The Fish

by

Yes

Album: Fragile      Released: 1972

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Songfacts:  You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.

All 5 members of the band contributed one track of their own design to this album. This was created by Chris Squire using only the bass guitar. Steve Howe did "Mood For a Day" as a solo guitar piece. "Cans And Brahms" was not only arranged by Rick Wakeman, he played all the parts as well. Jon Anderson sang all the vocal parts in "We Have Heaven" himself. Bill Bruford created "Five Percent for Nothing," which was played by the entire group with percussion instruments. (thanks, Randy - Chicago Heights, IL)

The subtitle for this song is "Schindleria Praematurus," which is an obscure, neotenic marine fish from the Pacific ocean. "Neotenic" means the adult fish exhibits no adult characteristics, only juvenile characteristics. The story is that Chris Squire had the melody and wanted to sing the name of a fish that had eight syllables, and dispatched a roadie (Maybe Michael Tait) to find one. The best he could find had nine, which is why the last syllable kind of trails off.

This is an instrumental. The only lyrics (if you can call them that) are the repeated subtitle of the song - "Schindleria Praematurus, Schindleria Praematurus, Schindleria Praematurus." (thanks, Mike - Mountlake Terrace, WA, for above 2)

On the album, this segues directly from "Long Distance Runaround." Radio stations usually play the songs together.

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Comments:

I remember a freind who showed me that the basic bass line was all overtones, Incredibly difficulat to play and so beautiful. I remember you brother.
- kurt, dallas, TX

Fish is Chris Squire's nickname, as wrote Kent Lyle, and it's also his zodiac sign.
- Carlos, Sao Paulo, Brazil

one of my favourite yes songs.a great follow up from"longs distence runaround"
- Max, Sydney, Australia

Nobody even mentions how many basslines are used in this solo. My teacher and I have counted ten different basslines all going simoultaniously, which makes this an incredible solo tacked off the end of "Long Distance Runaround".
- Greg, Oakville, Canada

Chris often performed this song live, in which it became an extended bass solo. Unfortunately, what makes the album version of the song so cool is the dense layers of bass rhythms and melodies, which cannot be reproduced live without either a lot of extra personnel or excessive backing tracks. When Alan White joined, it eventually became known as "Whitefish".
- Kent Lyle, Palo Alto, CA

"The Fish" was Chris Squire's nickname. He earned it primarily due to his very long baths he would take, back when several members lived in the same flat and had to share the bathroom. Bill especially was not amused.
- Kent Lyle, Palo Alto, CA

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