I haven't posted in this thread since July of last year....
Quote:
Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA
I have no idea which song is from which album, but what I always liked about Rush is the time signature changes they have in their songs, since these changes keep me wondering about what will happen next.
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...but yesterday while in the lab I heard again on the radio my favorite Rush song, "The Spirit of Radio," and I want to write about it with reference to what some of the rest of you have said about their lyrics and sound.
After hearing the song yesterday, I decided finally to read the lyrics to learn what the song is about, because the song gives me such a feeling of a happy rush that I have always just made up my own meaning for the lyrics without considering what Rush actually intended!
While reading about "The Spirit of Radio," I learned that I'm not alone in liking it: "It remains their biggest UK hit to date. 'The Spirit of Radio' was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_of_Radio
The lyrics made me see that they are about our freedom to be stirred and reached by music without needing to fork out a lot of money to enjoy it. I actually hadn't realized this literal meaning, because I always thought the song was a relationship song...but maybe it really is, since hearing someone's song *is* like hearing that person's "spirit" or sense of self singing out.
Now that I've read the lyrics, I enjoy them for their cleverness. They make a song about music on the radio sound sumptuous and poetic.
My favorite stanzas are the first three, which *could* be about a person rather than a song on a radio. I also especially like certain other lines that I have placed in bold, below. And I like that the final lines in the song play off Simon and Garfunkel classic "The Sound of Silence": "...the words of the prophets/Are written on the subway walls/And tenement halls/And whispered in the sounds of silence." That is clever, and I didn't realize until today that Rush were being clever in this way.
While writing all this, I enjoyed listening to the song because I am watching the growing pink glow of an Iowan sunrise, beginning *my* day in much the same way as is described in the song...
Quote:
The Spirit of Radio - Rush
Begin the day with a friendly voice,
A companion unobtrusive
Plays the song that's so elusive
And the magic music makes your morning mood.
Off on your way, hit the open road,
There is magic at your fingers
For the Spirit ever lingers,
Undemanding contact in your happy solitude.
Invisible airwaves crackle with life
Bright antenna bristle with the energy
Emotional feedback on timeless wavelength
Bearing a gift beyond price, almost free
All this machinery making modern music
Can still be open-hearted.
Not so coldly charted, it's really just a question
Of your honesty, yeah, your honesty.
One likes to believe in the freedom of music,
But glittering prizes and endless compromises
Shatter the illusion of integrity.
For the words of the profits were written on the studio wall,
Concert hall
And echoes with the sounds of salesmen.
SongMeanings | Lyrics | Rush - The Spirit Of Radio
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I agree with Hitting_Singularity, who says:
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Originally Posted by Hitting_Singularity
actually Rush is one of the few bands that I truly respect for their lyrics.. the only one that comes to mind in fact(besides a few Yes songs and one-offs as well). I was recently listening to Permanent waves and each song has such a magnificent theme, and poetic lyrics, and talks about something interesting that actually matters.. anyways, it's something so rare to find in music, at least for me, that it's one of the many reasons Rush is my favorite band.
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I also agree with jastrub, although I haven't listened to all the songs mentioned in this post but would like to:
Quote:
Originally Posted by jastrub
One of the reasons RUSH stands out to me is because their lyrics actually have some contiguity. Peart is incredibly poetic and ideological, and his lyrics have grown on me. Unlike the psychedelic-infused musings of Yes and King Crimson or the whimsical fairy tales of Octopus and Genesis, Rush lyrics actually MEAN SOMETHING. Whether he's discussing objectivist philosophy (Anthem and 2112), giving us a history lesson (Bastille Day, Closer to the Heart and Heresy), describing his own personal experiences (Secret Touch, Entre Nous and Limelight), painting an atmospheric mural of a situation or story (Red Barchetta, Jacob's Ladder and Dreamline), inventing a surrealistic scenario as an allegory for our society (By-Tor and the Snow Dog and The Trees), or advising us to be ourselves and march to the beat of our own drummer (Roll the Bones and Stick it Out), Peart always brings something insightful, and often ingenious, to the table
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Like I wrote earlier, though, I never actually *listened* to the meaning behind "The Spirit of Radio" until today, because I just like the music so much. It is a song that inspires a lab dance. And no, I didn't mean "lap dance," though maybe it could!
I meant that when I hear this song while working in the lab, I just have to stop what I'm doing and dance and sing around the lab, as all serious scientists do, I imagine, when the right song comes on the radio.
I love the energy in the song, the drums, the solid feel, the tempo changes, the way it builds up (say at 0.28 in the song posted below) to little climaxes and changes. My favorite part of the song begins around 1:50 as it leads up to "it's just a question of your honesty, your honesty." Somehow that feels very profound to me!
I've never thought of this as one of my favorite songs, but I like to listen to it more than once, and it has so much stuffed into it (tempo changes, interesting lyrics and concepts, nice melody, lovely instrumentals that can be beautiful, I feel, yet also have a nice grungy feel) that maybe the song actually *is* one of my favorites:
The Spirit of Radio:
YouTube - Rush- Spirit Of The Radio
Linear Mode
