The story behind the record cover - Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973) - YES
"What's the last thing fish think of? Water. It is a riddle by the German philosopher Martin Heidegger. It always reminds me when I see the cover of Yes' "Tales from Topographic Oceans", featuring designer Roger Dean's fish. For Heidegger the riddle was the prelude to his famous book "Sein und Zeit" (Being and Time). A book of over 500 pages with his thoughts on existence. According to Heidegger, man has forgotten what existence really means. For what's the last thing on a man's mind? Existence, Being. I started in Heidegger's book, but after ten pages I was completely lost because of complex sentences such as "In its being, this being relates itself to its existence". Or similar stuff.
So I quickly put on the Yes LP.
The follow-up to "Close to the Edge" caused divisions among fans of progressive rock. Reviews of the album vary widely. One group finds the album a genius expression of symphonic prog rock music, the other thinks it is mostly tedious and pretentious. I find myself in the first group: "Tales" is one of my favorite albums.
I still remember very clearly how I came into contact with this album. It was in the local record store where you still had booths with a genuine record player for listening to LP's. Apparently you could just sit there for an hour, because I wasn't sold until side 3, the acoustic part with singer Jon Anderson and guitarist Steve Howe. "So the flowering creativity of life wove its web face to face with the shallow". Get real! Hardly a picnic, the lyrics on this particular album. Jon Anderson also turned out to be quite an avid fan of philosophy. As a sixteen-year-old, I didn't realize that. For me it was mainly about the music.
Later I started to sort out all the lyrics and artwork. The lyrics of "Tales" are based on a book "Yogananda; Autobiography of a Yogi". This book was still in my bookcase and I started re-reading it. What was it that attracted musicians from the 60s and 70s to this Indian philosophy? Jon Anderson wasn't alone: The Beatles preceded him, as did guitarist John McLaughlin with his Mahavishnu Orchestra. They all had their own guru, teacher. Jon Anderson urged the other band members to living a way of life according to the rules and regulations of Yogananda. Being merciful, harmony in word and deed, and love and respect for all things alive. Don't eat meat or fish. Four out of five band members went along with this life. In order to feel closer to nature, the studio was converted into a kind of farmhouse with straw bales, cardboard cows and palm trees during the recording of "Tales". Roger Dean was suggested to use Yorkshire Dales National Park "Birham Rocks" as inspiration for the cover. Only keyboardist Rick Wakeman didn't like the guru stuff. He was more into pub food and beer. A story goes that he had a crate of beer underneath his keyboards during the Tales tour and enjoyed eating Indian food while playing. According to drummer Alan White, the whole stage smelled like hell, as Wakeman's roadie was heating up the curry dish.
No meat, no fish. It is a topical theme in the Vrielink house because my sons' friends are vegetarians. My wife is completely won over. Every day I now get "vegan food" or a low-carbohydrate dish. But the Rick Wakeman in me remains. As soon as I get the chance I throw a nice juicy steak in the frying pan.
One of the daughters-in-law was interested in my record collection. I took my chance to make her a Yes fan. When I put on side 1 of "Tales" she asked after about five minutes when the music had started. She did however like the cover: "Hey, that's the Mayan temple in Chichen Itza in the background with the sun behind it and in front, on the ground is the drawing from the plains of Nazca in Peru". So she made up for everything again, because I had not yet discovered that myself. And isn't it great that musical tastes can be so different. You keep on discovering new things. Because of her I started to listen to the music of Eefje de Visser.
When it comes to music in our home, we all feel like a fish in water."
By Gerrit-Jan Vrielink
Translation Alex Driessen
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