There is something deeply bittersweet about this album for me.
There is, of course, all the fiery debate among Yes fans if this is even properly a Yes album to begin with. Arranged by the suits at the record label, it brought together the two versions of the band floating around at the time, ABWH and "Yes West". The end result was a whopping eight members, though they never all played together on any one tune. Jon Anderson's vocals were the common thread.
Many of the players have renounced it entirely, frustrated by the fact that producers messed with their contributions, often replacing them with the work of studio musicians.
Still, you know what? I loved this album as soon as I first heard it. I don't bother comparing it to any other era of Yes. I just like it for what it is, in its own way.
What makes it bittersweet for me has nothing to do with the musical politics, however; I was blissfully unaware of all that at the time. What gets to me is how I spent a whole summer with the now lost love of my life, the person I considered my best friend, listening to it. This record, along with Seal's first album, and Out of Time by REM.
It was a time when my ignorance seemed like bliss. It was the last time I could honestly say I was able to trust without conditions. It was the last time I had enough belief in myself to think I could become someone worthwhile in this world. It was the last time I could spend a day consumed entirely by joy, without being burdened by doubt or pain.
I will still return to this album regularly, and I am tossed back and forth by it. I will smile, and then I will hurt. Then I smile again, and then I hurt again. It makes no sense to anyone else, I suppose, but it still makes sense to me. Laughter for the naive faith I had, tears for the naive faith I had.
Every line meant one thing then, and then took on a richer meaning later. Through it all, love remained the only constant. It was the understanding of love that changed, and all that went with it. It was learning to distinguish between the power to take and the power to give.
Ah, the summer of 1991!
Yes, "Lift Me Up", from Union (1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTZnqdAxn0w
Look around—Got no place to stay
God I hate this town, depending on the day
You look me up, you look me down
Alright, OK
While I got no life, I got no hope
I'm falling in love
Help me through the fight
Help me win tonight—I'm calling
What to do I find it hard to know
The road I walk is not the one I chose
Lift me up and turn me over
Lead me on into the dawn
Take me to the highest mountain
Tie me up, love in a storm
Have you decided on my fortune?
Facing the future in your eyes
With your imperial behavior
We fight amidst the battle cries
Open doors—They may be closed to me
The fire's still burning in my heart. . .
What to do I find it hard to know
I want to turn my life around. . .
Yes, "Saving My Heart", from Union (1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxMfTijrYrI
In the street where we live there's a place called desire
There's a stone cold intrusion of mad man's fire
But he leaves when the lust and desire released
And you're left with an empty room in peace
Saving my heart for you
You do what you wanna do
There's a place in my heart for you
This time I'm watching you
'Till the blood in my veins run dry
I'll be there to testify
There's a place in my heart for you
I've been lost in a maze of emotional confound
I believe that you knew that our faith was secure
How you kept to be smile with the cool disposition
How you stuck in the fire with a new sense of reason. . .
You tell me "Take it easy"
But it's not my style
Something around the corner
It'll pass you by
I wanna hold you closer
To connect my fortunes
I wanna take you higher
Take it out like you did before. . .
Yes, "Miracle of Life", from Union (1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2sedbm_0So
Hold on
To the miracle of life
Secret lives of oceans been washed away like mud
You don't want my devotion
You'd rather be washed in blood
Can we turn away from this open anger?
Can it all betray?
Can't you feel the danger to the miracle of life?
Sing when open hearts are calling
Shout with open eyes (To the miracle of life)
Far below the deepest treasure
To the miracle of life
Living in times of luster, waiting for the flood
We don't agree with your concepts
You'd rather be washed in blood
Is it any wonder? (In my lifetime)
Cold depth of blue water. . .
Is it any wonder? (In my lifetime)
Rising tide to slaughter. . .
Sing when open hearts are calling
Shout with open eyes (To the miracle of life)
Far below the deepest treasure
To the miracle of life
Pacifica. . .India. . .Atlantica. . .Antarctica
Sing
Yes, "I Would Have Waited Forever", from Union (1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfVH1CFZteU
I would have waited forever
For you to return into my life
I would have waited forever
I would have given you everything I had
I would have waited forever
There's no question, no question at all
So true in the prize, would you wait for me?
All because you got burned, so you took what you needed
Some will always turn away, say it's reason enough;
It's another game of exploration
Something calls at reverse and it comes to you;
Experience everything as it comes true
So—It will be then
Change—It will happen
See—That we feel it
All—Is completed
Don't you want the world to stop short of giving?
Anytime of night or day, the magic things you love
Everybody hurts when you shout, when you walk away;
Talk about it according to you. . .
So in between the perfect flame of you
This love will never let you down
Just take it as it comes, for everything
Will come around. . .
You put your hand up: stop the flow of where you're going to;
It's another game called exploration
How we imagine everything that we think we're going through;
It's another reason we make the break
Everyone will move with you now to the riverside;
Experience everything, but don't let the land slide. . .
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