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

[Johnny Gilbert]

From The Anarchist:

 

"a missing part of me that grows around me like a cage"

[LedRush]

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).

 

If memory serves, this was merely a misprint in the US version of the album. When asked about it, Neil would bristle and say that it pissed him off when fans thought they knew the lyrics better than he did (I guess fans thought the lyrics were the version that you wrote, not the lyrics Geddy sings). Only later did he learn that the fans had the wrong lyrics because they were printed incorrectly in the album notes.

[Lorraine]

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).

 

If memory serves, this was merely a misprint in the US version of the album. When asked about it, Neil would bristle and say that it pissed him off when fans thought they knew the lyrics better than he did (I guess fans thought the lyrics were the version that you wrote, not the lyrics Geddy sings). Only later did he learn that the fans had the wrong lyrics because they were printed incorrectly in the album notes.

 

Sometimes he's such a snip. Well, excuuuuuuuuuuuuse us Neil!

[KennyLee]

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).

 

If memory serves, this was merely a misprint in the US version of the album. When asked about it, Neil would bristle and say that it pissed him off when fans thought they knew the lyrics better than he did (I guess fans thought the lyrics were the version that you wrote, not the lyrics Geddy sings). Only later did he learn that the fans had the wrong lyrics because they were printed incorrectly in the album notes.

 

I think the original Shakespeare line was simply, "Not to decide is to decide" or something very abbreviated like that.

[LedRush]

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).

 

If memory serves, this was merely a misprint in the US version of the album. When asked about it, Neil would bristle and say that it pissed him off when fans thought they knew the lyrics better than he did (I guess fans thought the lyrics were the version that you wrote, not the lyrics Geddy sings). Only later did he learn that the fans had the wrong lyrics because they were printed incorrectly in the album notes.

 

http://www.nimitz.net/rush/faq2ans.html#77

 

The source for what I said. I think I looked this up in '97 or so :D

[sabresman31]

"Art as expression Not as market campaign Will still capture our imaginations" -Natural Science

 

"Throw off those chains of reason And your prison disappears" Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres

 

"Nowhere is the dreamer Or the misfit so alone" -Subdivisions (Almost every line in this song could've been quoted)

 

"Quiet in conscience, calm in their right Confident their ways are best." -Witch Hunt

 

"Thank your stars you're not that way Turn your back and walk away" -Wish Them Well

 

There are many, many more. These were the top five that had an impact on me, they aren't in any particular order.

Edited May 16, 2014 by sabresman31

[KennyLee]

This one also hit me as a young musician:

 

All this machinery making modern music

Can still be open hearted

Not so coldly charted

It's really just a question of your honesty

One likes to believe in the freedom of music

But glittering prizes and endless compromises

Shatter the illusion of integrity

 

That says a hell of a lot right there and really changed the way I wrote music. Was never great at writing but it definitely changed my approach.

[losingit2k]

Losing it!

 

For You the Blind who one could see, The Bell tolls for thee!"

Edited May 16, 2014 by losingit2k

[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).

 

If memory serves, this was merely a misprint in the US version of the album. When asked about it, Neil would bristle and say that it pissed him off when fans thought they knew the lyrics better than he did (I guess fans thought the lyrics were the version that you wrote, not the lyrics Geddy sings). Only later did he learn that the fans had the wrong lyrics because they were printed incorrectly in the album notes.

 

http://www.nimitz.ne...faq2ans.html#77

 

The source for what I said. I think I looked this up in '97 or so :D

 

Thanks for the legwork LedRush. I could swear I remember seeing Geddy talking about this in an interview and saying the discrepancy between the printed lyrics and what he sang were because he had to believe in what he was singing… but that was soooooo long ago, and my memory has been known to play tricks on me. At least this proves that I did accurately remember that the lyrics printed on the album sleeve were different. I really have to wonder what Neil means by "uncorrected typeset". It isn't like this was just a typo… there is quite a difference between "still" and "cannot".

[EagleMoon]

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:

 

:)

 

Same here. I probably would never have read Ayn Rand except for Neil's lyrics. The literary references were one thing that really drew me in when I first heard the band.

[ucsteve667]

Can any part of life be larger than life?

Even love must be limited by time

[lachrymal]

"No hero in your tragedy,

no daring in your escape"

 

"Though his mind is not for rent,

don't put him him down as arrogant.

His reserve, a quiet defense,

riding out the day's events."

 

"Wheels within wheels in a spiral array,

A pattern so grand and complex.

Time after time we lose sight of the way,

Our causes can't see their effects."

[Empty Mindless Spectre]

 

Our causes can't see their effects."

 

I absolutely LOVE that one.

[upstateNYfan]

There are so many brilliant lines.

 

This was one didn't have a profound effect on me, but it perfectly encapsulates young men especially:

"Drawn like moths we drift into the city, the timeless old attraction—cruising for the action."

Edited May 23, 2014 by upstateNYfan

[Geddy's Soul Patch]

"Summer's going fast, nights growing colder. Children growing up, old friends growing older. Freeze this moment a little bit longer, make each sensation a little bit stronger. Experience slips away, the innocence slips away"

[Empty Mindless Spectre]

'We carry a sensitive cargo below the waterline

Ticking like a time bomb, with a primitive design

Behind the finer feelings, the civilized veneer

The heart of a lonely hunter guards a dangerous frontier

 

It's not a matter of conscience, or search for probable cause

It's just a matter of instinct, a matter of fatal flaws

​No reward for resistance… no assistance, no applause'

[Empty Mindless Spectre]

'An ounce of perception, a pound of obscure

Process information at half speed

​Pause, rewind, replay… warm memory chip

Random, sample, hold the one you need

 

The impulse is pure,

sometimes our circuits get shorted

by external interference

Signals get crossed

And the balance distorted

By internal incoherence'

[ytserush]

Nearly all of them......

[coventry]

There are so many brilliant lines.

 

This was one didn't have a profound effect on me, but it perfectly encapsulates young men especially:

"Drawn like moths we drift into the city, the timeless old attraction—cruising for the action."

 

Agreed - and the last lyric to that song exemplifies the haunting recursive lure of suburbia:

 

"And start to dream of somewhere to relax their restless flight

somewhere out of the memory of lighted streets on quiet nights"

[x1yyz]

There are so many brilliant lines.

 

This was one didn't have a profound effect on me, but it perfectly encapsulates young men especially:

"Drawn like moths we drift into the city, the timeless old attraction—cruising for the action."

 

Agreed - and the last lyric to that song exemplifies the haunting recursive lure of suburbia:

 

"And start to dream of somewhere to relax their restless flight

somewhere out of the memory of lighted streets on quiet nights"

 

I find that Middletown Dreams is the continuation of Subdivisions; the tedium of the suburbs broken up by dreams. Some leave the suburbs to pursue dreams

 

But he'd be climbing on that bus

Just him and his guitar

To blaze across the heavens

Like a brilliant shooting star

 

While others learn to love them

 

And life's not unpleasant

In their little neighborhood

Edited May 25, 2014 by x1yyz

[The Analog Cub]

All of YYZ Edited May 25, 2014 by BowlCity

[MMCXII]

Territories

 

They shoot without shame

In the name of a piece of dirt

For a change of accent

Or the color of your shirt

Better the pride that resides

In a citizen of the world

Than the pride that divides

When a colorful rag is unfurled

 

Edited May 25, 2014 by MMCXII

[Jeffrey]

It's cold comfort, to the ones without it, to know how they've struggled, how they suffered about it

If their lives were exotic and strange, they would likely gladly exchange them for something a little more plain, maybe something a little more sane

We each pay a fabulous price, for our visions of paradise, but a spirit with a vision is a dream, with a mission

-----------------

 

We hold beliefs as a consolation, a way to take us out of ourselves...

 

----------------

 

Blind man in the market, buying what they're sold...

 

----------------

 

 

If the futures looking dark, we're the ones who have to shine,

If there's no one in control, we're the ones who draw the line

Though we're living in trying times, we're the ones who have to try

Though we know that time has wings, we're the ones have to fly...

 

Note: Lately feeling immense love for Everyday Glory...off the charts brilliantly crafted track

[agubrizbassman]

I feel like New World Man was written about me, before I was even born! hahahaha!

The Pass and Bravado's lyrics impacted me, as well as many others, and I won't name all!!!

[Captain Avatar]

You move me-

you move me-

 

With your buildings and your eyes

Autumn woods and winter skies

 

You move me-

you move me-

 

Open sea and city lights

Busy streets and dizzy heights

 

You call me-

you call me-

 

 

Suddenly-

you were gone...

from all the lives

you left your mark upon

 

 

TIME STAND STILL (the whole thing moves me)

 

When we are young

wandering the face of the earth

wondering what our dreams might be worth

learning that we're only immortal for a limited time

 

As the years went by

we drifted apart

when I heard that you were gone

I felt a shadow cross my heart

 

If the future's looking dark

We're the ones who have to shine

If there's no one in control

We're the ones who draw the line

Though we live in trying times,

 

 

We're the ones who have to try

Though we know that time has wings,

We're the ones who have to fly

 

Carry all those phantoms

Through bitter wind and stormy skies