VeeshanVault

Geddy Lee's vocal are difficault to understand sometimes...especially in RUSH's earlier songs. I'm going to post one song each day along with the lyrics. Your task, should you chose to accept it, is to listen the to song while following along reading the lyrics.

It's my tribute to a creative Canadian! (they aren't all bad!)

First up is Temples of Syrinx. I reduced the song from 6 minutes to around 2 minutes by removing the 2112 Overture instrumental part from the beginning. (just imagine 4 minutes of build up before the lyrics start!)

RUSH - Temples of Syrinx ~5mb

II. Temples of Syrinx

... "The massive grey walls of the Temples rise from the heart of every Federation city. I have always been awed by them, to think that every single facet of every life is regulated and directed from within! Our books, our music, our work and play are all looked after by the benevolent wisdom of the priests..."

...and the meek shall inherit the earth...

We've taken care of everything
The words you read, the songs you sing
The pictures that give pleasure to your eyes.
It's one for all and all for one
We work together, common sons
Never need to wonder how or why.

We are the Priests of the Temples of Syrinx
Our great computers fill the hallowed halls.
We are the Priests, of the Temples of Syrinx
All the gifts of life are held within our walls.

Look around at this world we've made
Equality our stock in trade
Come and join the Brotherhood of Man
Oh, what a nice, contented world
Let the banners be unfurled
Hold the Red Star proudly high in hand.

We are the Priests of the Temples of Syrinx
Our great computers fill the hallowed halls.
We are the Priests, of the Temples of Syrinx
All the gifts of life are held within our walls.

RUSH is well known for being one of the best three man rock bands ever. While Geddy Lee wrote some great lyrics to accompany these songs, his voice probably won't go down in history as one of the best.

trees or subdivisions is my fav rush song..cant decide which

Momopi wrote:trees or subdivisions is my fav rush song..cant decide which

I only have seven RUSH songs I can choose with the one week limitation. Projecting out, Trees won't make it into the top seven but certainly deserves to be in RUSH's greatest hits. The whole tree battle is good stuff : )

Songs like Working Man, although outstanding, might not make it either with the focus on lyrics. Working Man has an insanely long 4 minute guitar solo by Alex Lifeson but we already know RUSH kicks instrumental ass. : )

2112 > all

my favorites:

YYZ
Limelight
thats probably about it.
Red Barcheta maybe (been a long time since i've heard it)

Voronwë wrote:my favorites:

YYZ
Limelight
thats probably about it.
Red Barcheta maybe (been a long time since i've heard it)

Limelight might be my favorite all time song in any category. That makes the top seven!: )

I considered Red Barchetta as one of the seven. I like songs that tell a story and Red Barchetta does an excellent job of that. YYZ, of course, is an instrumental that exemplifies all that is RUSH minus the lyrics.

One thing to do while listening to RUSH is to listen for the bass. Geddy Lee just jams away on every song although you typically don't pick up on the bass as much as the lead guitar and percussion.

Red Barcheta is a Great Great Song

Day Two

Freewill's lyrics. (always better when actually listening to the song but this time you won't have to fill in a few areas with luraahlees)

RUSH - Freewill ~12mb

Freewill

There are those who think that life has nothing left to chance,
A host of holy horrors to direct our aimless dance.

A planet of playthings,
We dance on the strings
Of powers we cannot perceive
"The stars aren't aligned,
Or the gods are malign..."
Blame is better to give than receive.

Chorus
You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;
I will choose a path that's clear
I will choose freewill.

There are those who think that they were dealt a losing hand,
The cards were stacked against them; they weren't born in Lotusland.

All preordained
A prisoner in chains
A victim of venomous fate.
Kicked in the face,
You can't pray for a place
In heaven's unearthly estate.

Chorus

Each of us
A cell of awareness
Imperfect and incomplete.
Genetic blends
With uncertain ends
On a fortune hunt that's far too fleet.

Chorus

Day Three (I didn't say these were Earth days!)

Must get one of the all time classic RUSH songs out of the way. Here's Tom Sawyer in all of its glory:

RUSH - Tom Sawyer ~10mb

Tom Sawyer

A modern-day warrior
Mean mean stride,
Today's Tom Sawyer
Mean mean pride.

Though his mind is not for rent
Don't put him down as arrogant
His reserve, a quiet defense
Riding out the day's events
The river

What you say about his company
Is what you say about society
Catch the mist, catch the myth
Catch the mystery, catch the drift

The world is, the world is
Love and life are deep
Maybe as his skies are wide

Today's Tom Sawyer
He gets high on you
And the space he invades
He gets by on you

No his mind is not for rent
To any god or government
Always hopeful, yet discontent
He knows changes aren't permanent
But change is

What you say about his company
Is what you say about society
Catch the witness, catch the wit
Catch the spirit, catch the spit

The world is, the world is
Love and life are deep
Maybe as his eyes are wide

Exit the warrior
Today's Tom Sawyer
He gets high on you
And the energy you trade
He gets right on to the friction of day

Really big Rush fan here. It all started with their 'Exit, Stage Left' live album, after which I proceeded to buy and wear out their 'Moving Pictures' and 'Permenant Waves' disks (especially the side 2 of each). When 'Signals' came out, few songs had ever resonated with me the way "Subdivisions" did. To this day, I can't listen to that song without time warping back to being a teen. Freaky.

I did become one of those fans, though, that really didn't like their heavy synthesizer direction in the 80s, and by the time the 90s came, I was, at best, a casual fan. I was a bit more hooked after 'Counterparts' came out, and then 'Test For Echo', thinking at the time that they had finally 'come to their senses', but I was still no where near the fan I was back in the early 80s.

I hadn't followed the band seriously in years, so by the time 'Vapour Trails' came out, I think I casually noted to myself that 'wow, that was a long time between albums' - I had no idea at that time what they had gone through in the meantime, specifically the tragedy in Neil's life. It was another strong album, I thought, a fine continuation of their current trend.

One day, while at the local Best Buy, I decided to check out the perfomance DvDs. I had never bought one before, so I'm not sure what compelled me to look, but there, under 'R', I saw 'Rush in Rio'. I figured, 'what the heck', and bought it. I played it later that night: I've been 'wearing out the groove' on it ever since. This is a phenominal performance: because they play great, because they've been at this business for almost 30 years (at the time of the performance) and they still have it. I only saw them play twice in concert, both times in the early 80s, and this show was every bit as good as those. Actually, it was better, given the newer songs at their disposal, and the phenominal audiance participation (check out YYZ: it's hard to tell from the crappy quality, but the fans are actually singing along to the song - singing along to an instrumental!). This DvD had done for me what 'Exit, Stage Left' did 20-something years ago: it made me a huge Rush fan.

I've been playing a ton of Rush the better part of the last year. I have come to conclude that though I still revere the classics from the 70s and early 80s, that I really like where they are heading, musically, with their last string of albums. I have also come to not only forgive their work in the 80s, but actually appreciate it to varrying degrees: there really is a lot of good stuff in there.

Best of all, I hear tell they are on the verge of being in the studio, and that over the course of the year, expect to produce a new album. A tour after that is also likely. There is no way in hell I would miss that tour should it come, even if I have to fly thousands of miles to catch a show. Like I said, I'm a really big fan.

Day Four

Great post Ogbar. My initial introduction to the group was with the album, Moving Pictures. I loved Tom Sawyer and Limelight has turned out to be one of, if not my all time, favorite song. The same album also includes Red Barchetta and YYZ, making it one of their best.

I grabbed 2112 soon after and was hooked on Overture and Passage to Bangkok. Signals was the last album I bought. I lost track of them and wasn't quite sure where they were heading. I admit, I like the more classic RUSH with the exception of the songs New World Man, Subdivisions and The Analog Kid (one of my favorites).

Exit Stage Left was one of my first exposures to a live album (the other was KISS ALIVE II : ) I liked the first side of Permanent Waves more than the second though. RUSH's really early stuff isn't my most listened too either although "Closer to the Heart" is one of my favorites.

As for another of my early RUSH favorites, here's Fly By Night:

RUSH - Fly By Night ~8mb

Fly By Night

Why try? Now why?
The feeling inside me says it's time I was gone
Clear head, new life ahead
Its time I was king and not just one more pawn.

Chorus
Fly by night, away from here
Change my life again
Fly by night, goodbye my dear
My ship isn't coming and I just can't pretend

Moon rise, thoughtful eyes
Staring back at me from the window beside
No fright or hindsight
Leaving behind that empty feeling inside

Chorus

Start a new chapter
I find what I'm after
It's changing every day
The change of a season
Is enough of a reason
To want to get away
Quiet and pensive
My thoughts apprehensive
The hours drift away
Leaving my homeland
Playing a lone hand
My life begins today

Chorus

i think their stuff from the 90's stacks up with anything they have done previous.for example, roll the bones was a great album. although trees or subdivisons is my favorite, i would put the song ghost of a chance up against anything. i always liked their later songs like big money or time stand still etc...

Day Five

Spirit of Radio speaks of the freedom of music, honesty and integrity...all hot topics in the music industry 30+ years later. This one's worth listening to when you get home from work tonight:

RUSH - Spirit of Radio ~11mb

Begin the day with a friendly voice,
A companion unobtrusive
Plays that song that's so elusive
And the magic music makes your morning mood.

Off on your way, hit the open road,
There is magic at your fingers
For the Spirit ever lingers,
Undemanding contact in your happy solitude.

Chorus

Invisible airwaves crackle with life
Bright antennae bristle with the energy
Emotional feedback on timeless wavelength
Bearing a gift beyond price, almost free

All this machinery making modern music
Can still be open-hearted.
Not so coldly charted
It's really just a question of your honesty, yeah,
Your honesty.
One likes to believe in the freedom of music,
But glittering prizes and endless compromises
Shatter the illusion of integrity.

Chorus

For the words of the prophets were written on the studio wall,
Concert hall
And echoes with the sounds of salesmen.

That song was inspired by a radio station in Toronto.
CFNY introduced me to a lot of music in the early 80s that I never would have heard otherwise.

Day Six

I always end up grouping these two songs together so am going to do the same here and post New World Man and Subdivision together.

You can hear all the lyrics clearly with RUSH's newer songs but I'll post them anyway!

New World Man ~8.5mb

New World Man

He's a rebel and a runner
He's a signal turning green
He's a restless young romantic
Wants to run the big machine

He's got a problem with his poisons
But you know he'll find a cure
He's cleaning up his systems
To keep his nature pure

Learning to match the beat of the Old World Man
Learning to catch the heat of the Third World Man

He's got to make his own mistakes
And learn to mend the mess he makes
He's old enough to know what's right
But young enough not to choose it
He's noble enough to win the world
But weak enough to lose it
He's a New World Man...

He's a radio receiver
Tuned to factories and farms
He's a writer and a ranger
And a young boy bearing arms

He's got a problem with his power
With weapons on patrol
He's got to walk a fine line
And keep his self-control

Trying to save the day for the Old World Man
Trying to pave the way for the Third World Man

He's not concerned with yesterday
He knows constant change is here today
He's noble enough to know what's right
But weak enough not to choose it
He's wise enough to win the world
But fool enough to lose it
He's a New World Man...

Subdivisions ~12mb

Subdivisions

Sprawling on the fringes of the city
In geometric order
An insulated border
In between the bright lights
And the far unlit unknown

Growing up it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and subdivided
In the mass production zone
Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone

Chorus
(Subdivisions)
In the high school halls
In the shopping malls
Conform or be cast out
(Subdivisions)
In the basement bars
In the backs of cars
Be cool or be cast out
Any escape might help disprove the unattractive truth
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth

Drawn like moths we drift into the city
The timeless old attraction
Cruising for the action
Lit up like a firefly
Just to feel the living night

Well some will sell their dreams for small desires
Or lose the race to rats
Get caught in ticking traps
And start to dream of somewhere
To relax their restless flight
Somewhere out of a memory of lighted streets on quiet nights...

Chorus

Day Seven

To close out the thread, here's the final two songs. Limelight, possibly the best song in existence!, and Red Barchetta, due to popular demand.

RUSH: LimeLight ~10mb

Limelight

Living on a lighted stage
Approaches the unreal
For those who think and feel
In touch with some reality
Beyond the gilded cage.

Cast in this unlikely role
Ill-equipped to act
With insufficient tact
One must put up barriers
To keep oneself intact.

Living in the limelight
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem.
Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation,
Get on with the fascination,
The real relation,
The underlying theme.

Living in a fisheye lens,
Caught in the camera eye.
I have no heart to lie
I can't pretend a stranger
Is a long-awaited friend.

All the world's indeed a stage
And we are merely players:
Performers and portrayers,
Each another's audience
Outside the gilded cage.

RUSH: Red Barchetta ~14mb

Red Barchetta

My uncle has a country place
That no one knows about.
He says it used to be a farm
Before the Motor Yard.
And on Sundays I elude the Eyes,
And hop the Turbine Freight
To far outside the Wire
Where my white-haired uncle waits.

Jump to the ground
As the Turbo slows to cross the borderline.
Run like the wind
As excitement shivers up and down my spine.
Down in his barn
My uncle preserved for me an old machine
For fifty-odd years.
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream.

I strip away the old debris
That hides a shining car:
A brilliant red Barchetta
From a better vanished time.
I fire up the willing engine
Responding with a roar.
Tires spitting gravel,
I commit my weekly crime.

Wind
In my hair
Shifting and drifting
Mechanical music
Adrenaline surge...

Well-weathered leather,
Hot metal and oil,
The scented country air.
Sunlight on chrome,
The blur of the landscape,
Every nerve aware.

Suddenly ahead of me
Across the mountainside
A gleaming alloy air-car
Shoots towards me, two lanes wide.
I spin around with shrieking tires
To run the deadly race
Go screaming through the valley
As another joins the chase.

Drive like the wind
Straining the limits of machine and man.
Laughing out loud with fear and hope
I've got a desperate plan.
At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded at the riverside.
Race back to the farm
To dream with my uncle at the fireside.

Oops, forgot Closer to the Heart! A great older Rush song:

Closer to the Heart ~6.6mb

And the men who hold high places
Must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality
Closer to the heart...

...You can be the captain
I will draw the chart
Sailing into destiny
Closer to the heart

Ogbar wrote: Best of all, I hear tell they are on the verge of being in the studio, and that over the course of the year, expect to produce a new album. A tour after that is also likely. There is no way in hell I would miss that tour should it come, even if I have to fly thousands of miles to catch a show. Like I said, I'm a really big fan.

Just wanted to say I got tickets to the June 27th show in Mansfield MA

I might catch the show in Manheim, Germany, too (if my brother can score the tickets).

Ogbar wrote:

Ogbar wrote: Best of all, I hear tell they are on the verge of being in the studio, and that over the course of the year, expect to produce a new album. A tour after that is also likely. There is no way in hell I would miss that tour should it come, even if I have to fly thousands of miles to catch a show. Like I said, I'm a really big fan.

Just wanted to say I got tickets to the June 27th show in Mansfield MA

I might catch the show in Manheim, Germany, too (if my brother can score the tickets).

I missed this post originally. Nice work Oggy! I'm jealous. You're like a deadhead but for RUSH.

Fill us in on how it was after you go : )

I'm thinking about going to the Police concert in June here in Phoenix. I have no idea how they'll sound these days but I missed out on seeing them back in their prime.

Any Rush song without lyrics is ok in my book.

Dregor Thule wrote:Any Rush song without lyrics is ok in my book.

Do you not appreciate the lyrics or Geddy's voice?

Geddy's voice I can understand but the lyrics are better than 99% of the crap that's out there.

Winnow wrote:

Ogbar wrote:

Ogbar wrote: Best of all, I hear tell they are on the verge of being in the studio, and that over the course of the year, expect to produce a new album. A tour after that is also likely. There is no way in hell I would miss that tour should it come, even if I have to fly thousands of miles to catch a show. Like I said, I'm a really big fan.

Just wanted to say I got tickets to the June 27th show in Mansfield MA

I might catch the show in Manheim, Germany, too (if my brother can score the tickets).

I missed this post originally. Nice work Oggy! I'm jealous. You're like a deadhead but for RUSH.

Fill us in on how it was after you go : )

I'm thinking about going to the Police concert in June here in Phoenix. I have no idea how they'll sound these days but I missed out on seeing them back in their prime.

Yeah, but a deadhead that hasn't seen them in 25 years. I'll definately be filing a full report after the event.

Good luck with the Police tix. There were great in concert in 1983 - for whatever good that data point is.

Winnow wrote:

Dregor Thule wrote:Any Rush song without lyrics is ok in my book.

Do you not appreciate the lyrics or Geddy's voice?

Geddy's voice I can understand but the lyrics are better than 99% of the crap that's out there.

/agree

BTW, I've noticed that Geddy's voice has taken on a more folksie quality in the last couple of live works they put out. Far less piercing than in the old days. Certainly a change for the better.