This song was written by lead singer Jon Anderson, who said: "It was how religion had seemed to confuse me totally. It was such a game that seemed to be played, and I was going around in circles looking for the sound of reality, the sound of God. That was my interpretation of that song, that I was always confused. I could never understand the things that religion stood for. And that throughout the years has always popped its head up in the song I've been working with."
Politics of the day would sometimes find their way into the lyrics Jon Anderson wrote for Yes, and the second verse of this song, including the line, "Hot color melting the anger to stone," is about the shootings at Kent State University on May 4, 1970 when the United States National Guard killed four students (check out the Songfacts on "Ohio"). It was just a thought that emotion is made of colors, and you could bring peace by finding a healing color to melt hate. As Anderson told Songfacts, "government cracking down on young people because they were trying to tell the truth about the war in Vietnam. It was just one of the crazy fears of time."
This song segues right into Chris Squire's solo piece, "The Fish." Radio stations often play these songs together as one.
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