This song originated in March 1971 when the band were on tour promoting The Yes Album , travelling from Aberdeen to Glasgow after a gig in Aviemore, Scotland. They encountered many roundabouts on the way; Anderson claimed "maybe 40 or so", which inspired Anderson and Howe to write a song about the journey as they sat in the back of the band's transit van, and include the roundabouts and the surrounding mountains into the lyrics. Anderson had smoked marijuana during the trip, "so everything was vivid and mystical" Anderson added: "It was a cloudy day, we couldn't see the top of the mountains. We could only see the clouds because it was sheer straight up ... I remember saying, "Oh, the mountains–look! They're coming out of the sky!", and began to write the song's lyrics in his notebook in a free-form style with minimal edits. "I just loved how words sounded when I put them together".
This song originated in March 1971 when the band were on tour promoting The Yes Album , travelling from Aberdeen to Glasgow after a gig in Aviemore, Scotland. They encountered many roundabouts on the way; Anderson claimed "maybe 40 or so", which inspired Anderson and Howe to write a song about the journey as they sat in the back of the band's transit van, and include the roundabouts and the surrounding mountains into the lyrics. Anderson had smoked marijuana during the trip, "so everything was vivid and mystical" Anderson added: "It was a cloudy day, we couldn't see the top of the mountains. We could only see the clouds because it was sheer straight up ... I remember saying, "Oh, the mountains–look! They're coming out of the sky!", and began to write the song's lyrics in his notebook in a free-form style with minimal edits. "I just loved how words sounded when I put them together".
This song originated in March 1971 when the band were on tour promoting The Yes Album , travelling from Aberdeen to Glasgow after a gig in Aviemore, Scotland. They encountered many roundabouts on the way; Anderson claimed "maybe 40 or so", which inspired Anderson and Howe to write a song about the journey as they sat in the back of the band's transit van, and include the roundabouts and the surrounding mountains into the lyrics. Anderson had smoked marijuana during the trip, "so everything was vivid and mystical" Anderson added: "It was a cloudy day, we couldn't see the top of the mountains. We could only see the clouds because it was sheer straight up ... I remember saying, "Oh, the mountains–look! They're coming out of the sky!", and began to write the song's lyrics in his notebook in a free-form style with minimal edits. "I just loved how words sounded when I put them together".