‘Roundabout’ is a song by the English progressive rock band Yes from their fourth studio album Fragile, released in November 1971. It was written by singer Jon Anderson and guitarist Steve Howe and produced by the band and Eddy Offord. The song originated when the band were on tour and travelled from Aberdeen to Glasgow, and went through many roundabouts on the way.
The song originated in March 1971 when the band were on tour promoting The Yes Album (1971), travelling from Aberdeen to Glasgow after a gig in Aviemore, Scotland. They encountered many traffic roundabouts on the way; Anderson claimed “maybe 40 or so”, which inspired Anderson and Howe to write a song about the journey as they sat in the back of the band's transit van, and include the roundabouts and the surrounding mountains into the lyrics. Anderson had smoked cannabis during the trip, "so everything was vivid and mystical". Anderson added: "It was a cloudy day, we couldn't see the top of the mountains. We could only see the clouds because it was sheer straight up ... I remember saying, "Oh, the mountains–look! They're coming out of the sky!", and began to write the song's lyrics in his notebook in a free-form style with minimal edits. "I just loved how words sounded when I put them together". Within 24 hours, the band had arrived back home in London where Anderson reunited with his then wife Jennifer, which inspired the song's lyric "Twenty-four before my love, you'll see, I'll be there with you". A loch they passed as they neared Glasgow became the idea behind the line "In and around the lake". Upon their arrival at their hotel in Glasgow, Anderson and Howe began to put down song ideas on their recorder.
The song was released as an edited single in the US in January 1972 with ‘Long Distance Runaround’, another track from Fragile, as the B-side. It peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 on the Cash Box Top 100 singles charts. In 1973, Anderson and Howe won a BMI Award for writing the song. This was Yes' breakthrough hit and one of their most well-known songs, but the band wasn't looking for a hit at the time. The album version runs 8:29, but it was edited to 3:27 for release as a single, , giving the band their biggest hit until they eclipsed it with ‘Owner Of A Lonely Heart’ in 1983.
In a Songfacts interview with Jon Anderson, he explained: "When we first heard the 'Roundabout' single, it was on the radio. We didn't know it was released. We were busy being a band on the road, and then we heard the edit and we thought, 'Wow, that must have been a big pair of scissors to edit that song.' I mean, it was just totally wrong musically. It actually worked and all of a sudden we became famous, we had a hit record and more people came to see us, which was great, because then they would see the progression of music we'd been doing and they'd see us more as a band and not just wait for 'Roundabout.' Because we didn't do that 'Roundabout' in those days. We did the 8-minute version."
Label – Atlantic
Songwriters – Jon Anderson, Steve Howe
Producers – Yes, Eddy Offord
SONG LYRICS
[Instrumental Intro 00:00-00:59][Refrain]
I'll be the roundabout
The words will make you out-and-out
I spend the day your way
Call it morning driving through the sound and in and out the valley
[Verse 1]
The music dance and sing
They make the children really ring
I spend the day your way
Call it morning driving through the sound and in and out the valley
[Chorus]
In and around the lake
Mountains come out of the sky and they stand there
One mile over, we'll be there and we'll see you
Ten true summers, we'll be there and laughing, too
Twenty-four before my love, you'll see I'll be there with you
[Verse 2]
I will remember you
Your silhouette will charge the view
Of distant atmosphere
Call it morning driving through the sound and even in the valley
[Chorus]
In and around the lake
Mountains come out of the sky and they stand there
One mile over, we'll be there and we'll see you
Ten true summers, we'll be there and laughing, too
Twenty-four before my love, you'll see I'll be there with you
[Middle-Eight]
Along the drifting cloud, the eagle searching down on the land
Catching the swirling wind, the sailor sees the rim of the land
The eagle's dancing wings create as weather spins out of hand
Go closer, hold the land feel partly no more than grains of sand
We stand to lose all time, a thousand answers by in our hand
Next to your deeper fears, we stand surrounded by a million years
I'll be the roundabout, the words will make you out-and-out
I'll be the roundabout, the words will make you out-and-out
[Instrumental Break 04:58-05:34]
[Bridge]
In and around the lake
Mountains come out of the sky, they stand there
Twenty-four before my love and I'll be there
[Instrumental Break 05:51-07:06]
[Keyboard Solo]
[Guitar Solo]
[Keyboard Solo]
[Guitar Solo]
[Refrain]
I'll be the roundabout
The words will make you out-and-out
You spend the day your way
Call it morning driving through the sound and in and out the valley
[Chorus]
In and around the lake
Mountains come out of the sky and they stand there
One mile over, we'll be there and we'll see you
Ten true summers, we'll be there and laughing, too
Twenty-four before my love, you'll see I'll be there with you
[Outro with Vocalizations]