Headlong Flight

[Running Rebel]

Edited May 7, 2012 by Running Rebel

[safetygirl2112]

Beautiful post, Running Rebel! I loved it. Thank you!

[lifeson90]

^^^^ blimey rebel think you're in there m8

[HowItIs]

That was a very thought-provoking post, RR. Thank you.

[trenken]

The only thing I really miss about his lyrics is the semi-cryptic style he used to write in.

 

As someone who spends a stupid amount of time working on lyrics, it really takes a lot of effort to come up with metaphors that actually apply to the overall concept. And these days he just writes in a very direct manner.

 

He doesnt try to mask what he really means through clever phrases anymore, he just writes in plain English which bothers me.

 

Faithless is a perfect example. There are many great metaphors to use when talking about faith. But he took the easy way out just saying I dont have faith in faith... etc...

 

It seems like as he gets older he just doesnt want to put the effort in to creating some deeper more cleverly written lyrics and instead just writes what he thinks. Im sure thats totally fine for many people but I still miss the way he used to write when he was younger.

[1 of the 7]

I would definitely live my life again, given the alternative, though there's a lot I'd like to change. I'd be interested in what degree these changes would or wouldn't improve how it went.

 

Of course, I'll only get one chance, so I'm trying to make a lot of the changes I want to make NOW - better late than never. Some have already done me a lot of good, and like the OP said, I plan on enjoying it.

[psionic11]

Great OP, some great story and inspiration in it. And I agree that even though the lyrics are sometimes dark, they are mostly inspiring. Life is not all positive or all negative; it's more realistic to reflect on the mix of the two and draw your inspiration from your life lessons.

 

But I would disagree with the whole "guilt" aspect you derived from the lyrics. I don't see guilt at all. There may be some regrets or remorse, but it's more sprinkled with hope and nostalgia than guilt. Conscience is the moral compass to right your wrongs, while guilt is more a despair when you're off course.

 

Neil uses conscience much more than guilt as a motivator.

 

But Trenken does have a point -- Neil's lyrics lately are more direct. But while he relies less on wordplay, I believe you still will find plenty of double-meanings:

 

BU2B is rife with simple phrases that are actually deep (if cynical) explanations of a doubting deist's take on pop religion. The phrases hold resonance not only within pop culture but also within the Rush universe

 

-- "the universe has a plan ("God has a plan", Freewill, Ghost of a Chance),

-- "heaven's justice will prevail" (indignant righteousness of the fervent few, Armor and Sword, Freewill, Totem)

-- "blind men in the marketplace, buying what we're sold" (Jesus destroying the marketplace where the pharisees were, Heresy's counter-revolution and Superconductor's scathing rant against pop culture markets).

 

 

Caravan is likewise deceptively simple, mostly because Neil is writing from a very personal first point of view. How many songs does Neil use the very pop-friendly words "I" and "you" in? Most of his classic songs are not in simple first person. But this album so far is chock full of it. Still, "I can't stop thinking big" is rich in double and triple meanings, especially related to his whole repertoire of "big" -- big wheels, big money, god and government, grand designs so grand and complex, perspective where the "stars look down"... Neil has so many songs where he uses the word "world" in one form another, that I can't stop thinking big is a nice succinct way of bringing the whole lot together in an easy-to-relate phrase. Marathon and Mission and Freewill and 2112 are all about thinking big.

 

 

Like the whole genre that CA aspires to, Headlong Flight is a throwback or tribute to a whole past that could have been. "I wish that I could live it all again" calls up Time Stand Still, Cut to the Chase, Between the Wheels, Available Light, and in a limited way, even A Farewell to Kings.

 

 

Some days were dark, some were bright. Neil references "I feel" a lot on this album. Since Hemispheres, he's consciously flip-flopped lyrics on albums between a cerebral dissertation and a more personal catalog of feelings. On Counterparts, "passion was afire" and "you know how complex women are", while on T4E we have "Half the World" and "Totem". Snake and Arrows has plenty of "I feel" on it, but so far, CA has a strong mix of "feel".

 

This may be Rush's swan song. It's been a great adventure, and the world's a far cry from what Cinderalla Man would have wielded his shield of rusty wire against, but it is, after all, a battle between heart and mind, isn't it?

 

The Universe divided

As the Heart and Mind collided

 

[Babycat]

Thank you for your thought-provoking post, Running Rebel!

[Animate]

I have had a similar reaction to Headlong Flight.

 

The subject is a mans retrospective, reflecting on his past and there are no references in it to a possible future. He is not saying "I will continue on this headlong flight" because it is Game Over.

 

It is not Lessons or Making Memories, where despite the brief references to the past, the focus is still very much on the future. It is not on how we gain inspiration from what others (the "brightest boys" etc) have done to inspire our own future actions. No "quietly resisting" or any actions being done in the present.

 

It is a retrospective because it is too late. Presumable, the protagonist is too old to engage in any more headlong flights.

 

This leads to so many avenues of thought about what your own reflections might be towards the end of your own life. Do you relate to the protagonist in that for the most part you are right now living that headlong flight?

Edited May 8, 2012 by Animate

[Running Rebel]

Lots of interesting and insightful comments.

I understand Trenken's desire for the more "cryptic" metaphors but I do think that we are likely to see some of it in other songs on the new album. This conversation did get me wondering if there was a pattern, or lack there of to Neil's usage of first or second person narrative in the songs, or third for that matter but I think it has more to do with a specific charachter's first person narrative in retrospect. Early on he had more characters or protaganists in the theme or plot type genres,

 

Xanadu,

I had heard the whispered tales

Of immortality

The deepest mystery

From an ancient book. I took a clue

I scaled the frozen mountain tops

Of eastern lands unknown

 

 

Cygnus X-1,

I set a course just east of Lyra

And northwest of Pegasus

Flew into the light of Deneb

Sailed across the Milky Way

 

2112,

I can't wait to share this new wonder

The people will all see its light

Let them all make their own music

The Priests praise my name on this night.

 

Hemispheres,

I have memory and awareness

But I have no shape or form

As a disembodied spirit

I am dead and yet unborn

 

Fountain of Lamneth,

I am born

I am me

I am new

I am free

Look at me

I am young

Sight unseen

Life unsung

 

which is where he is definately getting back to in Headlong Flight. He has done it somewhat since with songs like Red Barchetta, but I agree that the more recent albums have come from a personal note, TFE, Vapor Trails, S&A.

I am left wondering if some simply have a penchant for the charachter narrative as opposed to Neil's personal meanderings or statements.

Edited May 8, 2012 by Running Rebel

[Running Rebel]

QUOTE (psionic11 @ May 7 2012, 11:08 PM)

Great OP, some great story and inspiration in it.  And I agree that even though the lyrics are sometimes dark, they are mostly inspiring.  Life is not all positive or all negative; it's more realistic to reflect on the mix of the two and draw your inspiration from your life lessons. But I would disagree with the whole "guilt" aspect you derived from the lyrics.  I don't see guilt at all.  There may be some regrets or remorse, but it's more sprinkled with hope and nostalgia than guilt.  Conscience is the moral compass to right your wrongs, while guilt is more a despair when you're off course.  Neil uses conscience much more than guilt as a motivator.  But Trenken does have a point -- Neil's lyrics lately are more direct.  But while he relies less on wordplay, I believe you still will find plenty of double-meanings: BU2B is rife with simple phrases that are actually deep (if cynical) explanations of a doubting deist's take on pop religion.  The phrases hold resonance not only within pop culture but also within the Rush universe -- "the universe has a plan ("God has a plan", Freewill, Ghost of a Chance), -- "heaven's justice will prevail" (indignant righteousness of the fervent few, Armor and Sword, Freewill, Totem) -- "blind men in the marketplace, buying what we're sold" (Jesus destroying the marketplace where the pharisees were, Heresy's counter-revolution and Superconductor's scathing rant against pop culture markets). Caravan is likewise deceptively simple, mostly because Neil is writing from a very personal first point of view.  How many songs does Neil use the very pop-friendly words "I" and "you" in?  Most of his classic songs are not in simple first person.  But this album so far is chock full of it.  Still, "I can't stop thinking big" is rich in double and triple meanings, especially related to his whole repertoire of "big" -- big wheels, big money, god and government, grand designs so grand and complex, perspective where the "stars look down"...  Neil has so many songs where he uses the word "world" in one form another, that I can't stop thinking big is a nice succinct way of bringing the whole lot together in an easy-to-relate phrase.  Marathon and Mission and Freewill and 2112 are all about thinking big. Like the whole genre that CA aspires to, Headlong Flight is a throwback or tribute to a whole past that could have been.  "I wish that I could live it all again" calls up Time Stand Still, Cut to the Chase, Between the Wheels, Available Light, and in a limited way, even A Farewell to Kings. Some days were dark, some were bright.  Neil references "I feel" a lot on this album.  Since Hemispheres, he's consciously flip-flopped lyrics on albums between a cerebral dissertation and a more personal catalog of feelings.  On Counterparts, "passion was afire" and "you know how complex women are", while on T4E we have "Half the World" and "Totem".  Snake and Arrows has plenty of "I feel" on it, but so far, CA has a strong mix of "feel".  This may be Rush's swan song.  It's been a great adventure, and the world's a far cry from what Cinderalla Man would have wielded his shield of rusty wire against, but it is, after all, a battle between heart and mind, isn't it? The Universe divided As the Heart and Mind collided

QUOTE

But I would disagree with the whole "guilt" aspect you derived from the lyrics. I don't see guilt at all. There may be some regrets or remorse, but it's more sprinkled with hope and nostalgia than guilt. Conscience is the moral compass to right your wrongs, while guilt is more a despair when you're off course. Neil uses conscience much more than guilt as a motivator.

 

I totally agree with you. As I mentioned I have some personal life issues that sent me down this wormhole as Neil's themes often do. I have been watching someone basically die and the (partial) theme of "no regrets" in Headlong Flight and that reflection on life and death leads to the inevitable guilt the process brings about, on her part and her childrens and their personal reconciliation with it.

 

Which I think is a really interesting conept to this song. Not, what would you change, but would you do it again exactly the same?

 

In CA, the protagonist "can't stop thinking big" (Oh the restless dreams of youth), to a sober reflection where he seems to have no guilt, ala Freddie Gruber. What a fantastic thing to say about life. How powerful and is something we can aspire to because unfortunately, we "can" stop thinking big as life inevitably winds down.

 

The charachter has no guilt and has dealt with it, or lived his life or at least had a an extreme appreciation of it to where he has none. Any guilt he had was possibly used as a motivator to learn, or as may be, to fight, to love, to feel... which is in itself a powerful lesson for us all.

Edited May 8, 2012 by Running Rebel

[trenken]

QUOTE (psionic11 @ May 7 2012, 11:08 PM)

But Trenken does have a point -- Neil's lyrics lately are more direct. But while he relies less on wordplay, I believe you still will find plenty of double-meanings:

BU2B is written in a very sarcastic manner which is kind of cool. He does still use double meanings, but it's just the way he says things now.

 

He doesnt try to disguise what he's saying at all. He's almost writing in plain English, the same way you would talk. He thinks something in his head, and then that's the lyrics. He doesn't seem to be trying to come up with a different way of saying it like he used to.

 

In the past he described his lyrics as mildly cryptic, and I really liked that. It leaves them open to interpretation and sometimes was hard to know what he really meant, which makes it possible for them to mean different things to different people, which I think is great.

 

But with VT, S&A and now these 3 new songs, he's just right to the point with everything, not masking anything, very few clever metaphors or anything like that anymore. That's what bugs me, but at this point he's so hung up on religion in every single song that it really doesnt matter to me anymore HOW he writes them. Im sick of the entire concept so I just listen to the music. The lyrics are irrelevant to me now.

[Running Rebel]

QUOTE (trenken @ May 8 2012, 03:11 PM)

QUOTE (psionic11 @ May 7 2012, 11:08 PM) But Trenken does have a point -- Neil's lyrics lately are more direct.  But while he relies less on wordplay, I believe you still will find plenty of double-meanings: BU2B is written in a very sarcastic manner which is kind of cool. He does still use double meanings, but it's just the way he says things now.   He doesnt try to disguise what he's saying at all. He's almost writing in plain English, the same way you would talk. He thinks something in his head, and then that's the lyrics. He doesn't seem to be trying to come up with a different way of saying it like he used to.   In the past he described his lyrics as mildly cryptic, and I really liked that. It leaves them open to interpretation and sometimes was hard to know what he really meant, which makes it possible for them to mean different things to different people, which I think is great.   But with VT, S&A and now these 3 new songs, he's just right to the point with everything, not masking anything, very few clever metaphors or anything like that anymore. That's what bugs me, but at this point he's so hung up on religion in every single song that it really doesnt matter to me anymore HOW he writes them. Im sick of the entire concept so I just listen to the music. The lyrics are irrelevant to me now. I get what you're saying, but I think I slightly dissagree. I think many Rush songs leave an initial imporession that tends to last for a while, but I find as I pull them out of the vault and re-listen to them, each time I find I am able to get something new out of them, and it's very possible that it is simply that getting older will do that to you. Viewpoints do change as well as life experiences make you relate in different ways.   I think both BU2B and Caravan were mildly cryptic,   On a road lit only by fire Going where I want, instead of where I should I peer out at the passing shadows Carried through the night into the city Where a young man has a chance of making good     Youth coming of age and learing through new experiences is always one of the more popular and lasting themes books and songs can take, (Tom Sawyer e.g.)   While I might initially think of the song from the character viewpoint, and then maybe from Neil's viewpoint, at another time it could send me down to the wormhole to any number of people (like my own son) or other people and characters who "going down the road lit only by fire". Hell, just that line alone brings back many internal themes from that specific book.   And I think that you may be more on point with the BU2B about straightforward lyrics,     Blind men in the market Buying what we're sold Believe in what we're told Until our final breath While our loving Watchmaker Loves us all to death     only because of the Dawkins, Hitchens type of influence and we think we see where he is going right away. But Clockwork Angels as opposed to S&A has more of a Fantasy Literature feel to it, like from the Terry Goodkind -Sword of Truth series or something. Hell, even Star Trek often had religous overtones. It's hard to avoid when talking about grand views of life. In this regard, even 2112's priest of the temple could be compared to the Watchmaker, so as the story unfolds the song could take on new meanings.   Meh, it's only opinion and I do see your point, though mine wouldn't likely change yours much, it's still interesting to talk about. Hell, I had the same thoughts and still do about Red Barchetta's lyrics being dumbed down. Alloy air car? Really?