Starship Trooper

The song has three parts, "Life Seeker", "Disillusion" and "Wurm". Anderson took the title from Robert Heinlein's 1959 novel Starship Troopers and imagined a Starship Trooper who was another guardian angel and Mother Earth. He was the main author of "Life Seeker", and he said the words refer to the point within yourself that knows you, which we call God. Squire wrote most of "Disillusion", which had earlier served with different lyrics as the bridge of "For Everyone", and Howe wrote the instrumental "Wurm" for an earlier band, Bodast.

Much of the song was constructed in the studio, and the band could never play it live exactly as recorded. A flanger on the guitar backing track gives the spacey effect. Pitchfork called Howe's slow, spacey guitar build at the end one of the great Yes moments. Brad Mehldau recorded "Life Seeker" and "Wurm" on his 2022 album Jacob's Ladder.