Changes

It's pretty self-explainatory, to me. Unlike most Yes songs, rhetorical device that would normally make the lyrics a bit obscure does not come into play here.

The song is an open-letter to someone (male or female) whom he has lost in his life. He's speaking to this person in a comparison between himself and that person and later goes on to give advice to this person (and all of Yes' listeners) on how to deal with the inevitable changes we all face in life. "The difference between you and I, your heart is in your head" in other words, this person often uses cold rationality instead of feelings of love to guide his or her actions within the relationship. The changes only come from loving relationships, no matter how they ended and by being rational and in taking steps in the right direction after learning our lessons from the past relationships can we prevent being the foolish and jealous hearts and "capitalize on this good fortune" - I.E. the end of this relationship and the lessons learned - and make better changes. I think "one word" is a metaphor for actions to be taken by this person (and all listeners of the band).

Something I like about Yes most is the positive message of embracing change and being humble in the face of it all. Also, a few of their songs stress freewill and the ability to change one's situation through positive action. Very good message. I can't stand songs that sing about being dealt a losing hand by some ambiguous, ethereal "agents of fortune". Good over it, get up and do something to change things!

That's my 2 cents.

Nice story. I fund it quite amusing. Anyway, I don't really know what this song means...but a good tune overall.

Alright, I'm not here to tell you what this song means to me....I just have a funny story to share about it...The other night a couple of friends came over, and this song was on, and during the musical interlude where they shout CHANGES every once in a while, my friend Mike started to sing and dance along. Well, he was really getting into it with his eyes closed and all and so I took out my video camera and began recording. Most of the song was through by the time my other friend told him I had been filming. The whole time Mike had been playing imaginary drums while shouting "CHANGES" at the top of his lungs in a high pitched voice whenever Yes said it. And when it came to parts other than that, he didn't know the words, so he sang "I don't know the words to this part!" all the while keeping the high pitched voice and drumming going strong.

notices the bewildered stares she is getting

Uh...I guess you just had to be there....

You know what...That makes a lot of sense now that I think about it...I totally agree

REO Speedwagon "Rolled with the Changes"! They also turned pages and read a Good Book, too! peace, out. :)

I have been listening to this song for years but I don't think I really understood the lyrics until I went through my separation from my wife. If I had to sum it up, it is the 5 stages of grief and loss. It is about having a deeper, more mindful understanding of the end of a relationship. There are a couple of lyrics that really speak to me.

"I've given up pretending as if you didn't care" - When the other person ends the relationship, there is a tendency to think it happened because the other person has lost interest and/or is a "bad person" but when you step back, the issues are often much deeper and relationships usually end simply because it isn't working.

"who could believe when love has gone, how we move on like everyone" - after some time passes, you move on. It is always a shock when you realize it has happened. It reminds me of the other Yes song, Walls, which is also about this subject. Things are bad but comfortable in a relationship, you go through a bunch of crap, and you wake up one day and realize that you have moved on.

Alright, I'm not here to tell you what this song means to me....I just have a funny story to share about it...The other night a couple of friends came over, and this song was on, and during the musical interlude where they shout CHANGES every once in a while, my friend Mike started to sing and dance along. Well, he was really getting into it with his eyes closed and all and so I took out my video camera and began recording. Most of the song was through by the time my other friend told him I had been filming. The whole time Mike had been playing imaginary drums while shouting "CHANGES" at the top of his lungs in a high pitched voice whenever Yes said it. And when it came to parts other than that, he didn't know the words, so he sang "I don't know the words to this part!" all the while keeping the high pitched voice and drumming going strong.

notices the bewildered stares she is getting

Uh...I guess you just had to be there....

i think the "one word" is "changes".

i think these lines are interesting:
"One word from you One word from me A clear design on your liberty Who could believe when love has gone How we move on like everyone"

I wonder what the 'clear design on your liberty' is.

great story, Abzita. i wish i had friends who appreciate Yes

"A clear design on your liberty" refers to the person who said the "one word" (the word being "changes," of course) in order to imply that he/she wants freedom.

I say this because anytime someone is about to break "relationship" news to you they always preface it with something a lot like the first line of this song--"I'm moving through some changes." This was, for instance, how my parents explained to me that they were about to get a divorce.

But I'm getting off track--I just wanted to say I love the intro to this song with the tumultuous rhythm and irregular time signature, which helps set the mood of the song with its powerful lyrics. I don't think the modern listener of pop music has the patience for this type of thing anymore...songs today are all less than 3 minutes long.

This song rocks! "Keep looking for....CHANGES!" awesome sounding song!