Jon Anderson was born in the northern part of England, as far as I understand. I’ve recently heard that this was once, and may remain to some degree, culturally distinct from the south, and therefore from London. Is this accurate? If so, are Anderson’s northern roots reflected in his lyrics?
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Well, 200 or 300 miles from London... I guess back in the day it seemed more, but England is a small place compared to Europe and North America. Certainly different regions of England have different accents, customs ideas and attitude. Jon's voice remains a strange mix of Northerner and Californian! There's quite an anti-London thing going on at the moment, because it's where politicians are and where they spend the money, but I feel it was more about distance back in the day. But Jon and the rest all spent time gigging and living in London.
To answer the question, imho, no, I don't think his norhtern roots are relected in his lyrics, beyond his accent.Comment
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Well, I do sometimes struggle to understand what on earth it is that is reflected in some of Jon's lyrics! But I don't think it's because I'm a southerner (or, at least, I was originally). I think they're just individual to Jon. And I love that!
There are some differences between the north and the south but, as madbear says, not so much difference.Comment
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Spending time in a teepee before shows has its effects as well. ;-)
He also spent time in Germany, did he not performing under the name Hans Christian Anderson. He was excited by and chased exotic women to him from where he grew up in the north, starting with his time in The Warriors. And he still writes umlauts” to this day over certain vowels except the extra English “U”s.
Alan also ended up with a strange hodgepodge of an accent, as did an old friend originally from England, who said he sounded like a red-neck, American-English guy.
Learned something new the other day. Swede is the Irish word for rutabagas and the Scots call them neeps.Comment
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That reminds me of this:
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I don't think Anderson's Northern roots are particularly reflected in his lyrics. The North and the South of England (and also London) are culturally distinct, and bits of the North are culturally distinct from other bits of the North (Yorkshire v Lancashire, who fought a war in the 15th century and some of them act as if it's still going on). That set up some small cultural tensions within Yes, where you've got Jon (and later Trevor H and Geoff) from the North vs Chris, Bill, Steve, Rick, Tony etc. from the South/London.
In a recent interview, Geoff Downes talked about both he and Chris Braide are from Cheshire (north east England) and maybe that's why they connect well. Downes and Horn have also talked about both being from the North and having a connection because of that.Comment
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Jon was born in the town of Accrington, Lancashire, an old cotton mill town like many others in the area (I am from Haslingden, the town to the south). In Jon's early life it was a trek to Liverpool, less so to Manchester. Naturally damp climate, hence cotton weaving. Culturally urban, but less snooty than the south, many would say more down to earth and friendly. There is certainly some feeling in the North and other areas of the UK against London and the Home Counties as the latter is the powerbase of the Conservative Party which dominates the political scene in the UK and see everything as London (Moscow -on-Thames)-centric.
A couple of things, Lancashire and Yorkshire did not fight the wars of the roses, it was a family 'civil' war between the Houses of Lancaster and York. Little to do with the common folk of the counties.
Cheshire is to the south of Manchester, so it is North West/North Midlands. Certainly not North East England.
Jon is not writing from a northern perspective, I am not sure what planet he represents! He still has a bit of an East Lancashire twang in his accent, northern vowels.Comment
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It's grim up north 🤣🤣🤣
( though isn't some sort of "levellin' up" goin' on? 😉 )
No 'levelling up' just a political smokescreen.
Actually the North has beautiful, rugged countryside. The Dales, Lancashire hill country, the Lake District, North Yorkshire moors et al. I find London 'grim' and dirty.
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As a northerner myself, there are odd moments when I can hear Jon's Lancashire accent coming through in Yes songs.
One line that springs to mind is, 'As armoured movers took approach to overlook the sea', in CTTE. In that line he pronounces the work 'took' with a soft Lancashire 'o' (that, say, rhymes with 'food') rather than the more common hard 'o' (rhymes with 'hood'). I love it!Comment
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