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Thank you thelargerbowl, I am also a strong Rush fan. I live in Toronto, in fact in the very neighborhood where Geddy and Alex grew up. I am a ten minute walk from their old high school. I am older than the band members, I was clubbing when the age of alcohol was dropped and they suddenly started playing in clubs around Toronto. It is an simple fact to state I live dead center in Rush country.
Rush has been a part of my life since I moved to Toronto in 1975, shortly after Neil joined the band.
Yes, I have been devastated.
He was also an atheist, but described himself as a "linear thinking agnostic".
I own a wonderful Rush t-shirt that just by wearing it, has opened doors for me around Toronto. One example was when I was attending a race at Mosport, and wanted to cross a pedestrian bridge, with a security guard controlling traffic. I walked up to the bridge, he took one look at my t-shirt, said "cool", and waved me past.
But this isn't about me, it is about the loss of a truly wonderful man, an intellectual, a man with deep emotions, and a professional who never stopped improving and moving forward. Neil wrote most of Rush's lyrics, mainly based on books he had read, and his personal experiences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYYdQB0mkEU
One interesting part of that song was that Neil had recorded the name of the song, and a few times during that song, Alex lip-synched it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJoTxywiRG0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWRMOJQDiLU
Thank you David for sharing your thoughts, experiences and love of Rush with me! It is very cool that you are where Geddy and Alex grew up and I saw that High school on the, Beyond The Lighted Stage documentary. I like your song choices and, "Subdivisions" is the song that I remembered from the time it came out as the one that I could relate to.
I have some Rush artwork prints and memorabilia and of course every CD they put out. The R40 tour was bittersweet as I knew it was the last, but felt very fortunate that I was able to see them before the end.
Hearing about Neil was a shock and I feel a loss for someone I never even met, but that is what his writing and their music has done for me.
There will never be another group like them!
Thanks for responding.
Another huge Rush fan here.
Neil's lyrics spoke to me as a high school student in the late 70's. Moving Pictures is still one of my favorite albums ever. Neil was a quiet, reserved man who loved his family, friends and privacy. He was obviously one of the great drummers to ever live. An enormous loss.
As a side note, Audible, as of last week at least, was offering all his books absolutely free. I've been listening to "Traveling Music" this week on my commutes and am thoroughly enjoying it, in a bittersweet way.
Hi NewSkeptic, thanks for sharing your thought. I would love to hear some of those audio books, so appreciate the info. If I had to pick my three favorite albums, they would be Moving Pictures, Signals and 2112. Of course I love them all.
Moving Pictures
Permanent Waves
2112
So not too different than yours. Not a big fan of their synth era, but there are some good songs sprinkled in those albums. Also have a fondness for two of their final three albums but Snakes and Arrows just didn't enthuse me.
A Farewell to Kings
Hemispheres
2112
Excellent albums. 2112 seems to be their landmark album among most people. I do like the older more progressive albums better, but still like all of them.
Attachments
Attach Image/Video?:
According to an article I just read: 2112 is in 45th place on Rolling Stone's top 200 albums. At first this didn't surprise me until I learned this list is compiled by counting NEW album sales during the previous WEEK.
That blew my mind.
---------------------------
/e: I was 3 years old when the album came out, I didn't discover it until I was 17. A friend's uncle had died and my friend was given his uncle's music "collection" (a couple dozen albums crammed into an old dusty milk crate). One of the first ones we tried was 2112; simply because the imagery on the album cover made us curious.
It is mind blowing that they made it on the list. 2112 was so far ahead of it's time.
I went back and read the lyrics to Freewill, written by Neil. As a fresh atheist, those lyrics now take on a new and much more powerful meaning.
Wow, just wow, if there was ever an anthem for atheists, this is definitely a candidate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are those who think that life
Has nothing left to chance
A host of holy horrors
To direct our aimless dance
A planet of playthings
We dance on the strings
Of powers we cannot perceive
The stars aren't aligned
Or the gods are malign
Blame is better to give than receive
You can choose a ready guide
In some celestial voice
If you choose not to decide
You still have made a choice
You can choose from phantom fears
And kindness that can kill
I will choose a path that's clear
I will choose free will
There are those who think that
They've been dealt a losing hand
The cards were stacked against them
They weren't born in Lotus-Land
All preordained
A prisoner in chains
A victim of venomous fate
Kicked in the face
You can't pray for a place
In heaven's unearthly estate
You can choose a ready guide
In some celestial voice
If you choose not to decide
You still have made a choice
You can choose from phantom fears
And kindness that can kill
I will choose a path that's clear
I will choose free will
Each of us
A cell of awareness
Imperfect and incomplete
Genetic blends
With uncertain ends
On a fortune hunt
That's far too fleet
You can choose a ready guide
In some celestial voice
If you choose not to decide
You still have made a choice
You can choose from phantom fears
And kindness that can kill
I will choose a path that's clear
I will choose free will
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you Neil. Even in death you have added to my quality of life and understanding.
I will choose free will.
I honestly don't know how I missed that! All of the years I listened, but really did not listen to the true meaning. Thanks for opening my eyes!
Same here thelargerbowl. All those years I listened to this song, it was just a powerful rock song but I never put much thought into the words. But earlier this morning I was watching some Rush videos, and played this song. As I listened, I began to listen carefully. Then I dug up the lyrics, and those verses just jumped out at me.
You can choose from phantom fears
And kindness that can kill
I will choose a path that's clear
I will choose free will
For me, those lyrics were always going through my head, sometimes as I sat in church thinking what bullshit I was hearing from the preacher.
I also took on much of my libertarian thoughts from Neil's lyrics, positions he later disavowed.
Hearing bullshit from a preacher is something I can relate to as well as I am sure many other's hear can too. Neil did later clarify that he had distanced himself from Ayn Rand when he matured. He disagreed with some of her writings. He did claim he was a bleeding heart libertarian, which is not a bad position to take.
Hey! What happened to TLB??? Why has his name been removed and threads deleted???
I second that question. Glad to re-read the Rush thread though.
@Tin man
"Hey! What happened to TLB??? Why has his name been removed and threads deleted???"
Mr-flair- for-the-bleedin-obvious here.
Could it possibly have been for trolling?
Or perchance he broke the one rule which keeps Australian society humming along : "DON'T BE CRUNT"
OR for breaking some other rule?
I've had a look at the rules and nothing jumps out. Have a look :
No trolling
No bullying
No disclosure of someone else's personal info
No spamming
No unrelated topics
No scams
No racism
No homophobic, or sexist comments
No non-English posts
No links to gory pictures or harmful websites
No threats of harm
No advertising or self-promotion