Your theory about THE GATES OF DELIRIUM [Archive]

YYY

03-02-2002, 09:11 PM

Amazing! I WISH I could have the experience of hearing something as intense as 'GATES" again for the first time. It would be like being a 'RELAYER" virgin.

I actually remember hearing 'GATES' for the first time when it was originally released. I must say that in my opinion the cultural climate of those times (70's) added alot to the mystic and beauty of opening a new YES album. I waited until my YES buddies were all gathered and we had acquired the right state of mind in my college dorm room before opening the 'record'. We were all full of serious anticipation because we had been living off the the solo releases of the YES members, the amazing 'TALES of Topographic Oceans' and the anticipation of a new YES Keyboardist. (I really can't stress this enough in the context of those times).

After experiencing the album, we were convinced that YES was GOD. They had done the impossible. They had created a groundbreaking masterpiece that was huge leap forward. We were left drain, disorientated and wondering "How can a band be so damn good?"

YesFanForLife

03-02-2002, 10:08 PM

I think Gates of Delirium was the most pivotal point in the YES experience. Wakeman was pretty much fed up with Tales of Topographical Oceans so the music took a turn with Relayer. I saw them on the Relayer tour and Moraz was on fire with his keyboard that is worn over the shoulder like a guitar. I don't know what you call that instrument, but it was pretty slick.

I saw them twice on the Master Works tour. Gates and Ritual were the main liner songs of the evening.

Their all masters. One thing I noted by seeing them play back to back concerts is how much they improvise from one gig to the next. They must do that to keep it interesting for themselves.

hypatiamarshall

03-02-2002, 10:14 PM

I am so glad you started this thread!

I have been wondering about that album for years!

I have often wondered if the snake on the front of the album represented the terrible things man did in the name of religion.

In the song, Jon does definitely mention religious elements. I know he tends to be a spiritual person. I would have asked him last summer, but we were rushing because there was a very long line at Yescapade.

But I don't think anyone has ever been able to answer that question for me.

Jan in Erie CO

P.S. How is the weather in the Netherlands? We just got a about 24 centimeters of snow!

YYY

03-02-2002, 11:21 PM

Don't quote me on this but Ibelieve I've read that Roger Dean never created his paintings based on the songs. So the snake really doesn't have to represent anything related to the music.

Tanbar

03-02-2002, 11:41 PM

well, relayer is my favourite yesalbum, and i love GoD. when we were reading ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT in 9th grade, i made it a habit to listen to GoD while reading. it's very appropriate since the above mentioned book is about war -- WW1 to be more specific.

sooner,
*tink*

hypatiamarshall

03-03-2002, 05:07 AM

Is that true?????

I was wondering how Dean knew to put in what look like Medieval soldiers??? I always thought of the Crusades.

Jan in Erie CO

BrianD

03-03-2002, 05:49 AM

GoD has grown on me over the years. When first released I was a little disappointed with the production quality and really only enjoyed the final Soon section. Now I see it as a masterpiece, but one that would have been improved if not recorded in an obviously second rate mobile studio.

As for the symbolism on the cover, according to Roger Dean's book views he states ''My intention was to produce a giant "gothic" cave. A sort of fortified city for military monks: a secret stronghold for a fantasy Knight's Templar' It was apparently based on an original drawing from 1966.

Dean also said, as suggested by YYY, that he rarely heard the music before doing an album cover. 'I cannot say that the music is ever a direct inspiration for my work'.

He also stated that Relayer was his favourite album cover and also his favourite Yes album - though it should be remembered the book was published in 1975.

capnkrk

03-03-2002, 08:31 AM

I actually had the Yesshows version of this before the Relayer. If anyone hasn't heard this version, I think it's one of if not the best live take on this tune. At the time I was getting into GoD, I was also reading 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy for the first time. For whatever reason the theme of 'gates', Tolkien's fantasy, and Roger Dean's cover for Relayer all seemed to fit together. I still associate them to this day!

The Fish

03-03-2002, 09:48 AM

Originally posted by hypatiamarshall
How is the weather in the Netherlands? We just got a about 24 centimeters of snow! The climate in The Netherlands is not understandable. I call it a mix of Autumn and spring at this moment...

RobAdams

03-03-2002, 01:43 PM

I've always interpreted GATES OF DELIRIUM's lyrics as though the words are dialogues from several people about the war that errupts during the track. I've often wondered if this song is about armegeddon or WW3.

03-03-2002, 03:12 PM

Originally posted by YYY
We were left drain, disorientated and wondering "How can a band be so damn good?"

Exactamundo!

hypatiamarshall

03-03-2002, 03:14 PM

I do see similarities between Relayer and LOTR. By the way, Capnkirk, do you think LOTR is best picture material? My daughter and I were discussing this all the way home from breakfast. She never liked the fact that Titanic was best picture, per se. She didn't think it warranted that high of an award.

Jan in Erie CO

ThorBrynjolfson

03-03-2002, 08:44 PM

You Know-- it is quirky.I was always very pleased with the production of sound chaser and to be over--but I was going NUTS over the fact that I could feel the potential power of gates , but it just was'nt coming through.All of this until Christmas 1984--I recieved Yesshows-And to my surprise, my two fav. tracks off of Tales and Relayer were on the album. Granted the style of the first three tales tracks translated well on the Tales thing, but Ritual was crying for a more powerful outlet. The power and grace of those two tracks cleared any negative vibes on the originals.Funny enough-I thought the Going For The One stuff was much less potent live. Go Figure???

charl8e

03-03-2002, 08:48 PM

I have just obtained the DVD (Vol 1 only) of Yes live at QPR in 1975, which features a poorly mixed but stellar performance of GoD... anyone know how to obtain Vol 2?

03-03-2002, 09:07 PM

Hey there Charl8e! Where have you been? Haven't seen you in a while. Anyway, I bought my Vol 1 & 2 dvds through spinnin-disc@att.net. They had the best prices. Hope they still have some. Good luck.

charl8e

03-03-2002, 10:35 PM

hello hello, i have been busy studying and learning to practice Buddhism... it's very cool, as you may know... Yes music sounds more beautiful to me than it ever did... the lyrics make more sense to me now, too!
thanks for the tip about the QPR dvd, i had thought it impossible to get hold of, so when i saw Vol 1 in Amoeba here in Berserkley i was very pleasantly surprised...
nice to be back...

03-03-2002, 10:40 PM

Buddhism, huh? How cool is that?!! What branch, Tibetan, Vipassana, Zen? Who are you studying under? Were you at Spirit Rock? That place is not that far from you. I hear it's a very cool place.

By the way, welcome back!

charl8e

03-03-2002, 11:10 PM

Vipassana. Am going to SR this Saturday, for the first time... have always been interested, since i was a teenager, partly through CTTE and later Yes works, but now i'm taking it seriously...
How about you, yessiree?

03-03-2002, 11:25 PM

Well, charl8e, it is a very long story....

I started with Vipassana in the 80's and went to the Insight Meditation Society in Barre MA. That's how I know about Spirit Rock--as it was founded by one of the guys that founded IMS in Barre.

I found it to be a very demanding tradition but a very worthwhile one. Have you ever read, "The Experience of Insight" by Joseph Goldstein? It's great!

Perhaps we should take this to off topic, if you'd like to talk more about this. I started a new thread under off topics. Come and let's talk some more about this. Everyone else too!

The Fish

03-04-2002, 02:38 AM

OW NO, the subject of this thread is fading away....

And just when it became interesting...

RobAdams

03-04-2002, 03:46 AM

Sorry The Fish - I thought this was a good idea for a thread, but now it has nothing really to do with GATES OF DELIRIUM. I expected to see some interesting interpretations of the song.
As I stated earlier...When I hear GATES, I don't hear the lyrics as being the words of just one person. I imagine the lyrics to be lines of dialog, as spoken (sung?) by whatever characters may be in the story of the song. Anyone else see it this way?

BredYes

03-04-2002, 06:22 AM

Last week I saw the Lords of the rings and I agree with capnkrk and hypatiamarshall about the similarities between the movie and the war theme on the first part of 'gates', Tolkien's fantasy, and Roger Dean's cover for Relayer. Some images really look like the album cover. In the film there are horses and snakes too. I hope part three (I did not read the books) will end in peace just like the soon part. When I came home I immediately picked up my Yes literature in order to find some similarities between the book/movie and Relayer/Gates. I read that Gates of Delerium is based on Tolstoy's War and Peace and I could not find any simularities with Tolkien.

ronw

03-04-2002, 09:44 AM

Relayer is just incredible. One of the 3 albums that will never be matched in greatness.

Plastic Man

03-04-2002, 03:12 PM

heres my theory on the song, after listening to it saturday i think i found out the meaning...unlike other yessongs, the answer isnt in the lyrics, but the music. its about a battle, obviously. it sounds like the good side is moraz's keyboards, and the bad side is howes guitar. but in the end, howes guitar wins the battle (the buildup with the drums and then the guitar solo), maybe saying that at the end of war there is never good, only death and destruction.

charl8e

03-04-2002, 03:23 PM

sorry to intervene in the great GoD debate, but yessiree, i cannot find the thread you started elsewhere... give me a hint, would you?
yessiree, where did the IM bit go then?

Sorry Relayer fans. One little note and I'll not mention it here again. Charl8e, to find the thread go to Yestown, then General Off Topic then Any Meditators Here?

PaulH

03-04-2002, 09:32 PM

I remember a thread similar to this not too long ago...and there were some great insights into the meaning of GoD.
I had remembered Jon talking about the "soon" section, and saying that he was at a very low point in his life, and soon was a sort of reaching out for love and healing to come into his life and remedy the way he was feeling.
Obviously GoD works on many levels, which I think most great works of art do, so that the interpertation can be personalized by the person enjoying it.
I have always looked at GoD as a metaphor for the battle within.
The sort of good and negative forces that seem to pull us in different directions.
Interesting the mentions of Buddhism, (although I am not a practicing Buddhist, I love to read about it and have found it to enhance my Christianity). A Buddhist will tell you that to dwell in the arguement of good and bad is to dwell in dualism...that one can not exist without the other and they both can not exist separate from the void. Even with this in mind Jon's lyrics can be taken in a new light.
My first listen to GoD was similar to YYY's in the sense that it was
a sort of ritual to be prepared for. I was a junior in high school in 1985 and was already familiar with Yes music to some degree.
I had been really getting into "tales" and had owned a tape that was released with Fragile and CTTE on one Cassette.
My buddy Chris thought it was time I was initiated into Relayer, so we skipped school and took some LSD and sat back and put Relayer on my car stereo (don't fret we weren't driving...I just had a killer car stereo at the time). I was totally swept up in the music...and it was a snowy eastern massachusetts coast day, which made for a great backdrop. (sort of Yes-shows-ish).
I remember being so engulfed in every note...and actually sort of being scared during the intense battle section.
Then came soon......Steve's notes washed over us like a warm breeze,and I absolutely melted into the seat. Jon's vocal felt like an angel sent down to specifically give us the good news. Waves went down my back that felt like when a loved one runs a gentle hand down your spine and you are overcome by that warm loved feeling.
I was in a state of wonder, awe and bliss. We had to take out the tape and sit in the near silence of the day to absorb what I had just heard. After a while we put the tape back in and were blown away by Soundchaser and To be over...
Blake said the road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom...perhaps we were getting a little of that in the case of the drugs....but I felt more like another of his sayings...
energy is eternal delight.
It was such a treat to finally see GoD live the last few years and re-live a little of that initial magic of my first listen, and experience the power, majesty and soaring grace that the song encompasses.

RobAdams

03-04-2002, 10:02 PM

Not that anyone's opinion is wrong...

I think the SOON part of GATES OF DELIRIUM is wonderful, and belongs where it is - as the finale. It adds to the many textures that encompass this track.

I do object to SOON being seperate from the entire piece. When I hear the single edit on YESYEARS, I rightly feel like I've missed all the parts of GATES that make SOON work in its' proper context. It's like only listening to the "na na na, na na na na" part of HEY JUDE, or only hearing the "and as we wind on down the road" part of STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. Edits are bad.

I really hate SOON on 9012LIVE

hypatiamarshall

03-04-2002, 10:14 PM

To BredYes: Where did you hear that GoD was based on Tolstoy????

To Paul H: Gee, I wish I had that reaction to every song I heard....smile.

Jan in Erie CO

YYY

03-05-2002, 02:07 AM

Originally posted by PaulH
I have always looked at GoD as a metaphor for the battle within. The sort of good and negative forces that seem to pull us in different directions. [/B]

PaulH, We Agree
I really enjoyed reading about your first experience hearing 'GoD'.
My first experience was under the same state of mind including the snowfall. Also, I've never adjusted to the idea of hearing 'Soon' as a separate song. 'Soon' is the wisdom that we derive from the struggle between the forces of good and evil. It has always seemed incomplete without the earlier section.

BredYes

03-05-2002, 04:06 AM

I read this (about Tolstoy) in the book "Close to the Edge, the story of Yes" by Chris Welch. It is written in the chapter about the Relayer period. I don't have it here (I am at work), so I can't give you the page number now. I read it last week, so I am sure about this.

Roman

03-05-2002, 10:51 AM

I heard Gates of Delirium on the Christmas Eve when I was I think about 13 (I'm now almost 22). I got a cassette as a present from my uncle, which was entitled "Yesshow" (without the ending -s) and if I can remember right (I haven't got the tape any longer) it included Parallels, Time and a Word, Don't Kill the Whale and Wonderous Stories on the one side and Gates + Excerpts from The Six Wives of Henry VIII. on the other, all live versions from Yesshows and Yessongs (Henry). I didn't have the names of the songs then, and I even wasn't interested in what the names were. I actually didn't like the cassette too much but I loved a very very sad and beautiful song on the second side, which began "Soooon...". I thought for a long time (until I got Relayer about 4 years ago) that this song had nothing to do with the chaotical music that was before it. When I began to listen to Yes more (that was about 7 years ago I think), I was searching in the stores for the one album that contains this track. As I didn't know what the name of the track was, I had to look into the lyrics and search the keyword "Soon". You know, I could not find it, as I was looking at the beginnings of the tracks and didn't know, that this is actually an ending section of another long track.
Then after some time, when geting together my Yesalbums collection, I finally got Relayer. I was very glad when I realised that Gates is actually the song I have been searching for. Gates than became my fave song on the album and actually one of my ever favourites Yes songs.
I love the emotion of Gates. When hearing Soon, I want to cry, and actually can't understand how anyone can not love it as much as I do. I also fell in love with the "Battle" part of this song, but here I can understand how can some people dislike it or even hate it. It's really difficult to get into it. I actually use to punish my homemates with this song, when I get it very loud they really have to thing "O GoD, he must be crazy!".

haroldthebarrel

03-05-2002, 03:10 PM

If any one song can sum up what Yes is all about, it's THE GATES OF DELIRIUM!

Insane Teacher

03-05-2002, 04:09 PM

It takes a lot of get used to, years perhaps. But once you develop the taste, its like that first cup of Mocha Java in the morning.

hypatiamarshall

03-05-2002, 07:53 PM

Don't apologize for your intense love for GATES. If any group of people understand, it is us! The 4th time I heard Give Love Each Day, I cried.

Jan in Erie CO

BredYes

03-06-2002, 10:06 AM

I understand you Roman, it is a very emotional piece of music

The Fish

03-07-2002, 01:31 PM

It's really interesting around here. Thanks for answering!!!

I'm going to like this piece of music more and more...

I think RELAYER will be my first next YES purchase...

The Fish

03-10-2002, 10:40 AM

Well, everyday I am going to love GATES more and more.

But the end of it, SOON, it's the BEST!!! The connection between the two parts, it's brilliant. SOON brings tears in my eyes. One of the most 'everything-describing-universal' song in my life...

mrgone3

03-19-2002, 09:54 AM

I bought this album way back with a bunch of others as a new YES fan.I saw them perform GoD and Sound Chaser in 1976 with Patrick Moraz at a packed RFK stadium.I grew to love this album as one of the top three most influential.I had not seen them perform it until later years.I saw them play it at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on their last symphony tour.WOW!What a show.Only three days after the show the WTC buildings were hit!I said my god,the lyrics rang true about the madness of war and mans inhumanity towards man. JOE

Original_Shifty

03-19-2002, 10:06 AM

....when Yes were in NYC. I think all of us were quite worried about the group. Yesworld quickly put up on their site that the guys had already departed from NY before the attacks occured.

Jackaranda

03-19-2002, 02:17 PM

Gates is the best of the Yes 'long' tracks, although it's a close call(RSOG,CTTE,Endless Dream, Awaken), but in Gates I've always pictured it as Armageddon--all hell breaking loose--and in the end---peace and light (love) win the battle. How they put this on record has always amazed me no end. I do love the live version of Soon from Yesshows, that part beats the studio version, but as for the first 15 minutes, a live album can't match the studio version. Now actually SEEING it live--well, you just have to be there.

Keith Perks

03-29-2002, 10:09 AM

I first heard Gates back in 79 when I was expanding my Yes collection. I have to say that I did not like the track at first. There just seemed too much confusion in the music until all was settled and peace restored by the Soon section. However after continual listening to this track, it became and remains to this day my favourite Yes track.

There is so much emotion stored in this song that words can never fully do this song justice. In my mind it is a fight, good against evil, darkness against light, hence the “Soon oh soon the light” section at the end of the song, goodness and light has won.

I remember my emotions when Jon sang the Soon section on the 90125 tour, the hair standing up on the back of my neck with tears in my eyes. I never thought that I would again hear or witness this or the whole of Gates performed live. Unfortunately that is still the case, as I only was able to attend one show last year and Gates was dropped.

To me this song is the ultimate Yes song portraying the power and beauty that is the sound of Yes.

Earl Grey

04-05-2002, 06:19 AM

Originally posted by YesFanForLife
Moraz was on fire with his keyboard that is worn over the shoulder like a guitar. I don't know what you call that instrument, but it was pretty slick.

I know this is late coming, but I know what the instrument Moraz played was.

THE POWELL PROBE created by Roger Powell of Todd Rundgren's Utopia...
An early forebear of midi technology, the PROBE was hooked to the main bank of synthesizers backstage, allowing Moraz to access various sounds while free to move about...

In a few years everything was midi technology, and still is!

Earl Grey

jpirard

04-12-2002, 03:10 PM

Originally posted by i-and-i
Sorry The Fish - I thought this was a good idea for a thread, but now it has nothing really to do with GATES OF DELIRIUM. I expected to see some interesting interpretations of the song.
As I stated earlier...When I hear GATES, I don't hear the lyrics as being the words of just one person. I imagine the lyrics to be lines of dialog, as spoken (sung?) by whatever characters may be in the story of the song. Anyone else see it this way?

Eventually there will be reviews, I wrote one, that I know will be here. The one thing you should do is read a synopsis of Tolstoy's WAR AND PEACE, and you will have a MUCH better understanding of this song. It is presented as a battle, between the instruments, that is why sections seem to interrupt each other. When they all finally come together in the end, it is an 'aftermath' type of thing, full of hope. Still gives me chills after ALL these years.

Jackaranda

04-12-2002, 03:18 PM

I'm getting ready to turn my oldest son onto Gates, by the way. He saw it live a couple of years ago, but he's a Rabin fan, period. But now the door has opened, so to speak. Now he's into war movies and books, in a pretty cool kind of way, so now's the perfect time for him to hear Gates, really LOUD!!!

I always thought of it as WWIII on record. And in the end, after all hell has broken loose, peace prevails. Jon said he was inspired by War and Peace, as mentioned above, but I just thought of it as Armogeddon. Anyway, it's musical brilliance, period. It NEVER ceases to blow me away when I listen to it...Jack..

Earl Grey

04-12-2002, 04:52 PM

Most definately jpirard!

Tolstoy was a pacifist: and he wrote the greatest War novel of all time... Interesting parallel with Jon there.

Tolstoy believed that there was no such thing as military genius: that the greatest generals are simply petty little men willing to send others to die in their stead. His view of Napolean walking through the ranks of fallen Russian soldiers, shaking his head and speaking tritely of what a shame it was has stuck with me for years... Quite the image.

I think there is a great connection between Gates Of Delerium and War And Peace... I wonder if Jon has ever read it?

Earl Grey :yesbird:

04-12-2002, 08:53 PM

I am a musician (bass, keys, vocals) who has covered Yes tunes since they came out. About 6 months ago I played Gates (bass part) for the 1st time in a year or so. Throughout the Battle, I was thrown and buffeted by the slings and arrows, the bursting and glare. The exchanges of volleys to and fro viscerated through myself. At the climax, the subsequent valedictory theme had me LITERALLY in tears, as my skin and scalp glowed. I was physically, emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually drained. What saved me, was that I would soon see the light.

Gates is a lifetime chapter of experience.

Ilios

04-13-2002, 12:51 AM

Does anyone else out there find additional meaning to Gates since Sept. 11 and our govt's military action in Afganistan? I think that Gates is a realevant song for these times. How 'bout you?

BrianD

04-13-2002, 07:16 AM

Gates is a relevant song for ALL times - not just now and September 11. What about the Middle East today, or Viet Nam when it was written? Unfortunately humankind is self-destructive.

Earl Grey

04-15-2002, 04:14 AM

And welcome to the site!

Ilios: Yes I thought of Gates quite a bit during those dark times...
And Brian, you are so correct in your thoughts here (and there. And there too! Good thoughts).

It seems that mankind is a warring creature. Though few if any would come right out and say that they liked war: look how well things like Black Hawk Down or We Were Soldiers do at the box office.

War is exciting. Just as there is a bigger and more instantaneous rush in knocking down a sandcastle than in building one, so it appears that we are addicted to the raising of the sword.

The futurist Arthur C Clarke said many times that the only thing more interesting than war is discovery. That the sea of stars is more compelling than the veil of tears: maybe our salvation could be found there.

Then again, they're talking about building the Star Wars defence system again (To aim missles at whom? What invisible superpower now? You can't fire a missile at a terrorist. Don't get me started...).

I hope we finally evolve into truly intelligent creatures and can put warring behind ourselves: but I wont hold my breath.

"Moons are rising on the planet where the worst must suffer like the rest... Donald Lehmkuhl

Soon oh soon the light!

Earl Grey :yesbird:

Martin Riley

05-13-2002, 11:57 AM

I've also seen the theories that Jon based GoD on Tolstoy's War & Peace but have always thought that it could only be a very impecise idea that he gained from the novel as GoD doesn't seem to be a transliteration of the text but only , if you like, a 'feeling'. It seems to me that the lyrics of the song are more extreme than the warfare depicted in the book, and , if anything, are more representative of total warfare in the 20th Century rather than the less destructive wars of the Napoleonic period. Still, what the hell,it's a magnificent piece of art in it's own right irrespective of what meaning you wish to apply to it yourself, and judging by the comments on these pages it provides an almost unending amount of inspiration to each listeners perception.

Earl Grey

05-13-2002, 01:13 PM

In the book Perpetual Change by David Watkinson:

"Jon's ideas were gleaned from the book War And Peace by Tolstoy, and his vision was to base the whole album on it. But considering the reaction to Topographic Oceans, it was agreed that Jon's epic should remain rooted to one side of the album only." (isbn: pg. 45)

'GOD' has about as much literal reference to War and Peace as Close To The Edge has to Siddartha: you're so correct Martin! Not much literal reference at all. More 'influenced by' Tolstoy than any literal history of Petrov and Natalia...
It appears that when Jon IS inspired by someone else's work he must filter the experience through his own past, never content to simply reiterate another's view.
This is why 'GOD' comes off with such verisimilitude and authority: Jon was writing about war as he knew it, expressed in his own very distinguishable voice.

And as Tolstoy used his flair for descriptive beautiful prose to grab your attention and not let go, even though the view is painful at times...
Jon uses this same first-person voice, and even goes into a bit of third person voice: putting the listener into the thoughts of the warriors riding through those delirious gates.

Tolstoy and YES: don't you just love it?!!!

Wish I had known about this connection back in JC: I would have been more excited about doing that book report!!!

Interesting: after Sept. 11th Jon excised 'GOD' from the YES-symphonic set list: he felt these weren't the emotions he wished to convey at that point in history.

Earl Grey:yesbird:

Khatruman

05-28-2002, 07:56 PM

Originally posted by capnkrk
I actually had the Yesshows version of this before the Relayer. If anyone hasn't heard this version, I think it's one of if not the best live take on this tune. At the time I was getting into GoD, I was also reading 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy for the first time. For whatever reason the theme of 'gates', Tolkien's fantasy, and Roger Dean's cover for Relayer all seemed to fit together. I still associate them to this day!

I recently read an article in Entertainment magazine, last winter around the time that Fellowship of the Ring came out as a movie, which looked at Lord of the Ring's influence on the arts. Jon Anderson was cited in the article, and, if my memory serves correctly, he stated that Gates of Delirium was definitely inspired by Lord of the Rings. At least, the side bar showed a cover of that album in association with the article...I am going to look on Entertainment magazine's site to see if the article still exists.

Pathways

10-26-2003, 05:34 AM

Hi everyone - a great read, this thread! Well, didn't know it was influenced by War & Peace. Thanks, you learn something every day....

I thought for years that Gates was related to the legend of King Arthur & the Knights....because, like Khatruman, I only had the Yesshows (no printed lyrics) version and misheard "in glory we rise to offer" as "in glory we rise to Arthur".

Also the lines "and ride there.....", "to fields in debts of honour"...were very Arthurian and mediaeval. Combined with the sleeve images and general 'cosmicness' of Yes I thought Gates was describing some sort of "future legend" which took place in Roger Dean's landscapes, if that makes any sense.

Insane Teacher - I'm with you on the coffee!!
MrGone3....more memories on seeing them in 1976 please!

Jeremy Bender

01-10-2004, 01:47 AM

In one Yes book I read, Jon was thinking of doing sort of a musical version of War and Peace but, luckily, was talked out of it (besides, Prokofiev's opera is incredible as it is). He then boiled the ideas in W&P down in to GoD.

It's pretty clear what the structure is:

The buildup to war
The battle
The victory
The aftermath

I think that along with Heart of the Sunrise it's the best thing that Yes has ever done.

08-27-2004, 03:01 PM