I just have to say those lyrics are the most banal and trite I have read in a long time - they are just embarassing - even more so, for being held up as...good....
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Idiots guide to Rush
- Thread starter enemybass
- Start date
I just have to say those lyrics are the most banal and trite I have read in a long time - they are just embarassing - even more so, for being held up as...good....
Well considering they were written when Neil was probably in his early or mid twenties I think they are pretty decent. I will take them over some of the stuff that passes for lyrics in modern music today.
Well - it's a question of what you choose to copy out in a public forum - personally, from the same album I would choose :
Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're tryin' to be so quiet?
We sit here stranded, though we're all doin' our best to deny it
And Louise holds a handful of rain, temptin' you to defy it
Lights flicker from the opposite loft
In this room the heat pipes just cough
The country music station plays soft
But there's nothing, really nothing to turn off
Just Louise and her lover so entwined
And these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind
In the empty lot where the ladies play blindman's bluff with the key chain
And the all-night girls they whisper of escapades out on the "D" train
We can hear the night watchman click his flashlight
Ask himself if it's him or them that's really insane
Louise, she's all right, she's just near
She's delicate and seems like the mirror
But she just makes it all too concise and too clear
That Johanna's not here
The ghost of 'lectricity howls in the bones of her face
Where these visions of Johanna have now taken my place
Now, little boy lost, he takes himself so seriously
He brags of his misery, he likes to live dangerously
And when bringing her name up
He speaks of a farewell kiss to me
He's sure got a lotta gall to be so useless and all
Muttering small talk at the wall while I'm in the hall
How can I explain?
Oh, it's so hard to get on
And these visions of Johanna, they kept me up past the dawn
Inside the museums, Infinity goes up on trial
Voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while
But Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues
You can tell by the way she smiles
See the primitive wallflower freeze
When the jelly-faced women all sneeze
Hear the one with the mustache say, "Jeeze
I can't find my knees"
Oh, jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule
But these visions of Johanna, they make it all seem so cruel
The peddler now speaks to the countess who's pretending to care for him
Sayin', "Name me someone that's not a parasite and I'll go out and say a prayer for him"
But like Louise always says
"Ya can't look at much, can ya man?"
As she, herself, prepares for him
And Madonna, she still has not showed
We see this empty cage now corrode
Where her cape of the stage once had flowed
The fiddler, he now steps to the road
He writes ev'rything's been returned which was owed
On the back of the fish truck that loads
While my conscience explodes
The harmonicas play the skeleton keys and the rain
And these visions of Johanna are now all that remain
Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're tryin' to be so quiet?
We sit here stranded, though we're all doin' our best to deny it
And Louise holds a handful of rain, temptin' you to defy it
Lights flicker from the opposite loft
In this room the heat pipes just cough
The country music station plays soft
But there's nothing, really nothing to turn off
Just Louise and her lover so entwined
And these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind
In the empty lot where the ladies play blindman's bluff with the key chain
And the all-night girls they whisper of escapades out on the "D" train
We can hear the night watchman click his flashlight
Ask himself if it's him or them that's really insane
Louise, she's all right, she's just near
She's delicate and seems like the mirror
But she just makes it all too concise and too clear
That Johanna's not here
The ghost of 'lectricity howls in the bones of her face
Where these visions of Johanna have now taken my place
Now, little boy lost, he takes himself so seriously
He brags of his misery, he likes to live dangerously
And when bringing her name up
He speaks of a farewell kiss to me
He's sure got a lotta gall to be so useless and all
Muttering small talk at the wall while I'm in the hall
How can I explain?
Oh, it's so hard to get on
And these visions of Johanna, they kept me up past the dawn
Inside the museums, Infinity goes up on trial
Voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while
But Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues
You can tell by the way she smiles
See the primitive wallflower freeze
When the jelly-faced women all sneeze
Hear the one with the mustache say, "Jeeze
I can't find my knees"
Oh, jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule
But these visions of Johanna, they make it all seem so cruel
The peddler now speaks to the countess who's pretending to care for him
Sayin', "Name me someone that's not a parasite and I'll go out and say a prayer for him"
But like Louise always says
"Ya can't look at much, can ya man?"
As she, herself, prepares for him
And Madonna, she still has not showed
We see this empty cage now corrode
Where her cape of the stage once had flowed
The fiddler, he now steps to the road
He writes ev'rything's been returned which was owed
On the back of the fish truck that loads
While my conscience explodes
The harmonicas play the skeleton keys and the rain
And these visions of Johanna are now all that remain
I just have to say those lyrics are the most banal and trite I have read in a long time - they are just embarassing - even more so, for being held up as...good....
The point isn't that these lyrics are an example of Neil's finest or most sophisticated lyrics (they are not). The point is that these lyrics are extremely positive in nature, and (like so many Rush lyrics) could only have been a positive influence on young kids. I also quoted this particular song because the previous poster specifically referenced the song "Something for Nothing" and I was picking up that line of thought.
Keep in mind - the intended audience for these lyrics was not an English Lit class at Yale. The target audience was young kids who were following the band. Neil took his Ayn Rand inspired philosophies and translated them into very clear and direct life advice for younger fans. In essence he is downloading some of his life philosophy. Granted, he shares some of these philosophies in a more sophisticated way in other songs, but these lyrics in some way are the most "straight to the point".
Don't forget that "Something for Nothing" is also the final song on Side B of 2112. In this regard it serves as the final word on the underlying message of 2112. I personally think that Neil really wanted to step outside of metaphor and allegory in order to deliver his (and Ayn Rand's) final 2112 message directly.
Literary genius? Not this song. Philosophically grounded and clear? Absolutely.
All I know is, 30+ years later - my 10 year old can listen to this as much as she wants.
I liked depressing music when I was younger - but I wouldn't have looked to any lyrics as to how to live my life - that seems a bizarre and pointless idea...?
Lyrics are good or bad as works of art - anything else is just subjective and impossible to have a serious debate about...?
Lyrics are good or bad as works of art - anything else is just subjective and impossible to have a serious debate about...?
Have you heard the take of Visions of Johanna from No Direction Home? Give me chills, everytime.
But if we've got to copy/paste good lyrics from the classic Dylan era, I'd go with, well, any cut from Bringing It All Back Home, probably.
But if we've got to copy/paste good lyrics from the classic Dylan era, I'd go with, well, any cut from Bringing It All Back Home, probably.
I've never been a Dylan fan, but I love Mitchell. I think in terms of intellectual, true thought provoking lyrics, Peart is much deeper than Joni or Dylan, personally.
OK...I don't want to be the thread police, but what do Dylan's lyrics have to do with anything the OP is asking? I don't really care if Dylan is a better lyricist than Peart, I would rather listen to Rush anyways. Talk about derailing....
My favorite Rush era is the early 80's albums. Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Signals, and Grace Under Pressure. They were still playing amazing stuff from a musical standpoint, but the songs are so much better than the 70s prog (don't get me wrong, I still love all that stuff) and the production is way better than the late 80's stuff.
My favorite Rush era is the early 80's albums. Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Signals, and Grace Under Pressure. They were still playing amazing stuff from a musical standpoint, but the songs are so much better than the 70s prog (don't get me wrong, I still love all that stuff) and the production is way better than the late 80's stuff.
Yeah I agree. This is a Rush thread. Doesn't mean that it has to be all positive all the time, but it should be about Rush.
Now as for me, I was about to find a Dylan thread and talk about his literary inadequacies as compared to Homer...
Anyway - Rush rules.
My picks go along with GL's sound more than whether I like the tunes or not. These songs I think are the most distinctive examples of the various sounds he's had over the years:
By-tor and the snow dog (live) - All the world's a stage. Kind of mediocre song but the best example I think of his Rick sound and that incredible grind he gets out of it that noone else seems to be able to reproduce on the rick (except chris squire perhaps). Especially the jam in the middle, it's really grindy there.
The Big Money - Power Windows. This is IMO GL's finest sound of all (I believe this is the Wal). When I heard this was when I started trying to get this kind of clean, midbassy, pop-ish tone (and Ive never succeeded).
The Body Electric - Grace Under Pressure. I'm one of the nutcases that loves this record (GL hates it). This is also another of GL's best sounds to me (GL didn't like this either), this is the Steinberger. I got to play a Steinberger when I was gigging and it sounds fantastic. I play this song all the time still, has an interesting sound on the fretless.
I don't like his new sound and Rush's new material at all, so I don't know what to recommend from that.
LS
By-tor and the snow dog (live) - All the world's a stage. Kind of mediocre song but the best example I think of his Rick sound and that incredible grind he gets out of it that noone else seems to be able to reproduce on the rick (except chris squire perhaps). Especially the jam in the middle, it's really grindy there.
The Big Money - Power Windows. This is IMO GL's finest sound of all (I believe this is the Wal). When I heard this was when I started trying to get this kind of clean, midbassy, pop-ish tone (and Ive never succeeded).
The Body Electric - Grace Under Pressure. I'm one of the nutcases that loves this record (GL hates it). This is also another of GL's best sounds to me (GL didn't like this either), this is the Steinberger. I got to play a Steinberger when I was gigging and it sounds fantastic. I play this song all the time still, has an interesting sound on the fretless.
I don't like his new sound and Rush's new material at all, so I don't know what to recommend from that.
LS
+1 Although not my favorite Rush album, Geddy's playing on this album is just off the hook!
Hot tip:
This isn't the best mix in the world, so if you have never listened to listen to Hemispheres with a really good set of headphones, then you are missing out on hearing some amazing playing that is buried in the mix. Trust me, listen to this on some great phones and you will hear some bass riffs you never knew were even there. (FYI Beyerdynamic DT250 headphones are simply amazing sounding and worth every penny)
I love Rush's first album. Working Man & What You're Doing are amazing songs (we'll forget about the Bastille Day slip).
But what's even better? Listening to Neil's version of these songs. Check out Working Man/Finding my Way & What You're Doing on "All the World's a Stage". Amazing.
What's cool about the first album is that Rush has a little bit more of a bluesy "Led Zeppelin" kind of sound. Once you throw Neil on the kit (on "All the World's a Stage), that's especially true. The live version of those "first album" songs have a real Zeppelin sound.
Worked for me in IE, but in Firefox I had to install the Windows Media Player plugin to see the blue play button. Easy enough, just FYI for those not using IE.
Thanks for posting this ProfGumby! They're playing all of the 2112 suite right now.
Lyrically, "Snow Dog is victorious!" is my favorite Peart one-liner. I'm not deep ...
Worked for me in IE, but in Firefox I had to install the Windows Media Player plugin to see the blue play button. Easy enough, just FYI for those not using IE.
Thanks for posting this ProfGumby! They're playing all of the 2112 suite right now.
Lyrically, "Snow Dog is victorious!" is my favorite Peart one-liner. I'm not deep ...
