text: Release "Roundabout" was first released as the opening track on Fragile, in November 1971 on Atlantic Records. In preparation for its release as a single in the US, the song was cut to 3:27 to make it more suitable for radio airplay. Some changes include an abridged instrumental intro, which forgoes the 40 second nylon string passage played by Howe and skips the second hearing of the bass riff. It was released, with "Long Distance Runaround" on the B-side, another group written track on Fragile, on 4 January 1972.  Record World said that "If, as it seems, the time has come to say yes to Yes, then this drastically-chopped cut pulled from the new Fragile album will succeed mightily" and praised the harmonies. The song peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, the band's highest charting single on the chart until 1983 with "Owner of a Lonely Heart". Elsewhere, "Roundabout" went to number 23 on the Dutch Top 40 chart. Billboard ranked it at number 91 on its Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972. The full-length, album version was used as a B-side in 1973 and a live version was released as a bonus single in copies of Classic Yes in 1981.