- South Side of the Sky
Song_infobox
Name = South Side of the Sky
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 andEddie 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 'spiano 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 andJon 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
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