Lyrics:
Realizing a form out of stone
Set hands moving
Roan shaped his heart
Through his working hands
Worked to mold his passion into clay
Like the sun
In his room, his lady
She would dance and sing so completely
"So be still," he now cries
"I have time, oh let clay transform thee so"
In the deep cold of night
Winter calls, he cries "Don't deny me!"
For his lady, deep her illness
Time has caught her
And will for all reasons take her
In the still light of dawn, she dies
Helpless hands soul revealing
Like leaves we touch, we learn
We once knew the story
As winter calls he will starve
All but to see the stone be life
Now Roan, no more tears
Set to work his strength
So transformed him
Realizing a form out of stone
His work so absorbed him
Could she hear him?
Could she see him?
All aglow was his room
Dazed in this light
He would touch her
He would hold her
Laughing as they danced
Highest colors touching others
Did her eyes at the turn of the century
Tell me plainly
How we'll meet, how we'll love
Oh, let life so transform me
Like leaves we touch, we dance
We once knew the story
As autumn called and we both remembered
All those many years ago
I'm sure we know
Was the sign in the day with a touch
As I kiss your fingers
We walk hands in the sun
Memories when we're young
Love lingers so
Was it sun through the haze
That made all your looks
As warm as moonlight?
As a pearl deep your eyes
Tears have flown away
All the same light
Did her eyes at the turn of the century
Tell me plainly
When we meet, how we'll look
As we smile time will leave me clearly
Like leaves we touch, we see
We will know the story
As autumn calls we'll both remember
All those many years ago
This song is loosely based on the story of Pygmalion & Galatea by Roman poet Ovid.
In Ovid's narrative, Pygmalion was a Cypriot sculptor who carved a woman out of ivory and named her Galatea. According to Ovid, after seeing the Propoetides prostituting themselves (more accurately, they were reduced to prostitution by Aphrodite after they denied Aphrodite's divinity), he was "not interested in women", but his statue was so fair and realistic that he fell in love with it.
In time, Aphrodite's festival day came, and Pygmalion made offerings at the altar of Aphrodite. There—too scared to admit his desire—he quietly wished for a bride who would be "the living likeness of my ivory girl". When he returned home, he kissed his ivory statue, and found that its lips felt warm. He kissed it again, touched its breasts with his hand, and found that the ivory had lost its hardness. Aphrodite had granted Pygmalion's wish.
Pygmalion married the ivory sculpture changed to a woman under Aphrodite's blessing.
Going for the One is the eighth studio album from the English progressive rock band Yes, released on 7 July 1977 on Atlantic Records. The album was recorded in Switzerland after their extended break for each member to release a solo album, and their 1976 tour of North America. It marks the departure of keyboardist Patrick Moraz and the return of Rick Wakeman, who left over differences surrounding Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973) to pursue his solo career. Formed of five tracks with no unifying theme or concept, Going for the One saw Yes produce their shortest songs since Fragile (1971). It closes with the 15 minute track "Awaken".
Going for the One was a commercial success for the band and received a mostly positive critical response. It topped the UK album chart for 2 weeks and peaked at number 8 in the US. Going for the One has sold over one million copies worldwide, and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. A remastered edition was released in 2003 that contains several previously unreleased tracks from the album's recording sessions.