Jon Anderson and caftans

“How can the wind with its arms all around me?”

I don’t know….but it can. I’ve been listening to some vintage Yes lately and am especially stuck on “Heart of the Sunrise”. I still admire the musicians’ skill and it also reminds me of my teenage self, responding to those awkward lyrics involving dreams and sunrises and arms all around me. Yes always sounded clean and metallic to me, not like heavy metal but like it existed in an airless otherworld. Jon Anderson’s “..sharp!....distance!” in his high, reedy voice rang like a bell through my feverish teen brain. The shifting tempos and that hyper bass, scurrying around like a low-bellied bulldog through every song seemed like good mathematics. I liked picturing all those skinny English dudes completely lost in the song as they played it, glancing at each other to stay within their tight timing, then breaking for a prim round of tea and biscuits. I looked on You Tube for an old, live performance of it and found one from way too recent 2003. Sure, they sounded good. Pretty tight, even. But except for the drummer, who looked perfectly fine in a black t-shirt, they were all wearing flowing outfits, the kind of thing mature ladies buy at Chico’s. Worst of all, they were in natural daylight. The caftan-esque shirts, the balding pates, the harsh lighting… I guess I just want them back in my stereo.