South Side of the Sky

Song_infobox
Name = South Side of the Sky

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SorA = album
Artist = Yes
Album = Fragile
Released = 26 November 1971 (UK) 4 January 1972 (U.S.)
track_no = 4
Recorded = September 1971
Genre = Progressive rock, hard rock
Length = 7:58
Writer = Chris Squire, Jon Anderson
Composer =
Label = Atlantic Records
Producer = Yes and Eddie Offord
Chart position =
prev = "We Have Heaven"
prev_no = 3
next = "Five Per Cent For Nothing"
next_no = 5

"South Side of the Sky" is a song by progressive rock band Yes from their album "Fragile". It is one of the relatively few group performances on the album.

Cairo also performed a cover of the song on the "Supper's Ready" compilation.

It opens with the sound of a howling wind. It then bursts into a heavy, riff-dominated rock song. At around 2:08, Rick Wakeman's piano comes in along with another few seconds of wind. the piano is gentler than the rest of the song, and even somewhat classical, but with a similar melody to it. At around 3:19, Chris Squire and Jon Anderson start singing wordless vocal harmonies along with the piano. This continues until about 5:42, when the earlier heavy riff part returns, with the wind in the background. The song fades out in the end to the same howling wind that occurred throughout.Yes. "Fragile". CD-ROM. 2003. Elektra Entertainment.]

In the liner notes of the remastered edition of "Fragile", it is said that this song is about a tragic polar expedition that ends in death, as evidenced by lyrics such as "A river, a mountain to be crossed/ the sunshine, in mountains sometimes lost/ around the south side, so cold that we cried" and "The moments, seem lost in all the noise/ a snow storm, a stimulating voice".Yes. "Fragile". CD-ROM. 2003. Elektra Entertainment.] In the introduction to this song in Yes' 2003 concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Jon Anderson said, "This is a song about climbing mountains... It's dangerous, but we all must climb mountains every day." [ Yes (musical group). Yes: Live at Montreux 2003. [DVD] . Eagle Eye Media.]

"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.

References