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Neil Peart Has Passed Away


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You know another thing. i woke up this morning feeling great. but then my mind landed on oh ya Neil's not here anymore. that DID happan.

 

Surreal and my friends and it kicks you too earth.

 

we really are here but for a blink of an eye in the scheme of things.

 

it's why when i get depressed i fight to stay with it and grounded.

 

Mick

Edited by bluefox4000
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There must be something wrong with me because I'm really not that bothered....obviously I wish it hadn't happened to him, but it's not as if I was acquainted with him personally...the band was done anyway and the music will always be out there.

 

There is nothing inherently ‘wrong’ with the way any of us feels about it. We all are who we are, individually.

 

:cheers:

 

Why are we here?

 

Because we’re here!

 

 

Those lines never made any sense to me when that material was new. But I as I got older, I really started to understand.

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You know another thing. i woke up this morning feeling great. but then my mind landed on oh ya Neil's not here anymore. that DID happan.

 

Surreal and my friends and it kicks you too earth.

 

we really are here but for a blink of an eye in the scheme of things.

 

it's why when i get depressed i fight to stay with it and grounded.

 

Mick

 

when I woke up this morning unfortunately the first thing I thought about was this tragedy .. I thought .. oh that's right Neil died and that sucks!! .. but a lesson I'm taking away from this is get your shit together and retire to do things you want to do as soon as you can .. you just never know when this kind of thing can hit you .. hopefully the year or so he had before he started his cancer battle was just awesome for him and his wife and daughter .. and hopefully even during the battle they had some good times together

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You know another thing. i woke up this morning feeling great. but then my mind landed on oh ya Neil's not here anymore. that DID happan.

 

Surreal and my friends and it kicks you too earth.

 

we really are here but for a blink of an eye in the scheme of things.

 

it's why when i get depressed i fight to stay with it and grounded.

 

Mick

 

when I woke up this morning unfortunately the first thing I thought about was this tragedy .. I thought .. oh that's right Neil died and that sucks!! .. but a lesson I'm taking away from this is get your shit together and retire to do things you want to do as soon as you can .. you just never know when this kind of thing can hit you .. hopefully the year or so he had before he started his cancer battle was just awesome for him and his wife and daughter .. and hopefully even during the battle they had some good times together

 

Despite the tragic losses which Neil experienced, we can probably at least be thankful that, looking back from the end, Neil probably felt that he lived a good and fortunate life. And we can be thankful that he lived and created among us.

 

I agree, one thing we can do to honor Neil is to apply the lesson he taught us to live our lives to the fullest today, rather than waiting for a distant tomorrow which may never come.

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There must be something wrong with me because I'm really not that bothered....obviously I wish it hadn't happened to him, but it's not as if I was acquainted with him personally...the band was done anyway and the music will always be out there.

 

There is nothing inherently ‘wrong’ with the way any of us feels about it. We all are who we are, individually.

 

:cheers:

 

Why are we here?

 

Because we’re here!

 

 

Those lines never made any sense to me when that material was new. But I as I got older, I really started to understand.

 

that line is interesting because i picture sadly people trying to figure out the answer their whole lives only to die never really having enjoyed their time.

 

i don't know for sure what's out there after this and i have views but i just want to try and live while i'm here.

 

i think i'm gonna go visit my nephew next week.

 

Mick

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You know another thing. i woke up this morning feeling great. but then my mind landed on oh ya Neil's not here anymore. that DID happan.

 

Surreal and my friends and it kicks you too earth.

 

we really are here but for a blink of an eye in the scheme of things.

 

it's why when i get depressed i fight to stay with it and grounded.

 

Mick

 

when I woke up this morning unfortunately the first thing I thought about was this tragedy .. I thought .. oh that's right Neil died and that sucks!! .. but a lesson I'm taking away from this is get your shit together and retire to do things you want to do as soon as you can .. you just never know when this kind of thing can hit you .. hopefully the year or so he had before he started his cancer battle was just awesome for him and his wife and daughter .. and hopefully even during the battle they had some good times together

 

Quality of Life will always be better than Quantity of Life.

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You know another thing. i woke up this morning feeling great. but then my mind landed on oh ya Neil's not here anymore. that DID happan.

 

Surreal and my friends and it kicks you too earth.

 

we really are here but for a blink of an eye in the scheme of things.

 

it's why when i get depressed i fight to stay with it and grounded.

 

Mick

 

And so it goes. Reality has a way of sinking in. No much has changed this morning. The disbelief and shock appears to have all but disappeared, but the profound sadness still lingers on all levels.

 

Started out not wanting to hear Rush last night, then someone posted 95.1 KLOS was playing all Rush until midnight so I tuned in to a thoughtful if not predictable tribute that left me zombified. Kept thinking about going to bed but I kept on wanting to hear what the next song was going to be. Could have gone to the shelf and literally played anything I wanted. Today? Back to no music. Guess it's a very fluid situation still.

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Few or none of us knew Neil personally, yet many of us had a very real and human connection to him through his lyrics, memoirs, music, live performances, interviews, etc. - his art and his humanity - so his passing is indeed a loss of a loved one, and I think our lingering sadness and grief is understandable. When so many people feel this way when someone passes, it's a testament to the greatness of that person.
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Like many others, I don't really have the words to express my sadness for what's happened. My first thoughts went to his family, with hopes that he at least had some precious moments with them after his retirement.

 

I'm grateful for what he (and the band) brought to me for so many years. He will be missed.

 

R.I.P.

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Hey guys.

 

Seeing FB covered with tributes to NP has been simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming.

 

I'm still in shock.... very sad.... but what's bigger than that sadness is the GRATITUDE for who he is as a person and all he (and the other guys) accomplished.

 

I'd actually been on a bit of a Rush sabbatical... now it all sounds fresh again, although bittersweet.

 

As a fan, I haven't even begun to grieve yet. Don't know when it's gonna hit me.

 

Peace to you all.

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Few or none of us knew Neil personally, yet many of us had a very real and human connection to him through his lyrics, memoirs, music, live performances, interviews, etc. - his art and his humanity - so his passing is indeed a loss of a loved one, and I think our lingering sadness and grief is understandable. When so many people feel this way when someone passes, it's a testament to the greatness of that person.

 

Nicely put.

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You know another thing. i woke up this morning feeling great. but then my mind landed on oh ya Neil's not here anymore. that DID happan.

 

Surreal and my friends and it kicks you too earth.

 

we really are here but for a blink of an eye in the scheme of things.

 

it's why when i get depressed i fight to stay with it and grounded.

 

Mick

 

when I woke up this morning unfortunately the first thing I thought about was this tragedy .. I thought .. oh that's right Neil died and that sucks!! .. but a lesson I'm taking away from this is get your shit together and retire to do things you want to do as soon as you can .. you just never know when this kind of thing can hit you .. hopefully the year or so he had before he started his cancer battle was just awesome for him and his wife and daughter .. and hopefully even during the battle they had some good times together

 

Quality of Life will always be better than Quantity of Life.

 

I was reading some Stoic philosophy which unsurprisingly came from an article I read about Neil and Stoicism. Philosopher Massimo Piglucci brough this exact theory up citing that King Menelaus from Homer’s epics lived too long having suffered immensely in his final years. It’s quality, not quantity. But damn, I feel sorrow Neil lost quality “quantity” time when he most deserved it.

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After a nights sleep and time to process all this, not much has changed. Still so very sad. The one part of this I can’t shake is how cruel life can be. Neil deserved to live the life he wanted in retirement. He deserved to be healthy and get that 2nd chance at being a father on his terms. When my mind goes there, I lose it. The man endured so much pain and tragedy. WTF?!

This. He basically lost 2 families in the cruelest of manners. Not fair!
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I keep thinking that this was somehow the cruelest type of cancer to hit him. Besides his drumming what set him apart from almost all other musicians was his intelligence. The way he spoke and wrote was so far above most others. And he gets brain cancer... f*#k cancer. As he used to sign for me and others - Happy Travels Neil
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The world lost a bright star, yet just think of how long that light burned. The majority of creative talents lose their edge (or mojo) at a tender age, but Rush released some of their edgiest and most fascinatingly ominous material towards the latter part. Three integral components that kept the creative spark ablaze for four decades. Truly a towering achievement among achievements.

 

http://www.egodeath.com/images/redstar.jpg

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This still feels so surreal.

 

Rush were pretty much the soundtrack to my life for a year or two (I think there was a span they were virtually all I listened to), and though I eventually didn't listen to them as much, I never fell out of love with them and they are still the band I love more than any other, and one I probably know more information and trivia about than any other.

 

And now, the person who wrote most of their lyrics and laid down the rhythms for most of their songs that i've listened to ad infinitum, a person without which Rush wouldn't have been the same and a major influence to many, is gone. It's not right.

Edited by Eel Yddeg
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I watched Time Stand Still today.. which was difficult, but therapeutic.

 

It's eirie to hear them talk about few things.. one of which was Neils comment about having no fear what the future holds..quite the contrary.....the other being Ged saying Neil never tells people when he's sick. EVER.

 

Hearing those comments within the context of his passing made me shudder.

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I keep thinking that this was somehow the cruelest type of cancer to hit him. Besides his drumming what set him apart from almost all other musicians was his intelligence. The way he spoke and wrote was so far above most others. And he gets brain cancer... f*#k cancer. As he used to sign for me and others - Happy Travels Neil

my thoughts exactly, how cruel can life be??

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So glad I went to the r40 show in Detroit. It was a last minute decision and I went by myself. Met some really cool people all around me, even some first timers. It was the middle of the week and I work early. Had that strange yet satisfying feeling that it would be the last time I would see them perform live. God I will miss that vibe of being there. All of us as one...
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I feel bad for Carrie and especially Olivia. I also feel sad that here I thought he was at last enjoying retirement but instead he was suffering through treatments etc. Neil's life had so much tragedy and ended in tragedy. He wished not to live it all again even prior to this occurring and obviously this ending showed he was right in not wanting to.
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I watched Time Stand Still today.. which was difficult, but therapeutic.

 

It's eirie to hear them talk about few things.. one of which was Neils comment about having no fear what the future holds..quite the contrary.....the other being Ged saying Neil never tells people when he's sick. EVER.

 

Hearing those comments within the context of his passing made me shudder.

 

Especially when you consider when the film was released he must have received the diagnosis :(

 

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So I've had some time to process things, and I am feeling compelled to share some of my thoughts with the Rush family. I just hope I'm able to convey my message clearly.

 

I'm realizing now (and probably have over the years during the precious few, seemingly sporadic moments of true clarity), what Neil, Alex, and Ged have given to me, and I think, to all of you, too. If the stereotype contains the smallest grain of truth, most Rush fans are likely misfits in some form or fashion. And that's a truly wonderful thing! Because we don't "fit" in a world where so much is wrong, we all, on some level, refuse to compromise. To let our true selves become changed, absorbed by this bewildering, messed up machine in which we all try to function. And the message of our favorite band has always encouraged us to hold on to that true self, and to be encouraged that there are others out there doing the same. They let us know that the "honest man will still survive annihilation". That the vision of the world we share is not just some fantasy land. And every time we listen to one of their songs we get a glimpse of what the world might be, and our own, personal potentials. "Just think of what my life might be, in a world like I have seen!"

 

I think that's what we all share. I feel it whenever I meet another Rush fan --- that knowing glance, that sense of kinship.

 

So that's what drove me to post my thoughts today. Some of you may respond with a resounding "duh!" after reading this. But to me, Neil's death has provided me with a revelation. Not so much a realization of some novel idea, but rather a casting of light in the dark corners of my mind. Where I store the things I know to be true, but that I just don't want to deal with right now. Maybe later.

 

Over the last 24 hours or so, I've gone through a lot of self-reflection. Peering fearlessly into those dark corners. What gave me the courage, you ask? Well, like many of you, I suspect, I've completely submerged myself in the music and words of Rush. And even though they've been an ever present soundtrack in my life for the last 40 years or so, the suddenness and permanence of this recent loss have made me focus so much on every lyric, every sound.

 

When I reflect on Neil, the message he shared with all of us, and the way he seemed to live his life, I find it overwhelmingly inspirational. I know that would make him smile. Not that he knew me, or that I think that even if he had, he would have liked me or given me the time of day. But I know, based on things he said, that as an artist, what drove him was a need to inspire others. So yes, he would be happy to know that I am truly inspired.

 

I won't bore you with the details, but I am dealing with a few health issues. Nothing more, and probably less, than most. But I am at a crux in my life. Until now, I was certainly taking the wrong path. On some level, I had surrendered. No more!

 

What would the Professor think of such a lack of will or determination? Probably wouldn't speak highly of it.

 

"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?"

 

These are the words of someone who probably wouldn't have much time to spare for the weak-willed.

 

Anyway, what I'm trying to get across is this --- Rush is not gone. Neil's message is not dead. So, I truly hope that all of you will join me in finding new inspiration, even revelation, in the words and life of Neil Peart. And know, as I do, that the better world of which we all dream, and that the better "you" that lies within, is still very much alive. Celebrate his life and the joy he has brought! I can't think of a better gift to give to "the boys" than to let them know how much we've all truly been inspired.

 

Rush on!

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