| Rush – Animate Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Three years late with the reply ... but what the hell! I'm not sure this is about A person or TWO persons. It really is a call to men in general to be aware of their feminine side and to embrace it ... to let it make them better than what they are. However it also speaks to women, asking them to understand that men have fortresses to defend and that strength is a natural and desirable trait that must be balanced so man can "gently dominate". I'm not sure the feminists will like that sentiment, but my wife nods in appreciation when she hears this song. |
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| Rush – Distant Early Warning Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Far be it from me to argue with the author of this lyric ... but I just have to add a few side interpretations! The use of the DEW reference certainly invokes political comment. When I listen to this tune, I'm always struck by how it describes the relationship between Canada and the USA from a Canadian perspective. It describes two nations so similar in many respects but seemingly moving in opposite directions on important things so often. There is a desire to communicate but when push comes to shove, the little neighbour is useful for nothing more than sweeping up the mess. Then, when left to contemplate the fallout ("the world weighs on my shoulders, but what am I to do?"), we talk of how we're driven crazy by the decisions but also worried about the far reaching ramifications of so many ill considered choices and what it could mean to our friend. "Cruising under your radar" and "watching from satellites" are obvious double entendres - a reference again to the DEW line but also a tip of the hat to the fact Canada doesn't really register on the geopolitical agenda of America ... and careful (perhaps even stealthy) observation from a distance could be interpreted to reflect that Canada watches and absorbs American culture over airwaves ... and can see danger written in a lot of what it sees. The closing seems an admonition and a call to reconsider things - left and right, black and white ... who can finally acknowledge that what we believe is absolutely fact is actually not the truth at all? And finally, a call to "Father of Peace", imploring a nation hell bent on aggression to reconsider its ways. If the master himself says his song is about other things, I must be wrong. But damn, when I listen to this tune, my interpretation is the visual image I see. I guess this is what art really is - it is in the eye (and the ear ... and the mind ... and the ...) of the beholder. |
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| Rush – New World Man Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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To me, this song speaks of the challenges of being the USA. "He" is America, born of rebellion and just running/pushing into the future with no red light to stop him and full of romantic idealism married with ambition to become the pre-eminent power. Understanding he'll have problems, he also knows/believes he can overcome anything. The "old world man" are the old European powers of yesteryear that resent the new kid on the block but expect that new kid to behave with deference and be their saviour when needed. Obviously, the "third world man" are emerging countries - their resentment of what America possesses underlying the need and expectation that America will assist them too. Peart sees the good and bad in America - wisdom and foolishness, nobility and weakness, intellecualism and bellicosity, the desire to do the right thing but the reality of sometimes just not choosing the right path. The lyric "a radio receiver tuned to factories and farms, he's a writer" refers to a nation of great diversity and broad understanding capable of scripting its future but the line "ranger and a young boy bearing arms" infers an impulsive and inexperienced nation that sometimes just charges ahead without thought. This nation is great enough to win the world but just might lose it all through foolish decisions. Speaking as a Canadian observing, appreciating and sometimes deriding America from north of the 49th parallel, I thing Neil pretty much nailed this one straight on. America is great and full of promise, worthy of admiration ... but somehow, it just never seems to realize all it could be. I'm not sure if the rest of the world sees America with the same affection and concern for where it might end up in the long run, so my interpretation might be coloured by my nationality. Then again, this IS a Canadian band ... |
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