text: Squire played his bass guitar parts with an overdub that was one octave higher using Howe's Gibson ES-150 electric guitar and mixed with his bass track. To complement Squire's playing, Wakeman played arpeggios on his Hammond C3 organ on his right hand while playing Squire's bass parts with his left. For the song's slower section, he plays a Minimoog synthesiser and flute sounds on a Mellotron which he said gave the section a "Strawberry Fields mood". Apart from his acoustic guitar, Howe plays a 1961 electric Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster throughout the song. Anderson noted the music has a "Scottish feel" to it and described the solo part as like a reel, a traditional Scottish country dance. Wakeman's Hammond organ solo was recorded in one take.
  Once the instrumental tracks had been put down, Anderson entered the studio early one morning and recorded his lead vocals. When the rest of the group arrived, they recorded the vocal harmonies. At the end of the song Anderson, Squire and Howe perform three-part harmonies that are repeated eight times, during which they also sing a second harmony part that Anderson said resembles the main melody to the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice". He later revealed Wakeman is singing the notes to the rhyme which was placed "against the grain of what we were doing" to make it sound more intriguing. To close, Howe repeated his acoustic guitar introduction but ended on an E major chord.