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What Is It About Neil That Makes So Many Grown Men Cry?


presto123
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I always thought of Neil as like a big tree in the backyard. The majestic one that nonetheless, because of familiarity, you only notice now and then. It's always been there, always will be.

Then one day there's nothing but a stump left, and with a lump in your throat you realize how much you needed that tree.

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I still get smile-cry when I watch videos of the last couple of tours. There's no stopping the smile they've always put on my face since I was 14, but there will be a tear.

 

It's like when the suns shining but it's raining too.

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I felt this at the Primus show - they did a good job w the music but what I didn't expect was a holy shit I wish I was looking at Rush right now tugging at my heart, and.. on those drums, I wish it was... him. When the crowd gave a big cheer for Neil it put a lump in my throat. Damnit.
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<p>presto123, I saw this post once or twice in the past.

 

I can't explain my personal reactions last year, other than cycling madly around the rural country side during the first few months of Covid. It felt right. I felt like I was with him, at times.

The announcement on the CBC at the time is an entire story I have written.

 

I have listened to lots of musicians in my life and really, never felt very moved by their passing. But Neil?

 

And about men crying...

 

Up here in Canada, in the newspaper National Post, there is a similar thought by a writer, John Ivison, back in January 2020. I don't know if the lower link will work, but google the guy and this article. It's sweet!

 

(Edit: I don't know why a post shows what is written and then upon saving, it disappears. Search: John Ivison, National Post, Neil Peart.)

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It's interesting that Neil had such a personal impact on his fans and yet couldn't understand why they would feel so connected to him. It's one thing to expect privacy and respect of boundaries, but art is supposed to stir emotion and Neil certainly did so. His lyrics spoke so directly to my life experience at such a formative age that I just can't help feeling close to him. He helped me, and think he was trying to help. He taught me, and I'm sure he was trying to. His example of absolute dedication to his craft(s) are worthy of admiration by anyone. His self examination and self expression to try and share as much of himself as he could with his fans is so laudable. Who else does that?

 

Neil might well have been embarrassed by my gushing, but I'm not the least bit embarrassed to share how a flipping rock star impacted my life for the better and that I grieve what is a very real loss for me. No future Peart wisdom, no future exhilaration and elation watching the boys kill it live. What's he going to write about next? Gone. Which direction are they going to go next? Gone.

 

Think me pathetic, but I'm crying about him right now and I don't GAF what you think.

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I will always remember when playing "All the World's a Stage" and where Geddy says "The Professor on the Drum kit" - and for the next couple of minutes I was encapsulated with Neil's craftsmanship within the sealed confines of my headphones some 40 odd years ago.

 

But strangely, and despite of all his truly awesome work over that time, there is one little 3 second extract from one of their relatively minor songs - Available Light - that still sends a thrill down my spine whenever I hear it. And that's Neil at 3m 09 seconds on the remastered version of the song. Nothing fancy at all: in fact incredibly simplistic for him. But it has lingered for me as his signature in almost 30 years!

 

Complex pieces or simple, Neil cared either way!

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He made a point of saying, a few times "care was taken", and that embodies his/ their works of music.

I think many of us have "aha" moments. Be it a guitar moment, a bass moment, vocals hitting a certain ceiling and pulling it off.

In their whole library of music, some bits of songs will repeat on me and I think of background stories and put those moments in certain places. I grew up with their sounds.

 

When songs filled your childhood or even adulthood and when those parts of songs repeat on us, I think it speaks to the guys and who and why they played the music they played.

Different sounds for sure, the albums evolved over time, but I do believe each of us is attached to some of those sounds and nothing we can do will change that!

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