when the mind is guided by the heart it has tapped into an unfathomable and inexhaustible resource, and has the whole matrix of Life as its concern and at its service.
For an individual who can balance the power of his own energies, anything can come true. A person who can perceive all the differences presented to him or her in the light of the heart's wisdom doesn't take life so seriously: "It's just a state of play." This is not to say an "enlightened" person is unconcerned with his family's, friends' or society's struggles. The mystical perspective does not distinguish between self and other, either, so that someone else's suffering is felt as one's own. Compassion is a natural result of truly knowing oneself; love, respect and concern for others arises automatically as our egos concede that society is nothing more than a sea of "me's".
As long as we are open, our hearts will make us free. Free for the Earth man. Free for the millions. In the 'Glory" all will come to truth. No aggression that we leave behind us to be replaced by 'You.'
This unifying insight is entirely within the capabilities of any one of us, and bringing it about, changing our own worlds, seems much more effectual than at best tolerating and at worst fighting over differences among people. The Golden Rule -- regard others as you would wish to be regarded -- has been around a long time, but Yes music gives it new meaning by adding contemporary sound, clothing it in layers of sensual imagery and placing it squarely within our own relationships.
While Jon's language of love may sometimes seem cloying or effeminate to some, it's only because of our culture's current exaltation of the brain, its high regard for "smartness." Be prepared, however, for an infusion of "heartness." If the optimists get their way, a citizen of the future will see peace, love, understanding, and affiliation between the opposites as common sense. This vast system of communication, the Information Superhighway, is already in place, with new on ramps being constructed all of the time; better understanding between peoples is surely the coming wave.
In my own lifetime, what passes for civilization has seemed callous and intimidating whenever it came to choosing a role within it. I have been sheltered from the grubbier "outer" realities of society while bringing my four children into the world, supported by a primary income-generator while earning the distinguished designation of full-time primary care-giver. My somewhat unconventional (by today's standards) decision to pursue a conventional woman's role was due in part to my reliance on a firm belief in what Jon proposes with his music. The feeling of love for the individual I married was so penetrating I felt it would always overwhelm any doubts that might surface over the years. Our relating was the most powerful sensation I had ever felt and what passed for my life before "the meeting of our love" simply dissolved when this man touched me. Lifelong commitment was the obvious next step. The rest of my life and his, and that of our children, has proceeded very naturally from this sure sensation. Jon's voice has served to reassure me as I followed my heart into the life I now enjoy, and it encourages me now in the face of future pursuits. In the world of popular music, Jon's sensitivity, sincerity and purpose are exceedingly rare, and, accordingly, very precious to those, men and women alike, who have come to understand and appreciate Yes.
If anyone, male or female, feels this take on Yes to be either unfounded or difficult, please consider two things. First, it is often helpful and sometimes necessary (as in such times of emotional upheaval as birth, death, illness, marriage, divorce, winning the lottery) to let down one's defenses, turn within and acknowledge one's inner activity and source of belief, in effect, balancing the obvious masculine with the more subtle feminine qualities we all possess. Also, it is possible to be inspired from a love of Yes and to draw more wonderful individuals into one's own life, or to reactivate a languishing love alliance. Jon offers support and guidance for listeners who are apprehensive about a relationship, feel your current affair has lost the spark of first, innocent love, or are jaded in general. Here is another interview outtake...
"If you're losing things. If you cannot find a way to reason with yourself about your day to day times, if you struggle...and you get yourself into such a mess, you've got to try very hard to tune into the 'Rhythm of Love' cause it's very strong and it surrounds us."
This supportive advice comes through in his lyrics as well.
Hold on to love. There's nothing more important. Treat it as a good thing. Be always ready with that electric feeling. There's no real reason to be lonely. Be Yourself. It's so dangerous to keep this fear of love. Let it go. Take what you have into the heart of love. Don't doubt your part, be ready to be loved. If there's anything around that tries to get to you, doesn't mean your love can't make the moment right. Sweet music and your secret heart both have the healing grace. You showed me you can't give until you're strong enough to love. How could I begin with no foundation in my heart? And it wasn't until I saw my life in your eyes. At last I've found true love. Without someone to love there's no reason to live. Sweet suffering love-protection lead it, need it, you need. Come to me. Believe it. Get above for your heart is there. Most of all, believe it.
Men can find it difficult to delve into the emotional realm, and so, can be oblivious to the spiritual treasures that lie hidden below. Women sometimes wonder whether men even own feelings; it might explain their unwillingness to express them. Take heart, though, because, without exception, most men I have met who enjoy Yes -- and none of you have difficulty expressing your love for the music -- seem more sensitive and insightful than any other sector of the male population. I have saved the "Yes and Sex" comment of one guy-fan until now, because I feel he demonstrates a more "futuristic" masculine attitude.
"I do agree that there is a very strong sexual content in much of Jon's music, a very holy and healthy sexuality...I can easily see why Jon himself is very sexually attractive to many women, partly because of his creativity which in and of itself touches on the sexual."
The manner in which Yes music relays relationship is heady, alluding to a most important union of opposites within the human experience: the magic marriage of body and soul, matter and energy, outward and inward experience, all cultivating the human desire for artistic expression. Artistic endeavor is a fruition, the result of successful mating of male mind and female heart, of masculine structure and feminine attention to detail. Art brings sensual satisfaction to a meaning-hungry public. The fruit it bears is a renewed hope in our species and inspiration toward what any one of us may hope to accomplish on any given day... "Wonder what ideas can form this very day that takes its time to wake to such a dream, these word clearly to my heart."
The prominent qualities of Yes music -- symphony, poetry, mysticism, beauty, wonderment, rapture, and its perennial reappearance -- all provide spiritual and emotional nourishment for the one witnessing the phenomenon. The feeling received is a curious mixture of attachment (endearment to the group) and release. Love is binding, but is the result of letting go of fear and doubt, trusting, and allowing oneself to be carried along in the current of personal freedom that flows through the the heart-realm. The theme of freedom Jon often sings about also has this component of connection to love:
So our love will carry on and on. Now our love will be free. For the moment we have this freedom. We will choose the way our hearts will move. Let me go, let me fly, let me love you. Coming through wisdom. Coming through freedom. Coming together, this love.
Within the security of love's embrace a world of happy, playful, creative possibilities opens up. Supportive conditions encourage meaningful achievement. Jon's love songs always seem to suggest a new outcome, a positive result: "new encounters spark a true fruition." The most poignant means of portraying the fruit of the "perfect union," is in the image of the child; "at the start of every day a child begins to play and all we need to know is that the future is a friend of yours and mine." Childhood represents the innocence born of the union of opposites, and the hope of the future. Just as a couple is more meaningful than an individual, "two hearts are better than one," a family has more meaning than a couple.
Hurry home, said my love, hurry home to the stars. Start a new generation with a freedom that's ours. When we stand together for life she will hold a child in her arms.
The theme of childhood runs through Jon's songs, and even his own offspring have made their contributions. Damion speaks sweetly on "Circus of Heaven" and "Spider," and in recent years has answered the challenge of Rap music in "Close to the Hype." "Deborah" is the recipient of a letter in the song sung for and named after her:
I think of heaven each time I see you walking there and as you're walking I think of children everywhere... Thru' enchantment into sunlight, angels touched your eyes.
She sings on "Dangerous," "The Best of South America 1993" cd and video and appears on "Toltec." Then there is Jade "Genevieve":
Genevieve, tell me if you can, who is right, a woman or a man? How we move the same, together we create. See, all the world is in your eyes.
Jon also begot the Opio Foundation, whose proceeds go to UNICEF, inviting us all to "stand for the frail" and help address the needs of children in the real world through artistic awareness and expression.
The theme of fruition also occurs, fastened to the mystic images of nature, in Jon's many references to summertime, the height of fertility :
All in a matter of time, feel the sunlight summer's morning ever to be mine. Days in the garden, days in the sun. All we need is just the sun and the sky and the hope of a summer to come with the meaning of love. Can you imagine all the rights of summer coming closer? Where all is one and one is all a freedom to discover. The magic songs will come as all our dreams recover...Songs of the wind...sea...fire...earth: the singers of love. Oh the magic of it! Yes it comes together.
Another piece of symbolism employed by Jon to deploy his message of sexual affinity is that of dancing. On the one hand, this moving gesture suggests joyous self-expression and on the other foot it captures man and woman moving gracefully through time and space around a common center of gravity...
And to know that tempo will continue lost in tracks of dances as rhythm takes another turn. Laughing as we dance higher colors touching others. We can dance the sundance all of the way. Can you dance the dream awake in your life? She took me by the hand, said "This is the way. This is the way to Paradise. This is the play, the place you love. This is the drama within you. They call it midnight dancing. Ven a bailar: come dance with me!"
Who IS Jon's mysterious dance partner? Who is the "you" in so many Yes songs and appearing in the titles "And You And I," "For You For Me," "For You"? Is she Jon's wife, his muse, his Psyche, the audience, or me, this particular listener? In another radio interview, Jon speaks to this question:
"Generally the 'me's' and 'my's' and 'I's' and 'we' all generated from the listener, not what I think. I think the same, but I've always thought that the 'I' and 'me' and 'you' is the listener to the song."
Jon defers here to the feminine subjective. The perceiver is the personal aspect of the Goddess, within whose compass fall all the women proposed to above, mystically without any conflict between them. This is the beauty of feminine energy: everybody wins. She is "all that I dream about," intuition, our beating heart, our breathing, our very being. He, the singer, is the male ego, Eros, desire, free will, everything deliberate, intentions, actions, display. There are these two selves, then, and a myriad of combinations. "As one of many ones of me," Jon is aware of the fact that we always have this assortment of energies at work within and without, shaping and guiding our identity, our perspective, and who or what may happen in our lives. "See this reality, it's the Mother of invention. You can spin the spiral dream, sister, brother, sister of time." Awareness of this allness, what Carlos Castaneda and Jon Anderson have referred to as "The Second Attention," makes for constant change, the always-refreshing discovery of inner sensations and the surprise of outer apparitions. The interface between the two worlds is, are, the senses...
It's got to be you, the look in your eyes the feel of your body close to me. You, who tells me the world would spin away without love. You, reason oh reason for being once more together. It's got to be you.
Another name for subjectively-perceived energy is Psyche: mythic figure/ feminine archetype/ goddess, the entity governing an organism and its actions. "The woman in your soul creates the man you hold." Psychedelic is the psyche made manifest, something which affects changes in the conscious mind, intensifying awareness and sensory perception. Yes music does all these things. To illustrate, consider "Yessongs," the movie; it is clearly psychedelic, and not only because members of the audience (and band?) were self-administering drugs at the time. Let's focus in for a moment on some of its more "mind-altering" and "heart-featuring" aspects. Wakeman's infusion of mood, emotion, is a major characteristic of his contribution to Yes in general, but is featured in "Close To the Edge" during the distinct break in the song before "I Get Up I Get Down." Wakeman's structure-free interlude here (soft melody at random, floating free from the rhythmic order of the song), the use of chords (which are a joining of individual notes), an outpouring of mist (symbolic of water, nature, mystery, the unforeseen) hypnotic (causing one to retreat within) reflections and refractions in the out-of focus (fuzzy, soft) camera settings, Rick's long cape (an excess of fabric), his long hair: all of these allude to the feminine reality.
Would you say you were "into" Yes? Isn't Yes an opening, then, a recess of some kind, concave, a female feature? I contend that Jon's message, and consequently the music of the Yes he directs, is a TRIBUTE to femininity, leaning heavily in the direction of the heart's hidden-but-fathomable wisdom. Inner and outer connectivity is repeatedly the focus of his songs. As the Yes man-fan above has correctly perceived, Jon doesn't often sing about the sex act itself. He does, however, describe repeatedly the inner ecstasies of flying, floating, and falling in love. The shining hope for a humanity awakened to its full potential radiates spontaneously from the reassurance of how love feels: "true feeling be the light." His knowledge and expression of a human's inmost desire, peace, the motherly reassurance of unity despite the seeming multiplicity that pulls us in so many different directions, is suggested frequently in compelling ways: "Mother Life, hold firmly on to me!"
I believe that in the course of exploring, "inside out, outside in," this facet of Yes music, I have uncovered the identity of the "Lady of Dreams," the one who is lying naked beside Jon. If a woman's body is a symbol of Earth, of Nature, and of Psyche, and because She gives birth to everything, then the sight of a nude woman is tantamount to a revelation of the highest order, a vision of the Truth of Life. The astonished individual beside or before her is Jon's "Life Seeker." Put that in your cup of tea. Drink it down and the next time you encounter a naked lady, treat her with a little dignity!
With good reason, Yes music has been called "art rock." Jon's lyrics interwoven with the elaborate musical and visual embellishments of his fellows produces an entity of unequaled charisma. Resounding in all its sonic splendor, fetching in its gorgeous garb of Roger Dean nature imagery and resplendent in its aura of stage and laser lights, Yes is, without doubt, a phenomena of great beauty and sensual appeal. The sound arrives at the ear, floats on through the brain who cannot help but take notice, pauses to resonate with the heart and moves on, inward, to touch the innermost recess, the soul, offering inspiration to the listener. There is a radiance that makes the sound attractive, to be sure, but our devotion is due especially to the affect on our senses and our sensibilities.
Yes music exists within a long human tradition of poets, mystics, artists, and ordinary people who propose it is possible and desirable to approach the seeming differences in life from the unified perspective of the heart. The heart doesn't have eyes, in fact, love is said to be blind, because it doesn't discriminate. Its enterprise concerns only the welfare of the species, attraction between the sexes effectively turning OFF the brain and encouraging "the act" which will assure its continuation in the field of time. Just as intercourse between the sexes can be seen as mundane, merely a necessary part of survival, the physical heart is often reduced to a mechanical device, a simple pump. Jon's take on love is anything but ordinary. As he describes it, true love always carries a sense of unexplainable, invincible magic, just as the heart contains the mysterious, invisible energy source whose involuntary rhythm pulsates to become our bodies, our homes, our planet, our solar system, and the universe. With Jon's help, Yes brings the throb of this universal energy to our attention.
So, to the austere ponderings of the male beyond, freedom, imagination, the sun, stars, infinity, eternity, individuality, intent, Jon yokes the female within, our senses, feeling, humanness, insight, dreaming, desire, delight, wonder, understanding, love, connection, nature, pure being. How does it feel? The simple answer is this: it feels like heaven. Heaven is where the heart is. Somewhere inside each of us lives the experience of Yes, having been carried there courtesy of the vehicles of Yes' musicians, their instruments, the technologies that record and play to us, and the enterprise that disseminates it. Jon has referred to equipment as "part of all that is, part of God," and music industry personnel as "emissaries to the music of the heavens." The music is always close at hand, ready to receive us here and now, in love, innocence, fruition, completion: "all complete in the sight of seeds of life with you." Within a continuous cycle, the spiral aim of Yes', recording, releasing, and touring, all along these "Seasons of Man" (and of Woman!), provides for us, always, again, the excitement, the suggestion, the dream, in a new beginning of the next Yes.