I've Seen All Good People
| "I've Seen All Good People" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Yes | |
| from the album The Yes Album | |
| Released | 1971 |
| Recorded | 1970 |
| Genre | Progressive rock, folk rock |
| Length |
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| Label | Atlantic |
| Songwriter(s) | Jon Anderson/Chris Squire |
| Producer(s) | Yes and Eddy Offord |
| The Yes Album track listing | |
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| "Your Move" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Yes | ||||
| from the album The Yes Album | ||||
| B-side | "Clap" (US) "Starship Trooper: Life Seeker" (UK) |
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| Released | 5 March 1971 | |||
| Recorded | 1970 at Advision Studios | |||
| Length | 3:00 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Jon Anderson | |||
| Yes singles chronology | ||||
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"I've Seen All Good People" is a song performed by the English progressive rock band Yes. Written by Yes members Jon Anderson and Chris Squire, it was first included on 1971's The Yes Album and has appeared on several later albums. The first part of the song, titled "Your Move", was released as a single. It became a top 40 hit in the United States, which helped the group build momentum.
The tune uses chess as a lyrical metaphor for navigating interpersonal relationships. It has received positive reviews from several critics and has been considered one of Yes's best known songs, with Allmusic's Mike DeGagne stating that "the harmonies are resilient from start to finish" and that the track "still stands as one of their most appealing" works.Music critic Robert Christgau has also singled it out for praise.
The first part of the song, "Your Move", alludes to the game of chess as a metaphor for male–female relationships. Examples include the phrases "move me onto any black square", "make the white queen run so fast", and "the goal is for us all to capture only one". It can be attributed to Lewis Carroll's novel Through the Looking-Glass. In looking glass land if you want to be "satisfied" and "on your way" you must walk backwards on life's chessboard to move ahead. That is "don't surround yourself with yourself" is a chess analogy. This is opposite of what we were taught: fight with might and force to get ahead.
A reference to John Lennon's work can be heard in the lyric "send that instant karma to me", with "Instant Karma!" being one of the best known songs by Lennon. Also, the sentence "All we are saying is give peace a chance" is heard in the organ part before switching to "All Good People", referencing Lennon's other song "Give Peace a Chance". More generally, Anderson has stated that the line "'cause it's time, it's time in time with your time" was an attempt to say that he would "do anything that is required of me to reach God" and that he wants the listener to feel "in tune and in time with God." Just before the three-minute mark of the song, at the final part of "Your Move", the chorus of Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance" can be heard in the background.
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