Starship Trooper (song)
| "Starship Trooper" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Yes | |
| from the album The Yes Album | |
| Released | 1971 |
| Recorded | Autumn 1970 |
| Studio | Advision Studios |
| Genre | Progressive rock |
| Length | 9:29 |
| Label | Atlantic Records |
| Songwriter(s) | Jon Anderson/Steve Howe/Chris Squire |
| Producer(s) | Yes and Eddy Offord |
| The Yes Album track listing | |
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| "Life Seeker" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Yes | |
| from the album The Yes Album | |
| A-side | "I've Seen All Good People: Your Move" (UK) |
| Released | 1970 |
| Length | 3:26 |
| Label | Atlantic Records |
| Songwriter(s) | Jon Anderson |
| Producer(s) | Yes and Eddy Offord |
"Starship Trooper" is a song written by Jon Anderson, Steve Howe and Chris Squire that first appeared on Yes' 1971 album The Yes Album. The song is in three parts, "Life Seeker," "Disillusion" and "Würm." "Life Seeker" was released as a single on the b-side of the UK release of "Your Move."
Anderson was aware of the title of Starship Troopers, the 1959 novel by Robert A. Heinlein, and from that got the idea of a "Starship Trooper being another guardian angel and Mother Earth". "Starship Trooper" was constructed from pieces of music written separately by Anderson, Howe and Squire. Anderson was the primary author of "Life Seeker." Squire wrote most of the "Disillusion" section; this section had earlier been used with slightly different lyrics as the bridge for the song "For Everyone", with Squire providing the lead vocals. Howe had written the instrumental "Würm" section while he was in an earlier band (Bodast).
The song was heavily constructed in the recording studio, and as a result the band were never able to play it live quite the way it was recorded. The song changes mood, rhythm, tempo and style continually, but according to Yes biographer Chris Welch, it still manages to "hang together." Authors Pete Brown and Lisa Sharken describe the "Würm" section as "a Bolero-paced chord sequence that builds into an explosive solo. They note that Howe's solo incorporates rockabilly and country music elements rather than on blues-based music with distortion as is typical for these types of solos.
A theme of "Life Seeker" is the search for God. Anderson has stated that the lyrics:
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