Yes, “Soft As a Dove” from ‘Magnification’ (2001): YESterdays

Songs on 2001’s Magnification are credited to Yes as a band, yet “Soft As a Dove” has all the trademarks of a classic joint effort from Jon Anderson and Steve Howe.

Musically, the track contains a repetitive finger-picked acoustic guitar, which is complemented by flute. Orchestrator Larry Groupe’ added touches of recorder and harp, but the sonic power of “Soft As a Dove” is created by Anderson’s earnest vocals.

This song acts as an effective contrast to the two surrounding it, “We Agree” and then “Dreamtime.” Howe’s splendid playing resembles that on his then-recent solo album, Natural Timbre, combining Chet Atkins-like tones and Howe’s own Travis picking-inspired playing.

“Soft As a Dove,” another fantastic Anderson/Howe collaboration, stands the test of time.

YESterdays is a multi-writer, song-by-song feature that explores the unforgettable musical legacy of Yes. Click here for an archive of the series, which was founded by Preston Frazier.

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Preston Frazier

Preston M. Frazier is a bass-playing lawyer living in Atlanta. He is the author of the books 'Shade of Living Colour,' 'Toto: The Band, Not the Dog' and 'Yes Indeed: Tales of Yes Without Jon Anderson.' Frazier hosts the music-focused Slang of Ages Podcast and regularly writes about his favorite music on slangofages.com. He can be reached at [email protected]; follow him on Bluesky @slangofagespodcast@bsky and YouTube @slangofagespodcast.

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