Going for the One

It's about the futility of sports. Chasing a ball around. "The truth of sport plays rings around you." - (Olympic rings reference) Going for number one -The winner, the best. The thrill of it is what matters. The way it makes you feel alive. it gives you a kind of spiritual high.

This song is very special to me. The thing about Yes is they try very hard to inspire the correct emotions through music. Their verses are only an element to what the song is about, but theoretically, taking the words away and the song should still inspire the appropriate emotions. In the case of, Going for the One, I always felt that the song is about the beauty of pursuit. The first verse is basically Jon's description of some kind of cosmic high stakes race, and the emotions experienced behind the wheel competing in this race. He takes the racer away from the race objectively and explains in an omnipresent way that what you see as a goal and a win, is merely just a drop in the bucket compared to the grand scheme of things - in fact there are racers out there; perhaps different dimensions that would play RINGS around you. Then Jon likes to just throw out some "phrases" that inspire emotions or thoughts one would have while in the climax of a pursuit. However, as we all know; pursuits take very many shapes and forms. The final verse takes us back to Jon's room, he's writing this song and he's pursuing the ending. He very much wants to wrap this song up in a perfect way, a great punch line. Taking a step back, a look out the window for inspiration, he realizes that slowing down and taking a moment to let his mind wander, and wander on to someone special in this case, he finds his goal and his punchline. Ever so eager to finish, to succeed, sometimes we need to stop and realize that we place the finish line further or closer to ourselves - if we let nature take its course we may find ourselves gracefully achieving our goals instead of forcing nature to act faster.

Hey Steve, Parts like "Shoot the Mountain Masses" means hunting. "Get in the way as the tons of water Racing with you crashing thru the rudder.' some sort of of boating reference. The "grass sees" thing i think is about being like other animals, using their physical abilities to survive. The rest can be chalked up to Anderson's inability to speak in only cosmic debris.

actually this song has more to do with the sport of chasing after spiritual salvation. and the feelings of futility that sometimes come with that. in the first two verses hes not riding the horse hes under the flanks trying to get the message through. in the second hes not riding in the boat hes being shot through the tons of water out the rudder. the third verse he truly decides that it is almost humorous the way we chase after salvation. so he writes a puncline. from here you stand no taller than the grass sees states how we are no more significant than the grass is on this earth from a higher power point of view.

Sorry, have to disagree. I don't see it as being about the futility, but about the addiction of sport. Going for the one means going for the best. Mountain masses are rapids (shoot the rapids). 'Here you stand no taller than the grasses' means you're the same as everyone else there - in the same boat. Should you really push yourself to the limit? That's what sport does to you - it's much bigger than you and runs rings around you. You throw away all concepts of danger and go for it. When you think about what you've achieved you don't feel depressed at all. It's really touching life, feeling alive, and as strong a feeling as love.

I see it more generally as being about wu wei--action without action. Anderson is poking fun at the idea that chasing hard will win you the prize; that instead you should act "as a river flows" (all very Taoist). Sport here is just a metaphor for life, and the final verse pretty clearly makes that point.

Actually, Yes were approached by the International Olympic Committee about writing music for the 1976 Olympics for interstitial usage and also in commercial "bumpers". I'm not sure of the particulars, but either Yes or the IOC eventually decided to not employ this song and Emerson, Lake & Palmer's version of Aaron Copland's "Fanfare For The Common Man" was employed instead. Gives a new insight into "The truth of sport plays rings around you," doesn't it, especially if you consider them to be the rings of the Olympic emblem.

I think it's up for interpretation, really. The first thing that comes to mind is basically the aim to be "number one" - the best there is, given the sport terms. However, I think there is a message of love in there too

"Going for the one you love", and the doubt of approaching the one you love with the fear of losing. Can I really win her heart even though I don't even stand taller than the grass seas? Self confidence, doubt and the truth of sports (there can only be one winner) keeps people from expressing their true love.

I read that Jon mentioned in an interview that Going For The One was inspired by the emotions and personal/physical challenges of many types of competitive sports such as white water rafting, horse racing, track & field etc.

Read Dan Hedges book about Yes. It was written in 1980 and specifically mentions this.