Pags Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 "Some are born to move the world. To live their fantasies." ~NEP 1982 So as this sad news settles in about Neil's passing, I still can't believe he's gone. As scores of people are digging through their old collections to play their dust covered cassettes and albums of Rush songs, or calling to Siri or Alexa to play Rush (which I think is great), for me it's just another day of listening to the band I've listened to practically every day for the past 30 years. But now I'm listening to certain songs with a different sense of meaning or significance, and I can't help but find tragic irony to this song, Losing It. I was talking about this with 1-0-0-1-0-0-1. He found the connection to the first verse, the dancer, to Neil's chronic tendonitis. It became too painful for Neil to continue playing at the level he would demand of himself, and it forced him into retirement. For me, I found the connection to the second verse, the writer. For a man who could have (should have) had the time to write more, Neil was stricken with a disease that left him unable to. Tragic irony. Eerie foresight. Call it what you will. All I can say is that I'll always attach Neil to this song every time I listen to it from now on. Something I never could have imagined. To Neil... "For you the blind who once could see, the bell tolls for thee." https://youtu.be/jEagi9co0Ko 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J2112YYZ Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 (edited) There are definitely lyrics that take on a whole new meaning now. Marathon and Time Stand Still come to mind immediately. When a musician dies we do hear things differently than before. There's a finality to what we are hearing now. This is what the person left for the world and there will sadly be nothing more from them. We hear it as the final product of the artists life's work which brings a new perspective to the music. I've found myself paying closer attention to his drumming when listening to Rush over the last few days. Not that I didn't pay close attention to it before but it just stands out to me even more now. I swear that I have even heard an extra couple of thumps and dings in Neil's playing that I hadn't noticed before. Edited January 13, 2020 by J2112YYZ 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-0-0-1-0-0-1 Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 "Some are born to move the world. To live their fantasies." ~NEP 1982 So as this sad news settles in about Neil's passing, I still can't believe he's gone. As scores of people are digging through their old collections to play their dust covered cassettes and albums of Rush songs, or calling to Siri or Alexa to play Rush (which I think is great), for me it's just another day of listening to the band I've listened to practically every day for the past 30 years. But now I'm listening to certain songs with a different sense of meaning or significance, and I can't help but find tragic irony to this song, Losing It. I was talking about this with 1-0-0-1-0-0-1. He found the connection to the first verse, the dancer, to Neil's chronic tendonitis. It became too painful for Neil to continue playing at the level he would demand of himself, and it forced him into retirement. For me, I found the connection to the second verse, the writer. For a man who could have (should have) had the time to write more, Neil was stricken with a disease that left him unable to. Tragic irony. Eerie foresight. Call it what you will. All I can say is that I'll always attach Neil to this song every time I listen to it from now on. Something I never could have imagined. To Neil... "For you the blind who once could see, the bell tolls for thee." https://youtu.be/jEagi9co0Ko It's amazing how many of his lyrics were written as observations of people or life in general, but when you apply them to him now that he's gone...damn. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Territorial_Game Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 A couple of songs hit me that way the last couple days. How It Is and Scars. "Here's a little trapThat sometimes catches everyoneWhen today's as far as we can seeFaith in bright tomorrowsGiving way to resignationThat's how it is, how it's going to be" "All my nerves are naked wiresTender to the touchSometimes super-sensitiveBut who can care too much?I get this feeling" I've always liked these songs, and Neil's passing certainly isn't the only grim event of the last decade... but I guess hearing them now knowing that he wrote them. That makes a big difference. And from Scars, "Pleasure leaves a fingerprintAs surely as mortal painIn memories they resonateAnd echo back again" So many fingerprints. So many memories. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusGal Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 For me, the lyrics don't need to evoke thoughts of passing or change. Today, his lyrics seem more ... crisp?. Just Rush lyrics before - now their observations from Neil. The one lyric sticking with me, and I have no idea why because I can't see how it relates to his passing: "Green and grey washes in the wispy white veil" - I don't know why The Camera Eye is really connecting with me over the past few days. I think it is his drumming (some of my favorite) And for some reason, Signals has never sounded so good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 A couple of songs hit me that way the last couple days. How It Is and Scars. "Here's a little trapThat sometimes catches everyoneWhen today's as far as we can seeFaith in bright tomorrowsGiving way to resignationThat's how it is, how it's going to be" "All my nerves are naked wiresTender to the touchSometimes super-sensitiveBut who can care too much?I get this feeling" I've always liked these songs, and Neil's passing certainly isn't the only grim event of the last decade... but I guess hearing them now knowing that he wrote them. That makes a big difference. And from Scars, "Pleasure leaves a fingerprintAs surely as mortal painIn memories they resonateAnd echo back again" So many fingerprints. So many memories.Two of my favorite songs. When How It Is was played in Seattle, tears flowed. My reaction really took me by surprise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaminbenb Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 In the End on ATWAS gave me a chill when it played the other day... The phrase "We are only immortal, for a limited time" really hits home, now! How true! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red3angel Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 (edited) I love all the lyrics more than ever. They also take on new meaning. I used to put Rush in the top five greatest bands ever. Now I think they are number one more than Beatles more than The Who more than Led Zeppelin Edited January 16, 2020 by Red3angel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaminbenb Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 I love all the lyrics more than ever. They also take on new meaning. I used to put Rush in the top five greatest bands ever. Now I think they are number one more than Beatles more than The Who more than Led Zeppelin Well the thing is (at least for me) that once I gave the album a few spins, I've always listened to the lyrics with a deep sense of scrutiny, and have always loved the fact that his lyrics were on the level of a book author, rather than a rock lyricist. Some of that stuff is DEEEEP! I had an old friend that was a high school English teacher, and she used to use his lyrics in her poetry classes (and she really wasn't much of a Rush fan, but she LOVED the lyrics!) All good stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILSnwdog Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 I got choked up when I heard Afterimage Friday night. Never had that effect before. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Union 5-3992 Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 For me, the lyrics don't need to evoke thoughts of passing or change. Today, his lyrics seem more ... crisp?. Just Rush lyrics before - now their observations from Neil. The one lyric sticking with me, and I have no idea why because I can't see how it relates to his passing: "Green and grey washes in the wispy white veil" - I don't know why The Camera Eye is really connecting with me over the past few days. I think it is his drumming (some of my favorite) And for some reason, Signals has never sounded so good. I think crispness is a great description. I found myself singing various lines and phrases I've always liked as I do random tasks. And some of my favorites lines feel more vivid when I play the songs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9/4 Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 I'm definitely hearing the music differently now. I'm listening a lot more intently, and in the process I'm rediscovering Rush. The music sounds better to me now, but it also evokes many jabs of sadness. I'm starting to think that it may be better to think of Neil as a professional percussion composer and percussionist, rather than a 'rock drummer' in any conventional sense of that term. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 I got choked up when I heard Afterimage Friday night. Never had that effect before.Even more powerful now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Running Rebel Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 i have posted here previously nd Lin claimed that Rush I’ll stand the test of time because their lyrics aremetaphors (stories we tell ourselves) about the way we view the world and change with our experience, knowledge and perspective. Comic Steve Martin claimed certain classic Russian poetry did the same for him and it reminded me of Rush. And this event will add new perspective, like Neil said about his admiration of postmodernism, “the po before the mo”, the after changes the previous perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimsonmistymemory Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 All of the ones I have been brave enough to listen to seem to have a different incantation to them...Rush songs have always had (for me anyway) hidden "easter eggs" for lack of a better term by their wizardly use of mixing time signatures and nuances out the yingyang! But now it's kinda like listening to them like their remixed or something. I guess I am not the only one experiencing this phenomenon...Long Live :rush: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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