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Happy Birthday Geddy

a special song about Geddy’s birthday

My uncle has a country place
That no one knows about
He says it used to be a farm
Before the Motor Law
And on Sundays I elude the eyes
And hop the Turbine Freight
To far outside the Wire
Where my white-haired uncle waits for cake

Jump to the ground
As the Turbo slows to cross the borderline
Run like the wind
As excitement shivers up and down my spine
Down in his barn
My uncle preserved for me an old cake
For fifty odd years
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream
I strip away the old debris
That hides a shining cake
A brilliant red velvet cake
From a better vanished time
I frost up the willing cake
Responding with a roar
Tires spitting gravel
I commit my weekly bake
Wind
In my hair
Shifting and drifting
Mechanical music
Adrenaline surge
Well-weathered spatula
Hot metal and candles
The scented country air
Sunlight on cake
The blur of the plate
Every nerve a cake
Suddenly ahead of me
Across the mountainside
A gleaming alloy air cake
Shoots towards me, two lanes wide
I spin around with shrieking tires
To eat the deadly cake
Go screaming through the valley
As another joins the chase
Drive like the wind
Straining the limits of machine and man
Laughing out loud with fear and hope
I've got a desperate plan
At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded at the bakery
Race back to the farm
To dream with my uncle at the fireside about a lovely cake
 
Wow happy birthday, Geddy! Thanks for inspiring me to take up the bass 38 years ago!

One of the great things about YouTube is catching up on your heroes. Fun to see Geddy over the years, and one thing that stands out to me is how much he had to do with his voice, hands, and feet to make all that sound in a trio.

Also, I have no idea what Geddy is doing with his right hand all over the place, but it sure sounds great.
 
a special song about Geddy’s birthday

My uncle has a country place
That no one knows about
He says it used to be a farm
Before the Motor Law
And on Sundays I elude the eyes
And hop the Turbine Freight
To far outside the Wire
Where my white-haired uncle waits for cake

Jump to the ground
As the Turbo slows to cross the borderline
Run like the wind
As excitement shivers up and down my spine
Down in his barn
My uncle preserved for me an old cake
For fifty odd years
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream
I strip away the old debris
That hides a shining cake
A brilliant red velvet cake
From a better vanished time
I frost up the willing cake
Responding with a roar
Tires spitting gravel
I commit my weekly bake
Wind
In my hair
Shifting and drifting
Mechanical music
Adrenaline surge
Well-weathered spatula
Hot metal and candles
The scented country air
Sunlight on cake
The blur of the plate
Every nerve a cake
Suddenly ahead of me
Across the mountainside
A gleaming alloy air cake
Shoots towards me, two lanes wide
I spin around with shrieking tires
To eat the deadly cake
Go screaming through the valley
As another joins the chase
Drive like the wind
Straining the limits of machine and man
Laughing out loud with fear and hope
I've got a desperate plan
At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded at the bakery
Race back to the farm
To dream with my uncle at the fireside about a lovely cake

Ah yes, the classic "Red Velvetcake" from their hit album "Opening Presents"
 
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One of my favorite Geddy moments happened at the South Park 25th Anniversary concert. Matt and Trey worked on putting this concert together featuring Primus and Ween (be still my weirdo 90s kid heart) and since Primus had been doing their Farewell to Kings tribute tour, Les approached Matt to see if he wanted to sit in on the drumkit to play a relatively easy Rush song, Closer to the Heart, with Primus. Matt is a huge Rush fan so this seemed like a natural and fun thing to add to their show.

Except Les had also been talking to Geddy behind the scenes, and arranged to have them crash the concert and play along with Matt. This was no small deal as Geddy and Alex hadn't stepped on stage together since Rush played their last show in 2015. Matt is clearly surprised and a little star-struck to be playing with two of his heroes, the whole thing is very sweet and heartwarming. In, of all things, a South Park show.



Of all the things I love about Geddy Lee - and there are a lot of them - his easygoing sense of humor and willingness to poke fun at himself really endears the guy to me.

(Also worth watching from that concert is their take on Primus' Tommy the Cat (I mean, Butters the Cat), featuring Matt Stone as Butters standing in for Tom Waits. Matt's a better vocalist than he is a drummer.)

Happy birthday eh, Geddy?
 
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Happy 70th Geddy!!! I saw Rush countless times since the 80s. Right up to the final R40 tour they were incredible live! Neil's passing still stings as I was hoping there would be mini tours (maybe a week at Radio City Music Hall and a week in Canada). Geddy inspired me to play bass over 40 years ago (and I know he likely inspired almost everyone on this site). Here's to another 70 years Geddy!!! Man do I miss seeing RUSH!
 
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And we all know where he learned to love baseball - WGN TV and Harry Caray and my Cubbies lol

That's right! :thumbsup: In the 80's Geddy started watching baseball on WGN while on tour and got addicted, especially to the nerdy sabermetrics side of the game :bookworm:. That said, Geddy is a Toronto kid, born in 1953. The Blue Jays were founded in 1976, and the Montreal Expos in 1969, so (like me but two years older) Geddy has spent most of his adult life with baseball in Canada—whether he was paying attention or not, early on. I grew up on the east coast watching Red Sox baseball, while lots of my Ontario friends were Detroit Tigers fans. (We share a dislike for the Yankees!:bored:) However, I was in the Toronto ballpark by the Jays' second season—including the two World Series—and never looked back. I get a real kick that another bassist (him great, me not) is so dedicated to the Blue Jays. I was just in TO for a game and was disappointed that he wasn't there that night, not that I would have sought him out, but it would just have been cool to be in the ballpark together enjoying the game. (In fairness, it was 9-1 for the Padres that night, but still...:()
 
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a special song about Geddy’s birthday

My uncle has a country place
That no one knows about
He says it used to be a farm
Before the Motor Law
And on Sundays I elude the eyes
And hop the Turbine Freight
To far outside the Wire
Where my white-haired uncle waits for cake

Jump to the ground
As the Turbo slows to cross the borderline
Run like the wind
As excitement shivers up and down my spine
Down in his barn
My uncle preserved for me an old cake
For fifty odd years
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream
I strip away the old debris
That hides a shining cake
A brilliant red velvet cake
From a better vanished time
I frost up the willing cake
Responding with a roar
Tires spitting gravel
I commit my weekly bake
Wind
In my hair
Shifting and drifting
Mechanical music
Adrenaline surge
Well-weathered spatula
Hot metal and candles
The scented country air
Sunlight on cake
The blur of the plate
Every nerve a cake
Suddenly ahead of me
Across the mountainside
A gleaming alloy air cake
Shoots towards me, two lanes wide
I spin around with shrieking tires
To eat the deadly cake
Go screaming through the valley
As another joins the chase
Drive like the wind
Straining the limits of machine and man
Laughing out loud with fear and hope
I've got a desperate plan
At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded at the bakery
Race back to the farm
To dream with my uncle at the fireside about a lovely cake
God rest the Professor
 
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