WDMCF

Album: 1000 Hands (2020)

Songfacts®:

  • The title stands for "Where Does Music Come From." Anderson thought that was a bit wordy, so he compressed it into an initialism.
  • Jon Anderson believes that music comes from the divine, you just have to have an open heart to receive it. He was 75 years old when this song was released, and had never in his life suffered from writer's block. Even when he nearly died in 2008 after a nasty asthma attack, songs still came to him. He says the drive to write and create has gotten stronger as he's aged.
  • The bones of the song date back to 1990 when Anderson, who had recently left Yes, started working on it for a solo album called Uzlot. He re-joined the band later that year and put the project on the shelf, where it stayed until the producer Michael T. Franklin approached him in 2019 about revisiting it. Franklin lined up a series of guest musicians to fill in the missing pieces. On "WDMCF" he also gave it a very modern production, with EDM elements - a far cry from what Yes fans are used to. At the end of the song, it resolves into a piano coda played by one of those famous guests: Chick Corea, taking the song from one musical extreme to the other.
  • The "Manama tip pop pop" refrain came from one of Jon Anderson's vocalization exercises. To warm up his voice and get his creative juices flowing, he would chant whatever entered his consciousness and sometimes incorporate these chants into his songs.
  • Anderson doesn't factor in hit potential when he makes music, but when he heard this one, he knew it could find a contemporary audience. "When 1000 Hands was released I thought 'Where Does Music Come From' would be a big, big record if it got the chance to be heard," he told Songfacts. "Because it's pretty wild and crazy and different, and you can dance to it."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Todd Rundgren

Todd RundgrenSongwriter Interviews

Todd Rundgren explains why he avoids "Hello It's Me," and what it was like producing Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album.

Chris Rea

Chris ReaSongwriter Interviews

It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.

The Evolution of "Ophelia"

The Evolution of "Ophelia"Song Writing

How five songs portray Shakespeare's character Ophelia.

Mick Jones of Foreigner

Mick Jones of ForeignerSongwriter Interviews

Foreigner's songwriter/guitarist tells the stories behind the songs "Juke Box Hero," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and many more.

Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root

Michael Glabicki of Rusted RootSongwriter Interviews

Michael tells the story of "Send Me On My Way," and explains why some of the words in the song don't have a literal meaning.

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star RidersSongwriter Interviews

Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.