This whole discussion about the film Who Killed The Electric Car has got me thinking about the hippie ethos about the environment. Two YES songs came to mind--- The Ancient and Don't Kill The Whale. The Ancient deals with a kind of romanticism about ancient cultures that lived closed to the earth and its natural rhythms, and the sun in particular. There is supposed to be a "primitiveness" about the percussion in the song, but it's actually one of the most modern, progressive (ie complex) sounding pieces of music YES ever did (I'm referring to the first 10 minutes). I never cease to be amazed by the arrangement of that song. The last part of TALES is actually a very simple song, almost a classically-infused folk song due to Steve Howe's guitar intro and outro. In articles about Steve Howe's interest in vegetarianism, he often sites the lyrics "Where does reason stop and killing just take over/ Does a lamb cry out before we shoot it dead" as echoing his feelings at the time (though Jon wrote the lyrics, and he didn't remain strictly veggie). I think "Don't Kill The Whale" deals with a less intrusive form of environmental ethics. I say "intrusive" because vegetarianism is an enormous commitment. I've been vegetarian for 30 years, and I have to say it takes a good deal of study to fashion a diet that works for you and that you can apply everywhere you travel. It can also be fun-- searching out ethnic vegetarian food at restaurants, studying nutrition, and visiting health food stores and learning about the whole counterculture of holistic health ideas. I've been very glad to have access to this information throughout my life. Also, it's been helpful in dealing with normal aging issues of changing metabolism, weight gain, etc. In other words, I already knew all about nutrition and how corporate food monsters try to make you addicted to food that makes you sick and fat, so I just applied the knowledge and ate healthy whole food instead (oh boy, now I'm hearing Pete Sinfield's "Whole Food Boogie" in my mind, and anthem if there ever was one!) "Don't Kill The Whale" is a more "distant" form of environmental ethics. It's easy to avoid using whale products and signing a petition against the Japanese (among others) hunting whales to near extinction. You know, I have always had a theory that if YES had called that album (Tormato) Don't Kill The Whale instead, and had a cover a huge whale jumping out of the ocean, it would have been a much more popular album. But of course, you can't repeat history so that can never be put to the test. Come to think of it, "Miracle of Life," which is essentially a Trevor Rabin song, also fits in quite well with the YES canon of environmentally-friendly songs. That is essentially about the destruction of ocean ecosystems through over-fishing. "Secret lives of oceans been washed away like mud. You don't want my devotion; You'd rather be washed in blood. Can we turn away from this open anger? Counting all the prey Don't you feel the danger to the miracle of life." I think all these songs, and maybe even ABWH's Birthright (about the West's nuking of native peoples lands), fit in with the hippie spiritualists fascination with native cultures, human rights, environmental ethics, and vegetarianism. Let's just hope that those interests have not waned, and that the film Who Killed The Electric Car will remind us how intertwined politics is with these concerns. --==-=-= om-=== Nick
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