HowItIs Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Recently, I made a CD for a friend of mine. She's a huge fan of Neil's writing but hadn't heard much of the music. So I decided I'd choose the songs with Neil's best lyrics - in my opinion. My criteria was emotional, evocative, descriptive and/or interesting. This is the list of my selections: Entre Nous Open Secrets Ghost Rider Bravado The Trees The Analog Kid Lakeside Park Emotion Detector Available Light Red Sector A Ghost Of A Chance Tai Shan Time Stand Still Losing It Half The World Second Nature She loved it Of course, I could have simply sent her the lyrics in an email but I think that the lyrics and music of these songs are integral to one another. It's so hard to really understand one without the other. It was also indicative of Neil's technical prowess on the drums, which she also wasn't very cognizant of. I explained how he created drum fills that support and highlight the singing and how being the lyricist made him better able to do so. Yes, it's a Rush/music geek thing to do. I make no apologies I'm curious what your choices might be were you to make a CD of "Bubba's Best" ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappa_da_bass Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Hmmm... I'm not sure if these would be the perfect fit for a CD, but looking through Rush's catalogue, these would definitely be my choices for Neil's best lyrical accomplishments (in alphabetical order I suppose): Afterimage (Loss) Armor and Sword (The volatile nature of personal convictions) Between the Wheels (The volatile nature of entire societies) Circumstances (Well, different circumstances lol) Entre Nous (Interpersonal understanding) Faithless (The importance of finding what's right for yourself) Freewill (Obviously) Resist (Personal struggle) Scars (Significant events and their impact) Territories (The insignificance of possession) The Pass (Not giving up) Witch Hunt (Mob mentality and the consequences of ignorance) Honorable mentions: The Spirit of Radio, The Trees, Time Stand Still, Vital Signs. It seems I actually picked quite a few different from you But I think your list works really well as a "theme", it seems to have quite a few songs from around the same era, not just of music but of Neil's thoughts. I just picked the strongest messages regardless of any coherent time period Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mighty Dudad Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 (edited) Not gonna try to piece together a CDs'worth of songs, but a few examples have stuck with me through the years the standard setters for Neil's lyrics. Ironically (or maybe not so ironically), two come from the same album. Subdivisions - this whole song is, lyrically, perfect. The Analog Kid - great song about youthful innocence, but the line "A fawn-eyed girl with sun-browned legs dances on the edge of his dreams" is simply amazing. Cut to the Chase - not the whole song, but this bit in particular: Young enough not to care too much About the way things used to be I'm young enough to remember the future The past has no claim on me I'm old enough not to care too much About what you think of me But I'm young enough to remember the future And the way things ought to be I'm sure there is more (I KNOW there is more), but these three typically do it for me. Edited January 27, 2011 by The Mighty Dudad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micgtr71 Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I think he really came into his own between GUP and HYF. The Pass was wonderful as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowItIs Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 Great responses! I didn't mean that it was required to come up with a CDs worth of songs - sorry if that seemed to be the case. Just looking for lyrics that *you think* exemplify Neil's perfection of his craft. So there are no real right/wrong answers here. And I'm loving the responses so far! Sometimes, Neil has come up with brilliant lines (as The Mighty Dudad points out) in a song that stand out like diamonds. I LOVE there's no swimming in the heavy water, no singing in the acid rain... As a writer, I feel a pang of jealousy when I hear that and further along in the song left and rights (rites?) of passage.... Oh, man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pound of Obscure Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Subdivisions Afterimage Analog Kid Double Agent Mission Something For Nothing(for its simple, universal truth of life) Circumstances Vapor Trails Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blenderhead Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 How can you make a Neil's best lyrics list without the addition of "Natural Science"? All of your choices are good, though. My top 3 would be: Natural Science Subdivisions The Analog Kid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowItIs Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 QUOTE (Blenderhead @ Jan 27 2011, 07:11 PM)How can you make a Neil's best lyrics list without the addition of "Natural Science"? All of your choices are good, though. My top 3 would be: Natural Science Subdivisions The Analog Kid NatSci is more Prog than I was sure she would like. Don't worry, though, I'll get it to her eventually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamelight Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 (edited) QUOTE (HowItIs @ Jan 27 2011, 12:41 PM) She loved it Glad to hear that My choices would be Distant Early Warning Emotion Detector Marathon The Weapon Losing It Entre Nous ..I'll post more later when I am able to think more Edited January 28, 2011 by Lamelight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate2112 Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 all of t4e cp sig \ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InvisibleAirwaves13 Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Dog Years rules and the lyrics to YYZ are awesome but La Villa is the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMCXII Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 I thought of a few songs right away when I saw the thread title. then I clicked and noticed all my songs were already on your list... except "how it is" iconically enough! lol at any rate I'm sure them tunes'll get ya laid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Just naming albums that, off the top of my head, have some of the best lyrics. -Permanent Waves - really solid and inspired from start to finish -Signals - this may be my all-time favorite Rush album -Power Windows - one or two clunkers, but for the most part well-written -Hold Your Fire - ditto Power Windows Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColdFireYYZ Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 The Pass Subdivisions Mission Marathon Losing It Analog Kid Red Sector A Something For Nothing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In A Tidewater Surge Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 (edited) In the Mood Edited January 30, 2011 by In A Tidewater Surge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnoble Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 (edited) favorite lyrics, favorite lyrics....let's see.... Anthem Something For Nothing Circumstances Entre Nous Emotion Detector Time Stand Still Marathon Mission Presto Available Light the bridge part of 'Face Up': "you get all squeezed up inside..." How It Is Edited January 30, 2011 by jnoble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galt Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Emotion detector would have topped my list. I started a thread on it a few days ago. The review on this site promoted my thoughts on the song.... http://rushmusicreviews.com/2011/01/rush-power-windows/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowItIs Posted January 30, 2011 Author Share Posted January 30, 2011 QUOTE (MMCXII @ Jan 29 2011, 02:54 PM)I thought of a few songs right away when I saw the thread title. then I clicked and noticed all my songs were already on your list... except "how it is" iconically enough! lol at any rate I'm sure them tunes'll get ya laid. Um.... getting laid wasn't my intention. Where on earth did you get that idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silas Lang Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Anything from Permanent Waves through Power Windows. He really nailed it in terms of interesting subject matter and the words themselves. Of course there's great lyrics before and after, but in this era they were consistently brilliant and thought provoking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That One Guy Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 I'm going with Ghost Rider Secret Touch Entre Nous Red Barchetta Heresy The Spirit Of Radio Freeze Vapor Trail Armor and Sword Lots of Vapor Trails, which lyrically is an amazing album. It would be a top pick of mine to hear live. Just leave out Stars Look Down How It Is, and Peaceable Kingdom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate2112 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 QUOTE (galt @ Jan 29 2011, 10:59 PM) Emotion detector would have topped my list. I started a thread on it a few days ago. The review on this site promoted my thoughts on the song.... http://rushmusicreviews.com/2011/01/rush-power-windows/ welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappa_da_bass Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 QUOTE (Nate2112 @ Jan 30 2011, 05:48 PM) QUOTE (galt @ Jan 29 2011, 10:59 PM) Emotion detector would have topped my list. I started a thread on it a few days ago. The review on this site promoted my thoughts on the song.... http://rushmusicreviews.com/2011/01/rush-power-windows/ welcome to the forum! Please change your sig, that's ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summer_sky Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 "...He's old enough to know what's right but young enough not to choose it, He's noble enough to win the world but weak enough to lose it..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeaveMyThingAlone Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 (edited) I have pretty much decided that my favorite lyrics are BU2B. I just love the biting sarcasm throughout the song and it flows really well....I am not an atheist. I have an open mind, but the sarcasm is great. Believe in what we're told until our final breath while our loving watchmaker loves us all to death... Bloody Brilliant Edited January 11, 2012 by LeaveMyThingAlone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queslington Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 QUOTE (summer_sky @ Jan 30 2011, 09:23 PM)"...He's old enough to know what's right but young enough not to choose it, He's noble enough to win the world but weak enough to lose it..." This. and the following: -By-Tor and the Snow Dog -A Farewell to Kings -All of Hemispheres (except, of course, La Villa) -Natural Science -Subdivisions -The Analog Kid -Distant Early Warning -Time Stand Still -The Pass -Anagram (for Mongo) -Resist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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