The progressive nature of the piece is revealed immediately as the song fades in with the sounds of running water, wind chimes, and birds chirping; a layering of sounds derived primarily from "environmental tapes" collected by lead vocalistJon Anderson. These nature sounds move through a crescendo and into a somewhat menacing guitar melody, which is composed of a cacophonous musical passage that features a two-note guitar line which rapidly passes down and then up four octaves, in 12/8 time. The bass ascends through a line based on the notes of the second mode of the D harmonic minor scale, adding an exotic flavor to the already cacophonic texture. The guitar melody is punctuated by a series of sudden band-harmonized vocables. Again, a crescendo signals a change, this time into a more traditional and less cacophonous melody. Like a classical composition, this melodic passage is the establishment of a theme that will go through many variations throughout the piece. The lyrics are introduced at 4:00, along with a chorus that repeats throughout the song. Like the previously established melody, this chorus will be developed in many different ways, which will include changes to the lyrical content, as well as changes in time and key signatures, tempo, and harmony:
II. Total Mass Retain
The song continues with generally the same melody and style, though the bass part changes significantly. The chorus here changes to a faster pace, and then slows down again at the end of the section. The final words "I get up, I get down" introduce the next segment. This section, along with a sped-up version of the introduction of birds chirping at the beginning and a small part of the beginning of "I Get Up I Get Down" at the end, was remixed as a 3:21 single prior to the release of the album. It was included as a bonus track on the remastered version of "Close to the Edge". This is the shortest of the four sections of "Close to the Edge".
III. I Get Up I Get Down
The song significantly slows its tempo and lowers its volume. This segment consists of two sets of vocals: the main vocals, sung by Anderson which contain most of the lyrics, and the backing vocals, sung by Chris Squire and Steve Howe. At about 12 minutes into the song, Rick Wakeman, recorded on the pipe organ of London's St Giles-without-Cripplegate church, begins the main theme of this segment, which changes from a major to a minor key as the music progresses. Jon Anderson explained:
IV. Seasons of Man
The original, fast-paced theme picks up followed by musical and lyrical structure which sounds similar to "The Solid Time of Change". Rick Wakeman's organ parts are particularly complex and an overall polytonal effect is created with the guitar part being in a different key than the keyboard, hence the tense otherworldliness of this section before the organ solo comes in. The chorus is sung one last time before the vocals build up to the climax of the song in which all three themes from the prior movements are presented. Afterwards, the final lyrics "I get up, I get down" are repeated as the song fades away into the "sounds of nature" in which it began. It is worth noting that the bass line of this segment is a combination of the bass lines from the first two movements of the song.
Lyrics
In a 1996 interview, Anderson mentions that the song—indeed, the whole album—is inspired by the Hindu/Buddhist mysticism of Hermann Hesse's book Siddhartha. " did one album called Close to the Edge. was based on the Siddhartha... You always come back down to the river. know, all the rivers come to the same ocean. That was the basic idea. And so we made a really beautiful album." Anderson was concerned about how the words sounded, sometimes more than what they meant, creating, thus, verses that often don't seem to mean anything, such as "The time between the notes relates the colour to the scenes".
Cover versions
Japanese acid rock conglomerate Ruinzhatova included the song on their 2003 album Close to the RH. Running at a length of 17:54, it is a faithful note for note version but it is not one of the many recreations by tribute bands since a second guitarist replaces the main Wakeman keyboard parts and there is "a somewhat silly-sounding vocal interpretation" throughout. A radically altered interpretation by British band Nick Awde & Desert Hearts appears on their 2010 EP Close to the Edge B/W Rocket Man/Meryl Streep, which features no drums or guitar, and substitutes the Hammond solo opening the "Seasons of Man" section with baritone saxophone by Wizzard horn player Nick Pentelow.
