Roundabout (song)

"Roundabout"

Dutch vinyl single cover
Single by Yes
from the album Fragile
B-side "Long Distance Runaround"
Released 4 January 1972[1]
Format 7"
Recorded 1971
Genre Progressive rock[2]
Length
  • 8:29 (Full-length version)
  • 4:54 (TM Gold Disc edit)
  • 3:27 (Single edit)
  • 8:33 (Early rough mix)
Label Atlantic
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
Yes singles chronology
"Your Move"
(1971)		 "Roundabout"
(1972)		 "America"
(1972)
Yes singles chronology
"And You and I"
(1972)		 "Roundabout (Live)"
(1972)		 "Soon"
(1975)
Fragile track listing

Side one

  1. "Roundabout"
  2. "Cans and Brahms"
  3. "We Have Heaven"
  4. "South Side of the Sky"

Side two

  1. "Five Per Cent for Nothing"
  2. "Long Distance Runaround"
  3. "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)"
  4. "Mood for a Day"
  5. "Heart of the Sunrise"

"Roundabout" is a song by English progressive rock band Yes. It was the first single released from their fourth studio album, Fragile (1971). "Roundabout" has become one of the best-known songs by Yes. The song was released as a shortened single with the track "Long Distance Runaround" in January 1972. It peaked at No. 13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 on the Cash Box Top 100.[3]

Composition

Written by singer Jon Anderson and guitarist Steve Howe during The Yes Album Tour when they were travelling from Aberdeen to Glasgow, and the travelling involved "so many roundabouts" they felt they wanted to include that in the song, along with the mountains they felt were coming out of the sky around them.[4]

Release

An edited version was released as a single in 1972, with the track "Long Distance Runaround" on the B-side. It peaked at No. 13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and reached No. 23 on the Dutch Top 40.[5] Billboard ranked it as the No. 91 song for 1972. The full-length, album version was used as a B-side in 1973 and a live version was released as a bonus single in copies of Classic Yes in 1981.

Legacy

"Roundabout" has become one of the best-known Yes songs; it has been performed at nearly every concert since November 1971 and is their most played song live.[6] It was used as the theme music for BBC concert programme Sounds for Saturday.[7] "Roundabout" was used in the 1999 film Outside Providence. In 2003, on the DVD commentary of School of Rock, actor Jack Black states that Wakeman's solo is his personal favourite keyboard solo. "Roundabout" is a playable track in the music game Rock Band 3, but has an extra harmonic at the beginning of the song. The song is referenced in the Season 4 episode of The Venture Bros. "Perchance to Dean", in which a similar melody is played like the ending to the actual track. In 2012, "Roundabout" was used as the ending theme song for the first season of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime series.[8] According to the director, "Roundabout" was one of many songs JoJo author Hirohiko Araki listened to when he wrote the manga.[9] "Roundabout" was featured on the re-released version of Grand Theft Auto V's Los Santos Rock Radio radio station.[10]

Track listing

Side A
No. Title Length
1. "Roundabout"   3:27
Side B
No. Title Length
1. "Long Distance Runaround"   3:15

Personnel

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1972) Peak
position
Canada (RPM)[12] 9
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 27
US Billboard Hot 100[14] 13
US Cash Box Top 100[3] 10

Year-end charts

Chart (1972) Rank
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 91
U.S. Cash Box[15] 90

References

  1. ↑ "Yes Discography". Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  2. ↑ Kevin Holm-Hudson (18 October 2013). Progressive Rock Reconsidered. Routledge. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-135-71022-4.
  3. 1 2
  4. ↑ Matt Wardlaw. "Top 10 Yes Songs of the '70s". ultimateclassicrock.com.
  5. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 - Week 10, 1972" (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 December 2009.
  6. ↑ "Yes Tour Statistics". Setlist.fm. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  7. ↑ "The Faces - BBC Crown Jewels 10-26-1971 (Full Show)". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  8. ↑ "UK Band Yes, Singer Tommy Perform Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Themes". Anime News Network. 2012-09-14. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
  9. ↑ "「ジョジョの奇妙な冒険」津田尚克ディレクターインタビュー （後編） 「ジョジョ！」と叫びたいが、オープニングの要望 | アニメ！アニメ！". Animeanime.jp. 2013-05-14. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  10. ↑ "Grand Theft Auto V Reveals Expanded Radio Station Tracklists for Game Relaunch". Pitchfork. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  11. ↑ "Yes – Roundabout (Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  12. ↑ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  13. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Yes – Roundabout" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  14. ↑ "Yes – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Yes. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  15. ↑

External links

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.