----------------------------------------------------- AUGUST 23, 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Source: Apple.com http://www.apple.com/creative/musicaudio/jonanderson/lyrics.html Time and a Word: The Inspiration and Method Behind Jon Anderson's Lyrics People have celebrated Jon’s solo music, and the music of Yes, for some 30-plus years. Aside from its intensely layered complexity, sudden time shifts, and shear musical prowess, one of the most admired, albeit sometimes baffling, components of Jon’s and Yes’ music has always been its lyrical content. Sometimes surreal, sometimes metaphysical, and still other times seemingly without meaning or explanation. Over the years, fans have attempted to explain the meaning behind Jon’s complex, abstract lyrics. There are even websites dedicated to the translation of such. But those are simply interpretations of Jon’s words. What’s the real story behind Jon’s lyrics, and more importantly, how does he create his lyrics and what do they mean to him? During a recent visit to his home studio, we spoke with Jon about the writing of his lyrics. A Song Is Born  When Jon gets an idea for a song, he composes a melody while at the same time, determining lyric placement. Not the words themselves, but rather the structure of where the lyrics will go within the song. He’ll play the new melody while scatting his way through to help with lyric placement. “After I get a melody scribbled down and the lyric structure in place, I look for a bridge section and then a chorus,” says Jon. He goes on to say, “When I’m writing lyrics, I’m actually thinking about many different things. Sometimes I do three or four different versions of a song, really working to figure out what message I want to hone in on and capture. Then at some point I’ll say to myself, ‘Well, that’s as far as I can go with this,’ and that’s the end of the lyrical content.” From there, Jon may change a word or two within a song so it “sings” better. Jon: “When singing lyrics, sometimes the sound of a word is more important than its actual meaning within the song. For example, “w” and “th” are very hard to sing in a high register, whereas “c” sounds great in a high register.” Hence, Jon is very aware of the fact that his voice is one of the “instruments” within the music, and must complement and properly flow with the music. Melody Before Words  Usually Jon says that for him, lyrics almost always come after the creation of the music. However, there are situations where, as he points out, “You’re writing a lyric and all of a sudden you realize you’ve gone off on a tangent, and extended a lyrical sentence. And then you say to yourself, ‘Oh gosh, that lyric really works here and now I’ve got to find an additional bridge for this, or perhaps a new type of verse.’” That’s when he finds himself in the somewhat rare situation of writing new music to match the lyrics. Additionally, when Jon writes a new melody, and even when he begins writing lyrics for that melody, he frequently doesn’t know what the song is about. The creation of a song takes on a kind of life of its own, and Jon teaches himself the song as he’s creating it. Often, he’ll come up with a small melody that he’ll then build a song around. A good example is “Summerlight” from his Big If solo project. Jon explains, “For ‘Summerlight' I came up with a small middle section that I wanted to keep, and which serves as the kingpin for the entire song. I then wrote the rest of the song around that small middle piece. But I’ve been going crazy trying to come up with lyrics. What does Summerlight mean? I don’t know yet but I’ll find out.” Jon says that over the course of his career, every album he’s done contains one or two songs about events from his life, and he’s used those events as “metaphors for ideas captured in the songs.” In the end, said songs may not be about Jon’s life directly, but their foundations are firmly rooted in his life’s events. Regarding the song, “Tony and Me" from his current solo project, Jon says, “’Tony and Me’ is a definite departure.” The song, ‘Tony and Me’ is about Jon’s youth back in England when he and his brother Tony played in band called The Warriors. The “definite departure” to which Jon refers is the fact that ‘Tony and Me’ is a song directly about events in Jon’s life, which is something very new for him. Jon adds, “That song got me thinking about doing even more songs that directly relate to events from my life.” And as he has previously stated, the Big If is a project that definitely tracks in that direction. What’s It All Mean?  In the end, what do Jon’s lyrics mean? Sometimes they convey clearly articulated ideas that have definite intent. Other times a song may not have much meaning at all — at least not to Jon. Still other times Jon will write a song and the song’s meaning evolves over time. But in every case, Jon’s lyrics are masterful works of art in their own right. Always thought provoking, always original, and definitely a true Jon Anderson signature. Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com