All five of the Yes band members contributed one track of their own design to this album. "The Fish" 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 Per Cent For Nothing," which was played by the entire group with percussion instruments. (thanks, Randy - Chicago Heights, IL)
The title comes from Chris Squire's nickname: he was dubbed "the fish" because of his tendency to take long baths. He also happens to be a Pisces.
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.
