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I've Seen All Good People

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"I've Seen All Good People"
Song by Yes
from the album The Yes Album
Released19 February 1971
RecordedAutumn 1970
StudioAdvision, London
Genre
Length
  • 6:56
  • 3:35 ("Your Move")
  • 3:21 ("All Good People")
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Official audio
"I've Seen All Good People" on YouTube
"Your Move"
Single by Yes
from the album The Yes Album
B-side
  • "Clap"
ReleasedJuly 1971 (US)[3]
RecordedAutumn 1970
StudioAdvision, London
Length3:00
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)Jon Anderson
Yes singles chronology
"Sweet Dreams"
(1970) 		"Your Move"
(1971) 		"Roundabout"
(1972)
Official audio
"Your Move" on YouTube

"I've Seen All Good People" is a song by the English progressive rock band Yes, written by frontman Jon Anderson and bassist Chris Squire and recorded on their third studio album, The Yes Album (1971). The almost 7-minute song is in two parts; the first, titled "Your Move", was released as a single in 1971 which peaked at number 40 in the US, which helped the group build momentum.[4] The second part is entitled "All Good People".

The tune uses chess as a lyrical metaphor for navigating interpersonal relationships,[5] and contains several allusions to the music of John Lennon. It has received positive reviews from several critics and has been considered one of Yes's best-known songs, with AllMusic's Mike DeGagne stating that "the harmonies are resilient from start to finish" and that the track "still stands as one of their most appealing" works.[4] Music critic Robert Christgau has also singled it out for praise.[6]

Lyrics

The first part of the song, "Your Move", alludes to the game of chess as a metaphor for male–female relationships.[5] Examples include the phrases "move me onto any black square", "make the white queen run so fast", and "the goal is for us all to capture only one".

A reference to John Lennon's work is in the lyric "send an instant karma to me", with "Instant Karma!" being a single released by Lennon in 1970. Another reference occurs just before the three-minute mark of the song, in the closing moments of "Your Move", where the chorus of Lennon's song "Give Peace a Chance" is sung by the backing vocalists under the main melody.[7][8][9][10] More generally, Anderson has stated that the line "'cause it's time, it's time in time with your time" was an attempt to say that he would "do anything that is required of me to reach God" and that he wants the listener to feel "in tune and in time with God."[11]

Composition and legacy

In the studio recording on The Yes Album, the song opens with Jon Anderson, Chris Squire and Steve Howe singing the sentence "I've seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied I'm on my way" twice a cappella, in three-part harmony. This is followed by a solo intro by Steve Howe on a laúd, a Spanish lute. Howe also sometimes plays the solo on a standard acoustic guitar. As the laúd begins a repeated four-bar phrase, it is joined by bass drum and bass guitar as Anderson resumes singing the lyrics, solo and in three-part harmony. Dual recorders enter on the third verse. Finally, a Hammond organ joins them, playing the same chords as the laúd until the first part of the song ends on a loudly sustained and unresolved organ chord.

The second part, "All Good People", consists of many repetitions of the sentence "I've seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied I'm on my way" sung to the same melody as before, but over a driving rock accompaniment, ending in a powerful vocal harmony and organ phrase which begins on a chord progression of E, D, C, G, then A. Each repetition of the verse is one whole step lower than the previous as the song fades out. Anderson has stated that he wanted to have the song develop quietly but then open up into a big grandiose, church organ sound.[11]

The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau called the song a "great cut", being one in which he thought Yes' "arty eclecticism comes together."[6] Record World said that "Your Move" is "very pretty."[12]

The song has been included on several compilation albums, such as 1981's Classic Yes and 2004's The Ultimate Yes, since its initial release on The Yes Album in 1971. It has been performed during many of Yes' concert tours, and appears on many of Yes' live albums. As of 2021, the most recent live album to feature the song is The Royal Affair Tour: Live from Las Vegas, which was recorded in July 2019 and released in October 2020.

Personnel

Yes

Additional musicians

In media

The song is used in the opening scenes of the episode "The Tragedy of the Commons" of the fifth season of Fargo.[citation needed] The song appears on the soundtrack of the film Almost Famous. A remix of the song appears in the trailer for the 2024 film Here. The song is also featured in the film Mr. Deeds.

Charts

Chart (1971) Peak
position
Australian Singles (Kent Music Report)[14] 32
US Billboard Hot 100[15] 40

References

  1. ^ "The Best Song on Every Yes Album". Ultimate Classic Rock. December 19, 2018. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  2. ^ Smith, Bradley (1997). The Billboard Guide to Progressive Music. Billboard Books. p. 249. ISBN 9780823076659. The 7-minute 'I've Seen All Good People' is a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young-like hippie folk rock anthem led by acoustic guitar.
  3. ^ Welch, Chris (2003). Close to the Edge: The Story of Yes (2 ed.). Omnibus Press. p. 293. ISBN 0-7119-9509-5.
  4. ^ a b DeGagne, Mike. "I've Seen All Good People: Your Move/All Good People - Yes | Song Info". AllMusic. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Martin, B. (1998). Listening to the Future: The Time of Progressive Rock, 1968-1978. Open Court Publishing. p. 200. ISBN 9780812693683.
  6. ^ a b Christgau, R. "Yes". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  7. ^ "John Anderson, Former Yes Frontman, Pays Tribute to John Lennon in California". Archived from the original on 2013-07-03. Retrieved 2011-03-09.
  8. ^ Womack, Kenneth (2014). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four [2 volumes]: Everything Fab Four. ABC-CLIO. p. 325. ISBN 978-0-313-39172-9.
  9. ^ Martin, Bill Jr. (2015). Music of Yes: Structure and Vision in Progressive Rock. Open Court Publishing Company. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-8126-9945-6.
  10. ^ Shea, Stuart; Rodriguez, Robert (2007). Fab Four FAQ: Everything Left to Know About the Beatles ... and More!. Hal Leonard. p. 320. ISBN 978-1-4234-2138-2.
  11. ^ a b Yes (1996). Yesstories: Yes In Their Own Words. MacMillan. ISBN 9780312144531.
  12. ^ "Single Product" (PDF). Record World. August 28, 1971. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
  13. ^ Hurwitz, Matt (January 5, 2018). "Classic Tracks: Yes". Mix Online. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  14. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 19. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  15. ^ "Yes Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
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