Close to the Edge

Movements
Part Start Time Length
The Solid Time Of Change 0:00 6:04
Total Mass Retain 6:04 1:55
I Get Up, I Get Down 7:59 6:14
Seasons Of Man 14:13 4:30

I. The Solid Time of Change
The progressive nature of the piece is revealed immediately as the song fades in with the sounds of running water, wind chimes, and birds chirping; a layering of sounds derived primarily from "environmental tapes" collected by lead vocalist Jon Anderson. These nature sounds move through a crescendo and into a somewhat menacing guitar solo, the backdrop for which is a cacophonous musical passage that serves as a replacement for the natural cacophony that preceded it. The guitar solo is punctuated by a series of sudden vocables. Again, a crescendo signals a transformation, this time into a more down to earth melody. Like a classical composition, this melodic passage is the establishment of a theme that will go through many variations throughout the life of the song.

About four minutes into the piece, the lyrics are introduced, along with a chorus that remains throughout the song. Like the previously established melody, this chorus will be developed in many different ways, which will include changes to the lyrical content, as well as changes in time and key signatures, tempo, and harmony:

Close to the edge, round by the corner…
Not right away, not right away
Close to the edge, down by a river…
Not right away, not right away

II. Total Mass Retain
The song continues with generally the same melody and style. It should be noted that the chorus here changes to a faster pace, and then slows down again at the end of the section. The final words "I get up, I get down" introduce the next segment.

This section, along with a sped-up version of the introduction of birds chirping at the beginning and a small part of the beginning of "I Get Up I Get Down" at the end, was remixed as a 3:21 single prior to the release of the album. It was included as a bonus track on the remastered version of Close to the Edge.

III. I Get Up I Get Down
The song significantly slows its tempo and lowers its volume. This segment, beginning with a small baroque piece, consists of two sets of vocals: the main vocals, sung by Anderson which contain most of the lyrics, and the backing vocals, sung by Chris Squire and Steve Howe, which are noticeably slower and contain some non-lyrical parts. At about 12 minutes into the song, a church organ begins to play the main theme of this segment which changes from a minor to a major key as the music progresses.

IV. Seasons of Man
The original, fast-paced theme picks up followed by musical and lyrical structure which sounds similar to "The Solid Time of Change," though here Rick Wakeman's organ parts are particularly complex. The chorus is sung one last time before the vocals build up to the climax of the song in which all three motifs presented in the prior movements ("A seasoned witch…", "close to the edge, down by the river", "Seasons will pass you by, I get up I get down") are combined to a fugue-like whole. Afterwards, the final lyrics "I get up, I get down" are repeated as the song fades away into the "sounds of nature" in which it began.

Lyrics
In a May 27, 1996 interview with Elizabeth Gips on her show "Changes" (KKUP, Cupertino, CA), transcribed in the "Notes From the Edge" fanzine (issue #0159, August 23, 1996), Jon Anderson mentions, probably not for the first time, that the song—indeed, the whole album—is inspired by Hermann Hesse's book Siddhartha. " did one album called Close to the Edge. was based on the Siddhartha… You always come back down to the river. know, all the rivers come to the same ocean. That was the basic idea. And so we made a really beautiful album"

This explanation can cast the cryptic and mysterious lyrics in a new light, tracking the awakening of Hesse's character "close to the edge" of a river (and, symbolically, of the serial lifetimes of his soul) where he experiences a spiritual awakening. According to that point of view, the lyrics are about how people can seek spiritual illumination, and find a new state of mind, living a whole life. In addition, Anderson was also concerned about how the words sounded, sometimes more than what they meant, creating, thus, verses that often don't seem to mean anything, such as "The time between the notes relates the colour to the scenes".