Rush (progressive rock band)

this is the only 'love song' that Rush has written. it's on side two of 2112. the video is okay, but you have to consider it would be difficult to make a comic book style video for this kind of song. this guy's got four of these comic book style videos of Rush songs.

i remember when i was fourteen and i had to break up with sarah because i was moving to california. i was just getting into Rush at that age and this song really got to me.... especially after seeing sarah cry when i saw her for the last time before i moved. i think Rush was expected by fans to do a love song at some point, so they did one, and did it very well....

an ongoing theme throughout Rush's work is the importance of the individual, individualism, and resisting conformity. you might notice the red pentagram on the 2112 album, and its use by the solar federation in the song story-line on side one of the album. the man standing in front of it in a gesture of resistence, is a symbol of this refusal to conform.

the inspiration for this song was found in the ideas of Ayn Rand. i assume Peart (lyrics writer) read Atlas Shrugged and was impressed with it.



i might add little philosophical comment here. the value of the idea of nonconformity does not hold for the masses, because in being average, ordinary and mediocre, they are unable to comprehend the great importance of the exceptional individual... and therefore the importance of distinction, of distinguishing oneself. they don't know that there can be greatness, and so cannot recognize it. songs like these don't belong to everyone... although Rush intended it that way (they are musicians, not philosophers). songs like these are only valuable to those who feel a tremendous distance between themselves and others, and to these great ones, the very idea of conforming to anything in their time is positively dreadful. they are out of time and out of place, acknowledge no rules, and refuse to be under anyone's control but their own. this song is their anthem.

... but wouldn't everyone believe himself to be one of these 'individuals', and that this song is for them? of course they would. that's part of the tragedy; that everyone is able to believe they are great when they are not, that conformity would take something vital from them, that the differences between them and the 'others' are significantly more than the similarities.

few things are more insidious than an unentitled sense of uniqueness. to add insult to injury, only those who are real individuals can see this charade of ordinary men, and the suffering at the sight of this can be almost unbearable. at times, even nauseating.

great people can get through this crisis if they recognize the necessity of mediocrity, the inability to prevent it, and the use to which it can be put for higher purposes.

meanwhile, they remain stern, and live their lives to the max.... stirner.

The dancer slows her frantic pace
In pain and desperation,
Her aching limbs and downcast face
Aglow with perspiration

Stiff as wire, her lungs on fire,
With just the briefest pause —
The flooding through her memory,
The echoes of old applause.




And she limps across the floor
And closes her bedroom door…




The writer stares with glassy eyes —
Defies the empty page,
His beard is white, his face is lined
And streaked with tears of rage.

Thirty years ago, how the words would flow
With passion and precision,
But now his mind is dark and dulled
By sickness and indecision




And he stares out the kitchen door
Where the sun will rise no more…



Some are born to move the world —
To live their fantasies
But most of us just dream about
The things we’d like to be

Sadder still to watch it die
Than never to have known it
For you — the blind who once could see —
The bell tolls for thee…


2:49- 11/8 meter (so tight!)


For you — the blind who once could see —
The bell tolls for thee…

this may be connected to the story-line on side one of the album, but it could probably stand alone, as it is on side two. it doesn't seem to be related to The Necromancer.

is this song symbolizing the cyclical nature of our lives; our beginning (the valley), our goals (the fountain), our indecision (didacts and narpets), our trials, tribulation, fear and struggle (the ship scene), our dreams (panacea), our joy and happiness (bacchus), our success (top of the mountain), ... our starting it all again ('still, i am')? my italics.

(note: Didacts and Narpets is already posted above.)


I. In the Valley

I am born
I am me
I am new
I am free
Look at me
I am young
Sight unseen
Life unsung…

My eyes have just been opened
And they’re open very wide
Images around me
Don’t identify inside
Just one blur I recognize
The one that soothes and feeds
My way of life is easy
And as simple are my needs

Yet my eyes are drawn toward
The mountain in the east
Fascinates and captivates
Gives my heart no peace
The mountain holds the sunrise
In the prison of the night
Till bursting forth from rocky chains
The valley floods with light

Living one long sunrise
For to me all things are new
I’ve never watched the sky grow pale
Or strolled through fields of dew
I do not know of dust to dust
I live from breath to breath
I live to climb that mountain to
The Fountain of Lamneth

Yet my eyes are drawn toward
The mountain in the east
Fascinates and captivates
Gives my heart no peace
The mountain holds the sunrise
In the prison of the night
Till bursting forth from rocky chains
The valley floods with light



indecision; he must make a choice?



4:17 II. Didacts and Narpets

Stay! Go!
Work! No!
Learn! Live!
Earn! Give!
Stay or fight? What's right?


Listen!!!



alone, overwhelmed, afraid?



5:20 III. No One At the Bridge

Crying back to consciousness
The coldness grips my skin
The sky is pitching violently
Drawn by shrieking winds
Seaspray blurs my vision
Waves roll by so fast
Save my ship of freedom
I’m lashed helpless to the mast

Remembering when first I held
The wheel in my own hands
I took the helm so eagerly
And sailed for distant lands
But now the sea’s too heavy
And I just don’t understand
Why must my crew desert me
When I need a guiding hand

Call out for direction
And there’s no one there to steer
Shout out for salvation
But there’s no one there to hear
Cry out supplication
For the maelstrom is near
Scream out desperation
But no one cares to hear



his love appears in a dream?



9:38 IV. Panacea

The whiteness of confusion
Is unfolding from my mind
I stare around in wonder
Have I left my life behind

I catch the scent of ambergris
And turn my head… surprised
My gaze is caught and held
And I am helpless, mesmerized

Panacea ~ liquid grace
Oh let me touch your fragile face
Enchantment falls around me
And I know I cannot leave

Here’s a meaning for my life
A shelter from the storm
Pacify my troubles with
Her body soft and warm
Naked in our unity
A smile for every tear
Gentle hands that promise me
Comfort through the years
Yet I know I must be gone
Before the light of dawn

Panacea ~ passion pure
I can’t resist your gentle lure
My heart will lie beside you
And my wandering body grieves



memories of joy and happiness?



12:55 V. Bacchus Plateau

Another endless day
Silhouettes of grey
Another glass of wine
Drink with eyes that shine
To days without that chill at morning
Nights time out of mind

Draw another goblet
From the cask of ’43
Crimson misty memory
Hazy glimpse of me
Give me back my wonder
~ I’ve something more to give
I guess it doesn’t matter
~ There’s not much more to live

Another foggy dawn
The mountain almost gone
Another doubtful fear
The road is not so clear
My soul grows ever weary, and…
The end is ever near



destination; his journey is complete?



16:09 VI. The Fountain

Look…the mist is rising
And the sun is peaking through
See, the steps grow lighter
As I reach their final few
Hear, the dancing waters
I must be drawing near
Feel, my heart is pounding
With embattled hope and fear

Now, at last I fall before
The Fountain of Lamneth
I thought I would be singing
But I’m tired… out of breath
Many journeys end here
But, the secret’s told the same
Life is just a candle
And a dream must give it flame’

The key, the end, the answer
Stripped of their disguise
Still it’s all confusion
And tears spring to my eyes
Though I’ve reached a signpost
It’s really not the end
Like Old Sol’ behind the mountain
I’ll be coming up again…

I’m in motion
I am still
I am crying
I am still
I’m together
I’m apart
I’m forever
At the start

Still… I am