7 reasons why I love Rush - part 3

Today's reason:  the lyrics.

Don't get me wrong.  Rush has excellent songs that are all about musicianship and awkward time signatures.  But it was the lyrics that truly brought me to Rush.

I wasn't neilpeart_gal when Chas met me just for the drummer's looks, after all.  (Though he may tell you differently - erm, row boat scene??  ;-)

At any rate - I was first introduced to the trio in high school by a friend in the band (Paul Tramel, take a bow!).  He gave me a copy of 'Grace Under Pressure' on cassette, which I proceeded to wear out in my car.  'Grace' isn't really full of lyrical gems in the grand scheme of their career, but there was something about it I really dug.  Then one day on the way home from school, I heard 'Subdivisions' on the radio.  Had it not been for the DJ, I may not have realized this was Rush, so I kept the station on and turned it up.  To this day, it is something I will never forget.

It was as if someone was speaking for me, not TO me or AT me - which for a teenager was huge.  I mean, who can deny this universal truth:

In the high school halls

In the shopping malls

conform or be cast out

in the basement bars

in the backs of cars

be cool or be cast out...

The whole song was (and is) genius.  I never WANTED to be 'in' and hated conformity - and here was someone acknowledging that and saying 'screw it' at the same time.  He had done it and he had lived to tell about it.  From the perch of a rock band stage, no less -- but he still wasn't talking down to me.  Brilliant.  Fucking brilliant, in fact.

From there, I bought 'Signals' almost right away and began digging into it and 'Grace', listening intently to the lyrics on both.  That started what has since become a lifelong pattern.  First listen, I always tune in for what is being said.  Always.  I do not feel that I 'know' a Rush album until I can sing along to it, word for word.  I may not always agree with what I hear, but it will always, without fail, make me think.  Thinking (wo)man's band, indeed.  (^^Favorite picture of Neil - EVER!)

My favorite Rush lyrical moment to date, though,  still stands from 1980s 'Witch Hunt.'  The entire song, really - but mainly this:

Quick to judge, quick to anger

slow to understand

ignorance and prejudice 

and fear walk hand in hand

If everyone would apply that to their daily lives, even just a little bit - how much better off would we be?  

I know my husband and I will always see this band from opposite sides of the same coin.  That actually makes me like them even MORE. It proves Rush has something for everyone.  You can bang your head, you can listen to complicated rhythms and complex time changes, you can enjoy creative and virtuosic guitar solos and drum/bass riffs - or you can focus on the lyrics to learn, think and expand your mind.  What more can you ask for from a band?