Starship Trooper

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the Sarah Brightman song, see I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper. For other uses, see Starship Trooper (disambiguation).

"Starship Trooper"
Song by Yes
from the album The Yes Album
Released1971
Recorded1970 (1970)
StudioAdvision, London
GenreProgressive rock[1]
Length9:29
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
"Life Seeker"
Single by Yes
from the album The Yes Album
A-side"I've Seen All Good People: Your Move" (UK)
Released1971 (1971)
Recorded1970
Length3:26
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)Jon Anderson
Producer(s)
  • Yes
  • Eddy Offord

"Starship Trooper" is a song written by British musicians Jon Anderson, Steve Howe and Chris Squire, which first appeared on Yes' 1971 album The Yes Album. The song is in three parts, "Life Seeker", "Disillusion" and "Würm" . "Life Seeker" was released as a single on the B-side of the UK release of "Your Move".

Lyrics and music[]

Anderson was aware of the title of Starship Troopers, the 1959 novel by Robert A. Heinlein, and from that got the idea of a "Starship Trooper being another guardian angel and Mother Earth".[2][3] "Starship Trooper" was constructed from pieces of music written separately by Anderson, Howe and Squire.[4] Anderson was the primary author of "Life Seeker".[5] Squire wrote most of the "Disillusion" section; this section had earlier been used with slightly different lyrics as the bridge for the song "For Everyone", with Squire providing the lead vocals. Howe had written the instrumental "Würm" section while he was in an earlier band (Bodast).[4]

The song was heavily constructed in the recording studio, and as a result the band were never able to play it live quite the way it was recorded.[5] The song changes mood, rhythm, tempo and style continually, but according to Yes biographer Chris Welch, it still manages to "hang together".[6] Authors Pete Prown and Lisa Sharken describe the "Würm" section as "a Bolero-paced chord sequence that builds into an explosive solo".[7] They note that Howe's solo incorporates rockabilly and country music elements rather than on blues-based music with distortion as is typical for these types of solos.[7]

A theme of "Life Seeker" is the search for God.[3][5] Anderson has stated that the lyrics:

Mother life hold firmly onto me
Spread my knowledge higher than the day
Release as much as only you can show

refer to "the point within yourself that knows you," which we call "God."[5] The lyrics accept the fact that "no matter how much you want to get clearer visions of what you're up to, you're only going to get a certain amount."[5]

The song uses UFO imagery.[3] Other themes that have been inferred for the song include new age ideas and environmentalism.[3][8]

Song Construction[]

The song consists of three movements:
a. Life Seeker - full instrumental and vocal
b. Disillusion - acoustic guitar only plus vocals
c. Würm - full instrumental, no vocals, crescendo.

Critical reception[]

Yes biographer Chris Welch describes "Starship Trooper" as "one [of] the most astonishing pieces" in Yes' repertoire.[6] Welch particularly praises the "Würm" section for its "grinding intensity."[6] The New Rolling Stone Album Guide critic Ernesto Lechner described the song as being "ethereal."[9] Pitchfork Media considered "Howe's slow, spacey guitar build at the end" of the song to be "one of the great Yes moments."[10]

Other appearances[]

"Starship Trooper" has appeared on many of Yes' live albums and DVDs, including Yessongs, Live in Philadelphia , 9012Live, Keys to Ascension, Symphonic Live, Songs from Tsongas, Like It Is: Yes at the Bristol Hippodrome, Topographic Drama - Live Across America, Yes 50 Live, and The Royal Affair Tour: Live in Las Vegas.[11]

Personnel[]

Band

References[]

  1. ^ Murphy, Sean (29 March 2017). "The 100 Best Classic Progressive Rock Songs: Part 4, 40-21". PopMatters. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  2. ^ Carl Wiser (17 May 2013). "Songwriter Interviews: Jon Anderson of Yes". songfacts.com.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Romano, W. (2010). Mountains Come Out of the Sky: The Illustrated History of Prog Rock. Backbeat Books. ISBN 9781617133756.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Howe, S. "Starship Trooper". musicradar.com. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Yes (1996). Yesstories: Yes In Their Own Words. MacMillan. ISBN 9780312144531.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c Welch, C. (2009). Close to the Edge: The Story of Yes. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857120427.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Prown, P. & Sharken, L. (2003). Gear Secrets of the Guitar Legends: How to Sound Like Your Favorite Players. Hal Leonard. p. 64. ISBN 9780879307516.
  8. ^ Chambers, S. (2002). Yes: An Endless Dream of '70s, '80s and '90s Rock Music: an Unauthorized Interpretative History in Three Phases. GeneralStore. pp. 22–23. ISBN 9781894263474.
  9. ^ Lechner, E. (2004). Brackett, N.; Hoard, C. (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 895. ISBN 9780743201698.
  10. ^ Dahien, C.; Leone, D. & Tangari, J. "Yes: The Yes Album". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  11. ^ "Starship Trooper". Allmusic. Retrieved 23 August 2014.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""