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
