Your Favorite Neil Lyrics

[JARG]

 

:lol:

 

The infamous misheard lyric!

[Entre_Perpetuo]

Because he was human

Because he had goodness

Because he was moral

They called him insane

 

That's Geddy actually! Cinderella Man is one of his few lyrical contributions after Neil joined the band and took over that department. I have no doubt it's not something he would've written had he not spent the previous two years singing all of Peart's sci-fi, fantasy, and philosophy lyrics though. It's certainly a lot more poetic than Need Some Love!

[ST3V]

Because he was human

Because he had goodness

Because he was moral

They called him insane

 

That's Geddy actually! Cinderella Man is one of his few lyrical contributions after Neil joined the band and took over that department. I have no doubt it's not something he would've written had he not spent the previous two years singing all of Peart's sci-fi, fantasy, and philosophy lyrics though. It's certainly a lot more poetic than Need Some Love!

Thats right :facepalm: Can't believe I forgot. I now accept the title of world's fakest Rush fan

[Weatherman]

I'll avoid his philosophical and obvious lyrics that we all know and love.

Instead, I'll choose two based on his excellent WORDPLAY.

Neil did wordplay better than most other pop lyricists. So does hip-hop. That's probably the only thing he had in common with hip-hop. LOL

 

You Bet Your Life

Terrible song, bottom of the catalog, but I really like the list of nouns and adjectives in the backing vocals.

I'm a sucker for a good "list lyric" anyways.

 

Bet your life (anarchist, reactionary, running dog revisionist)

Bet your life (Hindu, Muslim, Catholic, creation evolutionist)

Bet your life (rational, romantic, mystic, cynical, idealist)

Bet your life (minimal, expressionist, post-modern, neo-symbolist)

 

Anagram (for Mongo)

Can we just appreciate the wicked thought that went into these lyrics?

Each one is like a Rubik's cube.

I was singing these lines for decades before I realized how deviously verbal they were.

 

There is tic-toc in atomic

Leaders make a deal

The cosmic is largely comic

A con they couldn't conceal

 

Unlike most, I really like the music of this one too.

Edited March 25, 2022 by Weatherman

[Timbale]

On 3/25/2022 at 8:30 AM, Weatherman said:

I'll avoid his philosophical and obvious lyrics that we all know and love.

Instead, I'll choose two based on his excellent WORDPLAY.

Neil did wordplay better than most other pop lyricists. So does hip-hop. That's probably the only thing he had in common with hip-hop. LOL

 

You Bet Your Life

Terrible song, bottom of the catalog, but I really like the list of nouns and adjectives in the backing vocals.

I'm a sucker for a good "list lyric" anyways.

 

Bet your life (anarchist, reactionary, running dog revisionist)

Bet your life (Hindu, Muslim, Catholic, creation evolutionist)

Bet your life (rational, romantic, mystic, cynical, idealist)

Bet your life (minimal, expressionist, post-modern, neo-symbolist)

 

Anagram (for Mongo)

Can we just appreciate the wicked thought that went into these lyrics?

Each one is like a Rubik's cube.

I was singing these lines for decades before I realized how deviously verbal they were.

 

There is tic-toc in atomic

Leaders make a deal

The cosmic is largely comic

A con they couldn't conceal

 

Unlike most, I really like the music of this one too.

 

I always thought You Bet Your Life was kind of underrated, especially lyrically - the "list" thing totally gets me, too...and I think Geddy (or whoever made the arrangement choice) made the perfect decision to make that VERY wordy thing  a rhythmic, background part - it almost functions like a synthesizer arpeggio.

 

As for Anagram (for Mongo), I do appreciate the work that went into it...and I know it is kind of a nit pick...but, it really annoys me that he titled it Anagram when much of the word play involved is not made up of anagrams.   It's like he's smart enough to write those lyrics, but not smart enough to know that?!  And the Blazing Saddles reference is not a good enough excuse NOT to name the song something else!