What Rush lyrics have had the most profound affect on you?

[H. P. L.]

Now that you make me think about it, there are many of them. Although it's been a long time since I've needed comfort or inspiration from rock lyrics, Rush or others, there are quite a few that I love going over and over again.

 

- The Pass

 

- "You can do a lot in a lifetime / If you don't blow out too fast"

 

- The Enemy Within

 

- "Sometimes I feel I'm on top of the world..."

 

- Subdivisions

[WavesandWindows]

Just the chorus of Between the Wheels. It sums up everything in life really.

[Segue Myles]

Red Sector A.

 

My dad is 75 years old. Born in 1939, he started his life in Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands. These islands were invaded by the nazi's, and as a result my father and his family were subsequently arrested and placed in a german camp for five years. Not quite a concentration camp, but sort of a pitstop for Jews before the real deal of such harsher environments such as Auchwitsz etc. My dad and his older brother survived those five years as a result of the Red Cross parcels dropped over head and pure good luck. As a result, I have a strong interest in all aspects of the holocaust and this song particularly moves me. I might not be alive today typing this had Hitler and his comrades been successful. Chilling.

 

By the way, my family is not Jewish. However, i wish not to discuss the roots of my family problems and why they were placed into such a harsh environment.

[Hukos]

We can walk our road together

If our goals are all the same

We can run alone and free

If we pursue a different aim

Let the truth of love be lighted

Let the love of truth shine clear

Sensibility, armed with sense and liberty

With the Heart and Mind united in a single perfect sphere

 

Really, as far as I'm concerned this is the quintessential Rush lyric.

[Jaminbenb]

The most poignant line of all Neils lyrics to me is:

 

"...We are only immortal, for a limited time"!

 

Been using that as a signature on different things for years! As I get older, I "get it"....

[Lorraine]

The most poignant line of all Neils lyrics to me is:

 

"...We are only immortal, for a limited time"!

 

Been using that as a signature on different things for years! As I get older, I "get it"....

 

When that album came out, I was 37. I remember the first time I head the song and it was that line that grabbed my attention. I remember thinking how very true it was.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Lorraine

[Empty Mindless Spectre]

Anthem

Marathon

Freewill

Headlong Flight

 

The chorus from Far Cry

 

There's probably more, but those are the main ones.

 

Not really a big fan of Anthem, because I strive to be an unselfish person, but all in all those are some fine choices sir!

[Empty Mindless Spectre]

Wow, this thread has been a GREAT read! An excellent job done by pretty much everyone who has contributed. I will add a verse that I can't truly say has profoundly inspired me, but I wish I would have let it:

 

What you own is your own kingdom

What you do is your own glory

What you love is your own power

What you live is your own story

 

In your head is the answer

Let it guide you along

Let your heart be the anchor

And the beat of your song

[Empty Mindless Spectre]

I don't know about changing me or anything, but every time I start to feel overwhelmed by life I hear this in my head:

 

Sometimes our big splashes

are just ripples in the pool...

 

It always helps me stop and look at things in perspective.

 

Ah yes…getting 'Right to the heart of the matter"

 

​One of the most underrated Rush songs in my opinion.

[CygnusGal]

The Pass ... All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers learn to steer by the stars. That lyric got me through a very tough time in my life.

 

Moving Pictures (all of it) - I fell in love with Rush and bought my first bass. :)

[Empty Mindless Spectre]

If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice.

 

 

Interesting choice KennyLee. I'm pretty sure that this lyric was actually originally written "If you choose not to decide you cannot have made a choice". If memory serves me correctly, Geddy Lee insisted on changing it because he could not in good conscience sing such a lyric that he so adamantly disagreed with. (I would love to hear someone else weigh in on this to confirm or rebuke what I'm fairly certain I remember).

[Empty Mindless Spectre]

I have several that come to mind. They're pretty self-explanatory.

 

Cities full of hatred, fear and lies

Withered hearts and cruel, tormented eyes

Scheming demons dressed in kingly guise

Beating down the multitude and

Scoffing at the wise

-------

 

Dripping with vitriol, yet remarkably accurate still today… so sad.

[Lorraine]

The Pass ... All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers learn to steer by the stars. That lyric got me through a very tough time in my life.

 

Moving Pictures (all of it) - I fell in love with Rush and bought my first bass. :)

Cygnus Gal, I love those lyrics from The Pass too. One day I got some type of publication in the mail. As I was leafing through, I came across this:

 

Oscar Wilde said, "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are gazing at the stars."

 

I couldn't help but wonder if Neil, since he is such a prolific reader, "borrowed" this thought from Oscar Wilde when he was writing The Pass.

[Empty Mindless Spectre]

A simple kind of mirror

To reflect upon our own

All the busy little creatures

Chasing out their destinies

Living in their pools

They soon forget about the sea

 

Another excellent choice!

 

I posted the entire Tide Pools lyrics along with the end verse of the Permanent Waves section (I believe they were meant to go together) on a fantasy football forum I was a regular on a few years back, for some non Rush fans whom I and a couple of other Rush fanatics on the site were trying to introduce Rush to, and it got rave reviews. I remember one person in particular was so moved by it he sent me a personal message to thank me for posting it. So staying true to the thread title (sort of), perhaps I have played a role in these Rush lyrics having a profound effect on someone else.

Edited May 16, 2014 by Empty Mindless Spectre

[CygnusGal]

The Pass ... All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers learn to steer by the stars. That lyric got me through a very tough time in my life.

 

Moving Pictures (all of it) - I fell in love with Rush and bought my first bass. :)

Cygnus Gal, I love those lyrics from The Pass too. One day I got some type of publication in the mail. As I was leafing through, I came across this:

 

Oscar Wilde said, "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are gazing at the stars."

 

I couldn't help but wonder if Neil, since he is such a prolific reader, "borrowed" this thought from Oscar Wilde when he was writing The Pass.

 

Neil made me read more than I had and certainly more diverse authors than I had previously. Quixote and Coleridge and Wilde. Opening my mind was a profound experience.

 

I've always loved the way I felt compelled to learn more.

 

And, I really like how he works in the literary references. :ebert:

 

:)

[The Cat 3]

"You can surrender without a prayer. But never really pray, pray without surrender..." (Resist)

[Cygnus 2112]

Even though it's just a memory some memories last forever.

[Geddy's Soul Patch]

The most endangered species, the honest man, will still survive annihilation. Forming a world state of integrity, sensitive, open, and strong.

[thirteen]

The lyrics in Freewill changed my entire world-view.

[Anguyen92]

I'm pretty recent but Wish Them Well and The Garden's lyrics affected me very well.

 

Those lyrics, "Thank your stars you're not that way Turn your back and walk away Don't even pause and ask them why Turn around and say goodbye," made me realize that I don't have to stoop to anyone's level. If I'm not satisfied with any dynamics or relationships, I don't have to commit to that if I don't want to. I can just walk away and don't have that hurting me anymore.

 

As for the Garden, that's easy. "The measure of a life is a measure of love and respect, So hard to earn so easily burned." Those lyrics made me realize that you work hard to forge all of these relationships with the various in your life and that it can go away in an instant, and once that's gone, life just seems a little empty and pointless. I just want to do all I can to protect and preserve that Garden full of the good stuff.

 

Oh yeah, the lyrics in Subdivisions would have given a lot of clarity during my high school years. I would have approached a lot of decisions differently had I heard that song in that time.

 

In a dog's life

A year is really more like seven

And all too soon a canine

Will be chasing cars in doggie heaven

 

The moment I heard those lyrics, I was like, "Way to depress the dogs and dogs lovers with that one, man."

Edited May 16, 2014 by Anguyen92

[CygnusGal]

The Pass ... All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers learn to steer by the stars. That lyric got me through a very tough time in my life.

 

Moving Pictures (all of it) - I fell in love with Rush and bought my first bass. :)

Cygnus Gal, I love those lyrics from The Pass too. One day I got some type of publication in the mail. As I was leafing through, I came across this:

 

Oscar Wilde said, "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are gazing at the stars."

 

I couldn't help but wonder if Neil, since he is such a prolific reader, "borrowed" this thought from Oscar Wilde when he was writing The Pass.

 

Neil made me read more than I had and certainly more diverse authors than I had previously. Quixote Cervantes and Coleridge and Wilde. Opening my mind was a profound experience.

 

I've always loved the way I felt compelled to learn more.

 

And, I really like how he works in the literary references. :ebert:

 

:)

 

Cervantes, not Quixote. They say the mind is the first thing to go... :codger:

 

Something For Nothing also had a huge impact on my impressionable (and extremely egocentric) teenage mind.

 

:musicnote: In your head is the answer, let it guide you along, let your heart be the anchor and the beat of your song :musicnote:

 

Many years later, I have learned that my head doesn't have all of the answers. I have fewer answers today, but more clarity (if that makes any sense).

[Lorraine]

They say the mind is the first thing to go...

 

I wish you hadn't said that. I'm in a lot of trouble. The only thing I can hope for is that I go before my mind completely does.

[CygnusGal]

They say the mind is the first thing to go...

 

I wish you hadn't said that. I'm in a lot of trouble. The only thing I can hope for is that I go before my mind completely does.

I didn't mean to touch a sensitive button. I was just being a goofball.

 

Sorry... :(

[Lorraine]

They say the mind is the first thing to go...

 

I wish you hadn't said that. I'm in a lot of trouble. The only thing I can hope for is that I go before my mind completely does.

I didn't mean to touch a sensitive button. I was just being a goofball.

 

Sorry... :(

 

No worries. I should have used an appropriate emoticon for my post. Serious though, my memory is going - seems to pick and choose what it remembers in a strange way. Can be scary at times for someone like myself who used to be able to completely rely on my memory.

[LeaveMyThingAlone]

I'm not a Rush fan because of the lyrics but there have been plenty of stuff that I really do live by and appreciate the message that Neil is trying to convey

 

"Show me don't tell me"

The whole song is about all the phonies that talk the talk but don't walk the walk. Guys that say but don't do. I see a lot of them every day and Ilike to say "show me don't tell me" to their face

 

Roll the Bones

"Winners take that praise, losers seldom take that blame" Fate is just the weight of circumstanes"

Of course the message is just get out there and do it. Make your own luck. Work hard. Losers will always make excuses why they can't do it, and winners will always make it happen. The word "lucky" is perhaps the most overused and my least favorite word. You make your own luck

 

"BU2B"

My favorite Rush lyrics. Yah, he's beating a dead horse, but I absolutely love the biting sarcasm.

"Some will be rewarded and the devil will take the rest"

This touches on the absurdity of certain religions that God rewards a precious few and sentences all the rest of us to hell. Gee, thanks wonderful and powerful God for giving me life just to send me to hell

 

"Double Agent"

This one has really been hitting close to home lately. I am wrestling with a lot of things....what I want out of life. The things I want to do.

"The choice between darkness and light"

The duality of man. Most of us want to be good, but there's always a battle with a side of us that wants to do the wrong thing or at least do the thing that might be more selfish and make us happy, but hurt others. I've made some selfish decisions lately. I've been listening to the little red devil on my left shoulder instead of the little angel on my right shoulder