Manhattan Project

[BigBob]

I love everything about this song. I keep wanting to say its the best from PW, but there are so many great songs on that album. Marathon, Big Money, Territories, Middle Town Dreams...

 

If I had to rank PW It would be something like this...

1) Marathon

2) Manhattan Project

3) Big Money

4) Territories

5) Middle Town Dreams

6) Mystic Rhythms

7) Emotion Detector

8) Grand Designs

 

But this threads not about PW, its about how awesome Manhattan Project is.

 

I think Ged does some of his best vocals on this song. Especially, when played live. The whole "Piloet of Enola Gay, flying out of the shock wave" sends shivers down my spine.

 

And also I think this is one Neil's best written songs. It's like a history lesson but also a warning. And it fits so well on this entire Album.

 

You know what talk about PW as well lets have some fun with this thread...

 

[OGr8imL84AD8inF8sBlackSedan]

Yep...good song.

[SchemingDemon]

I agree it's definitely a good song. I really like PoW as a whole, though I've never really been on the same Mystic Rhythms bandwagon as everyone else. That damn song is STILL growing on me!

 

My rankings would go something like this:

 

1. Marathon

2. Middletown Dreams

3. Territories

4. Emotion Detector

5. Manhattan Project

6. Grand Designs

7. The Big Money

8. Mystic Rhythms

[racefaceec90]

it's an awesome track

[Bastille Dave]

I've always loved it. Back when PoW came out, it was the first track I latched onto. I didnt really love Big Money and this was the second track off the album they played on the radio. Manhattan Project was the track that made me buy PoW (back before the internet, you had to hear it on the radio first, or maybe MTV.)

[goose]

QUOTE (BigBob @ Jun 9 2012, 08:24 PM)

I think Ged does some of his best vocals on this song. Especially, when played live. The whole "Piloet of Enola Gay, flying out of the shock wave" sends shivers down my spine.

The vocals are stellar!

 

[ColdFireYYZ]

Love it. Power Windows is a great album.

[CrossedSignals]

Easily my least favorite on Power Windows.

 

But Power Windows is my second favorite Rush album, so it's still great.

 

It's the only song on PoW that I have mixed feelings about. The first time I heard it I thought it was cheesy as heck, and that feeling has never really left, although I've learned to enjoy the cheese. Cheese can be tasty.

[HowItIs]

It took me awhile to warm up to it but now I love it - simply a wonderful song. The vocals are superb! And the same line - "...the pilot of Enola Gay flying out of the shockwave on that August day..." gives me chicken-skin every time I hear it.

 

My Grandfather was stationed at White Sands/Alamagordo right after the war. He was an airplane mechanic. The bomb program was something he never would talk about. I wish I could have played him this song.

[vitalsigns318]

QUOTE (HowItIs @ Jun 10 2012, 06:23 AM)

It took me awhile to warm up to it but now I love it - simply a wonderful song. The vocals are superb! And the same line - "...the pilot of Enola Gay flying out of the shockwave on that August day..." gives me chicken-skin every time I hear it. My Grandfather was stationed at White Sands/Alamagordo right after the war. He was an airplane mechanic. The bomb program was something he never would talk about. I wish I could have played him this song.

My Grandpap was a pilot in WWII. He received recognition at the Soldiers Sailors Hall in Pittsburgh for landing a plane behind enemy lines in Germany. I remember when the video for Manhattan Project came out, he got mad because I would watch it at his house on MTV just because it was rock and roll.

 

Rush was right though "All the powers that be and the course of history would be changed for ever more". The A bomb has caused fear in the 20th and 21st centuries just because of its existence.

[ArrowSnake]

Love the live version on A Show of Hands.

[Unattractive Truth]

In my Rush All-Time Top Ten.

 

Love it!

 

[ShlappinDahBass]

While his vocals are superb in this song. Let's not forget the bass. He is RIPPING THE BASS UP in this song.

[Mika]

Excellent song! The whole album has such good material.

 

Last night 'Emotion Detector' popped up on my ipod, and this morning 'Marathon' came on... I was one happy weed-puller! (Well, until the song finished and I was just... pulling weeds....) ...And I do really like 'Mystic Rhythms'. It's a really interesting-sounding song, and I always love when the bass parts come in. Nice groove!

[Animate]

Manhattan Project is my favorite off PowW! I love the dreamy intro

 

I played it for my 76 year old step-father in law, who got a PhD in nuclear physics after being inspired by the real Manhattan Project. He liked the lyrics, although the over all sound was too heavy for him.

 

 

[HowItIs]

It's really too bad that our parents and grandparents can't get past a little bit of electric guitar to listen to such an amazing song. I guess letting them read the lyrics is okay but not hearing Geddy sing them is just.... wrong.

 

And yes, Neil was spot-on with that one. We were changed forever more....

[TheAccountant]

I agree with the OP. Very good song off a very good album. Like the OP I love the "Pilot of Enola Gay, flying out of that shockwave on that August Day". Gives me shivers. Did then, does now.

 

As has also been said, the song is a great history lesson. Back in 1985 when the album / song first came out it was a great history lesson. But its more than that.

 

Back then the cold war was still going on and the bomb was a serious menace. Even into the mid 1980's the possibility of a nuclear war sent shudders down every bodies spines and a lot of folks understood the how / why. The bomb was a key part of the Cold War which was still ongoing at that time.

 

Now? Its 27 years latter (god the years have gone by - where have they gone? seems like it was only yesterday that I was in my late teens and rocking out to this album and song - sorry if I am mimicking a Bob Seeger song, its unintentional - now I am in my mid 40's but still love the album and song, lot has changed but not that) and an entire generation has been born and grown up for whom the idea of a full fledged nuclear war is just a strange and scary story, not a frightening possibility of what could be a horrible reality. Lucky them. Trust me, no sarcasm intended with that last statement. Now the song is less of a direct and obvious history lesson about where we are but more of an intellectual lesson which should get folks thinking. About where they are, where they came from and where they are going. About how their actions can have enormous consequences. About understanding the motivations behind the actions of others - actions you may not like the results of on the surface. That was, I feel, part of Neil's point back then and it is still 1000% relevant today.

 

For that generation the bomb, the Cold War, the fall of Saigon, the Vietnam War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall are not the direct defining moments of their existence (all stemming back - in many ways - the WW 2 and the Manhattan Project). Prior generations were defined by those and, in turn, by WW 2, the Manhattan Project and the bomb. Yes, those events were in turn shaped by the assassination in 1914 of the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hangarian empire (the what? shame on you - look it up) and the war that followed. Neil was not around in 1914 (nor were most Rush fans) so he could not connect all the dots to get folks think in such an emotional way about events in 1914 and how they impacted their lives in 1985. He could use 1945 and WW 2 and the Manhattan project as it was more immediate and the impact more obvious. He could get them to think about history, where they were but also something more. Where they came from, how they got where they were ("Imagine a Man, when it all began"), where they were going and the consequences of actions.

 

"Think in such an emotional way"? Yes that was intentional. May not make sense to you but it does to me. Neil could connect the WW2 dots to 1985 and get us to think. That was more direct and obvious then from 1914. A shorter trail for him to use. Great history lesson, that was emotional & powerful plus it allowed him to craft a much deeper message about actions, knowing where you are coming from, thinking about the consequences of your actions and understanding other motivations.

 

For that generation I mentioned above (the post 1985 generation) the defining moments have been the economic mess we are in and 9/11. As my parents who are in their late 80's and lived through The Great Depression and WW2 called it "Your generations Pearl Harbor".

 

After 9/11, the possibility of terrorists getting the bomb (rightly) sent shivers down a lot of folks spines. "The World would be changed forever more". The bomb was central to the Cold War - not the cause, but a big part of it. No cold war, no invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR, no Taliban etc and perhaps no 9/11. Its all connected in some way, our actions have consequences and one has to understand where they came from to understand where they are and where they are going. If you don't look at where you have come from and don't think about where you are going your actions may have very unpleasant consequences. The message was powerful in 1985 and it still works today - perhaps a longer trail of bread crumbs to follow since the Cold War has been over since around 1990 - but its there. The folks who grew up since 1985 just have to read their history.

 

Final note. Please don't think for a moment that I minimize 9/11 and the effect it has had on all of us including the generation that has grown up since the end of the cold war. I knew 9 people who went to work that morning in the WTC and never went home. All I am saying is that those who grew up since the end of the cold war should enjoy this song for its artistic beauty and try to understand the history lesson in it plus the deeper message.

 

Obviously I like the song. A lot. Great emotion, great lyrics, well sung by Geddy, great music, an awesome history lesson (and we should all know our history!!) and a much deeper message. Of course I may be reading way to much into the message and it may just be a great history lesson. If so it still should be listened to by all and (hopefully) be enjoyed.

 

Hope this rant makes sense.

 

Dang, with all of the obscure history references Wikipedia should be getting some serious activity from folks reading this post.

 

 

[ReflectedLight]

as long as they don't add manhattan project to the setlist, i'm ok with it.

[jnoble]

the studio version of The Big Money always gets me excited and pumped. It's also refreshing to hear it on the radio instead of the usual overplayed Rush songs (TS, Spirit, Limelight, etc etc)