"Yours Is No Disgrace" is a long song, taking almost 10 minutes in its original incarnation on The Yes Album. It was written by all five members of the band: Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Tony Kaye and Bill Bruford.
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. The lyrics make their point by contrasting the suffering of the soldiers in Vietnam with people partying in Las Vegas. The lyric in this song, "Caesar's Palace, morning glory, silly human race," helps explain the story behind it. Caesar's Palace is a casino in Las Vegas, and an interesting reference for a British band to make. When asked, Yes frontman/lyricist Jon Anderson explained: "I'd just been to Vegas and it was amazing how crazy the place was and how silly we are. Silly human race. It was something to do with how crazy we can be as a human race to be out there flittering money around and gambling, trying to earn that big payout, when actually that's not what life is truly about. Our life is truly about finding our divine connection with God, if you like. You know, that's why we live. And whenever I sing that song, it always comes back to me that I'm singing about that kind of Caesar's Palace, morning glory, sweet human race - it's on a sailing ship to nowhere, planet earth. The planet earth is not going anywhere. It's going around the sun, of course, but we're on this sailing ship to nowhere, leaving any place. It's like Earth Mother. So don't worry about stuff, it's not our fault if things go wrong."
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. However, this does not appear to have impacted the overall anti-war interpretation of the song.
The song begins with a staccato introduction, which builds tension right away. This is followed by Howe's guitar riffs, which have been described by various critics as both joyous and menacing. Author Dave Simonelli remarks that the "jagged but simple related pattern of chords" that Howe plays are developed in a manner analogous to a symphony. Village Voice critic Robert Christgau also praises Howe's playing on the song. Howe has stated that his guitar solo on the song is one of his favorites because it was the first time he was able to overdub his parts in that manner. The main musical motif is played on a Moog synthesizer. According to Yes biographer Chris Welch, 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."
"Yours Is No Disgrace" is a long song, taking almost 10 minutes in its original incarnation on The Yes Album. It was written by all five members of the band: Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Tony Kaye and Bill Bruford.
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. The lyrics make their point by contrasting the suffering of the soldiers in Vietnam with people partying in Las Vegas. The lyric in this song, "Caesar's Palace, morning glory, silly human race," helps explain the story behind it. Caesar's Palace is a casino in Las Vegas, and an interesting reference for a British band to make. When asked, Yes frontman/lyricist Jon Anderson explained: "I'd just been to Vegas and it was amazing how crazy the place was and how silly we are. Silly human race. It was something to do with how crazy we can be as a human race to be out there flittering money around and gambling, trying to earn that big payout, when actually that's not what life is truly about. Our life is truly about finding our divine connection with God, if you like. You know, that's why we live. And whenever I sing that song, it always comes back to me that I'm singing about that kind of Caesar's Palace, morning glory, sweet human race - it's on a sailing ship to nowhere, planet earth. The planet earth is not going anywhere. It's going around the sun, of course, but we're on this sailing ship to nowhere, leaving any place. It's like Earth Mother. So don't worry about stuff, it's not our fault if things go wrong."
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. However, this does not appear to have impacted the overall anti-war interpretation of the song.
The song begins with a staccato introduction, which builds tension right away. This is followed by Howe's guitar riffs, which have been described by various critics as both joyous and menacing. Author Dave Simonelli remarks that the "jagged but simple related pattern of chords" that Howe plays are developed in a manner analogous to a symphony. Village Voice critic Robert Christgau also praises Howe's playing on the song. Howe has stated that his guitar solo on the song is one of his favorites because it was the first time he was able to overdub his parts in that manner. The main musical motif is played on a Moog synthesizer. According to Yes biographer Chris Welch, 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."
"Yours Is No Disgrace" is a long song, taking almost 10 minutes in its original incarnation on The Yes Album. It was written by all five members of the band: Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Tony Kaye and Bill Bruford.
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. The lyrics make their point by contrasting the suffering of the soldiers in Vietnam with people partying in Las Vegas. The lyric in this song, "Caesar's Palace, morning glory, silly human race," helps explain the story behind it. Caesar's Palace is a casino in Las Vegas, and an interesting reference for a British band to make. When asked, Yes frontman/lyricist Jon Anderson explained: "I'd just been to Vegas and it was amazing how crazy the place was and how silly we are. Silly human race. It was something to do with how crazy we can be as a human race to be out there flittering money around and gambling, trying to earn that big payout, when actually that's not what life is truly about. Our life is truly about finding our divine connection with God, if you like. You know, that's why we live. And whenever I sing that song, it always comes back to me that I'm singing about that kind of Caesar's Palace, morning glory, sweet human race - it's on a sailing ship to nowhere, planet earth. The planet earth is not going anywhere. It's going around the sun, of course, but we're on this sailing ship to nowhere, leaving any place. It's like Earth Mother. So don't worry about stuff, it's not our fault if things go wrong."
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. However, this does not appear to have impacted the overall anti-war interpretation of the song.
The song begins with a staccato introduction, which builds tension right away. This is followed by Howe's guitar riffs, which have been described by various critics as both joyous and menacing. Author Dave Simonelli remarks that the "jagged but simple related pattern of chords" that Howe plays are developed in a manner analogous to a symphony. Village Voice critic Robert Christgau also praises Howe's playing on the song. Howe has stated that his guitar solo on the song is one of his favorites because it was the first time he was able to overdub his parts in that manner. The main musical motif is played on a Moog synthesizer. According to Yes biographer Chris Welch, 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."