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Beneath, Between, & Behind

Adam S — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:37:42 +0000

I once posted some rather prescient Rush lyrics. Today, whilst listening to the 1975 album “Fly By Night,” I was struck by how applicable the lyrics to yet another Rush classic have become.

Ten score years ago, defeat the kingly foe
A wondrous dream came into being
Tame the trackless waste, no virgin land left chaste
All shining eyes, but never seeing

Beneath the noble bird
Between the proudest words
Behind the beauty, cracks appear
Once with heads held high
They sang out to the sky
Why do their shadows bow in fear?

Watch the cities rise, another ship arrives
Earth’s melting pot and ever growing
Fantastic dreams come true, inventing something new
The greatest minds, and never knowing

The guns replace the plow, facades are tarnished now
The principles have been betrayed
The dreams’s gone stale, but still, let hope prevail
History’s debt won’t be repaid

Witch Hunt

Adam S — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 09:10:32 +0000

Last night I saw Rush in concert. More to come on that, but they played a song from their 1981 album, “Moving Pictures,” called Witch Hunt. Witch Hunt is one of my favorite songs and has not appeared live in many years. Last night I had a chance to re-listen to Neil Peart’s lyrics that I’ve had memorized for so long I stopped hearing their meaning. Read them now and see how appropriate they are in 2007 America.

The night is black, without a moon.
The air is thick and still.
The vigilantes gather on the lonely torchlit hill.
Features distorted in the flickering light, faces are twisted and grotesque.
Silent and stern in the sweltering night, the mob moves like demons possesed.
Quiet in conscience, calm in their right, confident their ways are best.
The righteous rise with burning eyes of hatred and ill-will.
Madmen fed on fear and lies to beat and burn and kill.
They say there are strangers who threaten us: our immigrants and infidels.
They say there is strangeness to danger us in our theatres and bookstore shelves.
Those who know what’s best for us must rise and save us from ourselves!
Quick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand.
Ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand…

More Rush Quotes

Adam S — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 20:18:09 +0000

“What you own is your own kingdom
What you do is your own glory
What you love is your own power
What you live is your own story”

“When they turn the pages of history,
when these days have passed long ago,
will they read of us with sadness
for the seeds that we let grow?”

Top 5 Rush Lyrics

Adam S — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 12:00:00 +0000

1. “Throw off those chains of reason, and your prison disappears.”

Love this one! From hemispheres, the perfect ale for any hyper-logical idiot like me is this little quote which reminds us that once is a while, you go with your heart, not your head.

2. “One likes to believe in the freedom of music, but glittering prizes and endless comprimises shatter the illusion of integrity.”

Oh man, if people only listened to the lyrics of “The Spirit of Radio” they’d be treated to an amazing story about the hypocrisy of popular music, record companies, and marketing. Emotional feedback on timeless wavelength bearing a gift beyond price. Too fantastic.

3. “You can live in grace and comfort in the world that you transform.”

The head says to the heart – DO SOMETHING, you lazy bastard. So few do, you can make a difference with a little effort and a little thought. Great balance to the first quote.

4 “Science, like nature, must also be tamed.”

From the epic, and unmatched, Natural Science, this little number is more powerful than you’d think at first glance. We must pursue pure, unadulturated science, but without letting it get the better of us.

5 “Different eyes see different things, different hearts beat on different strings”

A lyric that has really held me since I first heard it many years ago, I loved the notion of perception of the heart. In reality, eyes don’t see different things, minds interpret different things. And much the same way, two minds can react to the same emotion different ways. An extremely simple idea, but so well versed.

I Like the Name Saskatchewan

Adam S — Fri, 17 Jan 2003 19:38:00 +0000

Compiling a list of popular Canadians revealed a few line hoppers I was surprised at. There’s the standards – Rush, Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Alex Trebeck. There are the tier 2 well knowns, like Alanis Morrisette, Jason Priesty, and Tom Greene, who we all know are Canadian, but we don’t necessarily identify with as representing Canada. The newbies, so to speak, include Shania Twain, Sum 41, and Avril Lavigne.

There are really too many to mention: Mike Meyers, Colin Mochrie, the guy from Ed, the new Anakin, Jim Carrey, Natasha Henstridge, and Trinity from the Matrix. The guy from Jag, for one – Canadian. Donald Sutherland too.

Get this: Pamela Anderson was born in the small town of Ladysmith, British Columbia on Canada’s 100th birthday (July 1, 1967). She was the first baby born that day (4:08 am), so she was given the title The Centennial Baby. What an honor.

Nelly Furtado, Neil Young, Sarah McLachlan, Paul Schaffer, The Tragically Hip, and The Barenaked Ladies are all Canadian musicians. 8 billion hockey players, including Mario Lemiux and hockey god Wayne Gretzky, as well as more figure skaters than you’ve ever heard of are Canadian.

Peter Jennings and Robert Goulet are both hosers. James Cameron, of Titantic and Terminator fame, as well as Lorne Michaels from SNL also hail the queen from this side of the Atlantic. Spider-man artist Todd McFarlane and super-producer Norman Jewison hail from the Great White North.

All in all, you gotta give Canada big ups, if for nothing else, than for DeGrassi Junior High and You Can’t Do That On Television. Can I get a “WOOP WOOP?”