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I quite like "Dog Years" now, but I also suspect the song has tongue in cheek. "For every sad son of a bitch"? Would Peart have perpetrated such a pun if he weren't trying to be funny? That said, I agree that the song isn't mere filler or fluff, silly as its lyrics may be. And I will defend the lines about preferring to be "a tortoise on Galapagos or a span of geological time"--they're definitely lyrics by Neil Peart, that's for sure, and just take a moment to try to imagine how one could conceivably be (rather than endure for) a span of geological time. A mindbender, that one! I also really like the opening bars that chug along with heavy cymbal--as MiriyaB noted, it sounds very reminiscent of X (another outstanding band that's effectively a musical trio + singer, to borrow Geddy's characterization of the Who).

Since the poll asks for best song "from the album," I went with "Animate," which has a great lyric and which kicks things off really well. But my favorite song as a sheer composition is "Between Sun and Moon," which I first heard in the live board "bootleg" on Rush in Rio. The live version has an energy that's missing in the studio version of that track, whereas "Animate" on Counterparts is fully charged and so gets my vote for this poll.

I have to agree with Rushgoober and 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 that the poll isn't altogether fair as posed, with all seven parts of the "2112" suite pitched as a single song against the others. On the one hand, I respect the integrity of the suite, and it's a single track on the CD for a reason--compare how David Lynch refuses to offer chapters in the DVD releases of his films--but it still seems an odd way to measure song against song. Especially since Rush themselves play only the Overture and "Temples of Syrinx" in the Rush in Rio concert! If the poll offered us choices among all the parts of "2112" separately, I'd've voted for the Overture as my favorite. As it was, I voted for "A Passage to Bangkok," which I enjoy for the way it rocks even as it cracks me up. "Twilight Zone" actually hurt my ears when I first heard it (in a car with the volume up) and Alex hit that single piercing note that hangs in the air for a while. Cool, but ouch!