Roundabout

Earlier in the day we spent a couple of hours with Ms H driving and in particular on roundabouts. She had had a problem with one a month ago where it wasn't clear how many lanes there were on one so when we revisited it, it was clear where the confusion came from. It was quite difficult coming up with a process of what to look for and how to interpret the signs that would apply for any roundabout but I think we got somewhere. We'll just need to keep heading out looking for them, although it is a bit of a trek for us.

This is a different roundabout and has up to 5 lanes round it at some points and I am sure is a nightmare for some. But it is actually very well signposted, markings on the road and guiding lights in the tarmac that come on when your lights turn green.

I bought this Yes single in 1981, a live version, but I can't see why it was released then given it was written in 1971 but then wikipedia told me the single was included with the Classic Yes album I must have bought released in 1981. Wiki also tells me (non-Yes fans are free to move along :-)...

The song originated in March 1971 when the band were on tour promoting The Yes Album,  travelling from Aberdeen to Glasgow after a gig in Aviemore, Scotland. They encountered many roundabouts on the way; Anderson claimed "maybe 40 or so", which inspired Anderson and Howe to write a song about the journey as they sat in the back of the band's transit van, and include the roundabouts and the surrounding mountains into the lyrics. Anderson had smoked marijuana during the trip, "so everything was vivid and mystical". Anderson added: "It was a cloudy day, we couldn't see the top of the mountains. We could only see the clouds because it was sheer straight up ... I remember saying, "Oh, the mountains–look! They're coming out of the sky!", and began to write the song's lyrics in his notebook in a free-form style with minimal edits. "I just loved how words sounded when I put them together". Within 24 hours, the band had arrived back home in London where Anderson reunited with his then wife Jennifer, which inspired the song's lyric "Twenty-four before my love, you'll see, I'll be there with you". A lake they passed as they neared Glasgow became the idea behind the line "In and around the lake".

Wow... that's amazing... a Yes song about Scottish roundabouts... in 1971, who'dathunkit? And a gig in Aviemore! I need to listen to it again tomorrow...