"Yours Is No Disgrace" is a song by English

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band Yes, which first appeared as the opening song of their 1971 album ''

The Yes Album ''The Yes Album'' is the third studio album by English progressive rock band Yes, released on 19 February 1971 by Atlantic Records. It was the band's first album to feature guitarist Steve Howe, who replaced Peter Banks in 1970, as well as t ...

''. It was written by all five members of the band:

Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...

Chris Squire Christopher Russell Edward Squire (4March 1948 – 27June 2015) was an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Yes (band), Yes. He was the longest-serving original memb ...

Steve Howe Stephen James Howe (born 8 April 1947) is an English musician, best known as the guitarist in the progressive rock band Yes across three stints since 1970. Born in Holloway, North London, Howe developed an interest in the guitar and began to le ...

, Tony Kaye and

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English former drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording ...

. The song was also released as a single in some continental European countries such as Italy and the Netherlands. In Italy the song was divided between the A-side and B-side. In the Netherlands it was released as a

maxi single A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. The first maxi singles Mungo Jerry's first single, "In the Summertime" was the ...

, backed with "

Your Move ''Your Move'' is the eleventh studio album by American folk rock duo America, released by Capitol Records on June 3, 1983. History In 1982, America experienced renewed commercial success with the hit album ''View From The Ground''. Two of th ...

" and "Sweet Dreams". The song has been a regular feature of Yes' live shows. It has also appeared on many live and compilation albums, including ''

Yessongs ''Yessongs'' is the first live album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released as a triple album in May 1973 on Atlantic Records. After completing their Close to the Edge Tour in April 1973, the band selected live recordings between ...

'', ''

Classic Yes ''Classic Yes'' is the second compilation album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released in November 1981 by Atlantic Records. It was released after the group had disbanded in early 1981, following their 1980 tour in support of the ...

'' and ''

Yesstory ''Yesstory'' is a double CD and triple LP career-spanning distillation of music by progressive rock band Yes (band), Yes that had originally appeared on the 1991 box set ''Yesyears''. ''Yesstory'' was issued in 1992 lacking the rarity material ...

''. The opening track off ''The Yes Album'', "Yours Is No Disgrace" clocks in at nearly ten minutes. According to

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Dave Thompson, the length and complexity of "Yours Is No Disgrace" was tester for Yes' lengthy songs over their next few albums, most notably "

And You and I "And You and I" is the second track from the album ''Close to the Edge'' by the English progressive rock band Yes. The song is just over ten minutes in length and consists of four movements. The first and second parts of the song were released as ...

," although he states that "at the time of release, however, it was unique – and, listened to in isolation today, it remains so."

Lyrics

According to Edward Macan, "Yours Is No Disgrace" "is generally recognized as Yes' first antiwar song" (though "Harold Land" from their debut album deals with the subject of war). Anderson has stated that the theme of the song was recognition that the kids fighting the war had no choice but to fight and that the war wasn't their fault. Author Bill Martin describes "Yours Is No Disgrace" as "a remarkable and subtle song about the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

." The lyrics make their point by contrasting the suffering of the soldiers in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

with people partying in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. The author Dave Thompson praises the line "On a sailing ship to nowhere" as " onjuringa mental image that the music cannot help but echo." The original words "armies gather near" (confirmed in every recorded live version) have been misprinted as "armies scatter the earth" numerous times, suggesting this may have been a mis-transcription in the first published version, as the album cover itself did not include lyrics.

Composition

The song begins with a

staccato Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music ...

introduction, which builds tension right away. The introduction's main riff was contributed by Jon Anderson, and was the subject of an argument in the band since some of the other members thought it was overly derivative of the theme music for the TV series ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

''. This is followed by Howe's guitar

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

s, which have been described by various critics as both joyous and menacing. Howe built up the guitar parts using

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

s, which was a new experience to him. Howe stated that he created "a 'studioized' solo because it was made up in different sections. I became three guitarists." ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Ryan Reed describes Howe's playing as "a masterwork of staccato crunch, frenetic lead twang and jazz-rock sizzle." Author Dave Simonelli remarks that the "jagged but simple related pattern of

chords Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord (as ...

" that Howe plays are developed in a manner analogous to a

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

. ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

'' critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

also praises Howe's playing on the song. Howe has stated that his

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular m ...

on the song is one of his favorites because it was the first time he was able to overdub his parts in that manner. Tony Kaye was against the idea of using any kind of synthesizers out of studio, so early live videos show no Moog, and Jon Anderson was forced to handle Kaye's parts on the Dewtron "Mister Bassman" bass pedal synthesizer. Later, when Rick Wakeman joined the band, he took over main riff on MiniMoog during live performances. According to Yes biographer

Chris Welch Chris Welch (born 12 November 1941) is an English music journalist, critic, and author who is best known for his work from the late 1960s as a reporter for ''Melody Maker'', ''Musicians Only'', and ''Kerrang!''. He is the author of over 40 mu ...

, the vocals by Anderson and Squire "exude a sense of optimism as if all past battles are finally over and nothing can now stop the band's musical odyssey."

Personnel

Band *

lead vocals, percussion *

bass guitar, backing vocals *

electric & acoustic guitars, backing vocals * Tony Kaye

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, Moog *

drums, percussion

References

Bibliography

*Dimery, Robert ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' New York: Quintet Publishing Limited, 2005. *Covach, John Rudolph and Boone, Graeme MacDonald ''Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis'' New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. {{Authority control Yes (band) songs 1971 songs Song recordings produced by Eddy Offord Songs written by Jon Anderson Songs written by Chris Squire Songs written by Steve Howe (musician) Songs written by Bill Bruford Protest songs Anti-war songs Songs of the Vietnam War Atlantic Records singles

Lyrics

Composition

Personnel

See also

References

Bibliography