Posted on 04/30/2002 2:34:10 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
The long awaited album from the rock band Rush who has sold in excess of 40 million albums worldwide is about to release one of their strongest efforts to date. I have had the opportunity to own this album for the last 2 weeks and it will be released to the public on May 14th. I am posting some lyrics to a few of the new songs on the album as Neil Peart (who lost his daughter and wife in 1997 in the span of 10 months),touches on the morning of 9-11,our fears, our rage, our hopes, and what was lost and can hopefully be gained.
For those not in the know Neil is a Libertarian and well versed writer who has paid tribute to Ayn Rand on many songs. So here are a few selections to read and take in. Also as a slight review for this album I must say that the album has hit a home run and the tour begins June 28th in Hartford,CT.
Notice the tribute to let's roll in there and the other meanings in between the song.
Freeze (Part IV of "Fear")
--------------------------
The city crouches steaming, in the early morning half light
The sun is still a rumor, and the light is still a threat
Slipping through the dark streets and the echoes and the shadows
Something stirs behind me and my palms begin to sweat
Sometimes I freeze until the light comes
Sometimes I fly into the night
Sometimes I fight against the darkness
Sometimes I'm wrong
Sometimes I'm right
Cold immortal scream caught like a creature in the headlights
Into a desperate panic, or a tempest of blind fury
Like cornered beast
Or a conquering hero
The madness threatens
Closing
And i'm frozen in the shadows
I'm not prepared to run away
And i'm not prepared to fight
I could stand to reason
Or surrender to a reflex
I will trust my instincts
Or surrender to my fright
Sometimes we freeze
Until the light comes
Sometimes we [roll]
And sometimes we rise
Sometimes we fight
Against the darkness
Sometimes we fly
Into the night
Blood running cold
Mind going numb
Into a dark night
Of a desparate panic
Or a tempest of blind fury
Like a cornered beast
Or a conquering hero
Sometimes i freeze
Sometimes i fly
Sometimes I freeze
Until the light comes
Sometimes I fly
Into the night
Into the night
Into the night
Ceiling Unlimited
-----------------
It's not the heat it's the inhumanity
Lurking through the sweat of a summer street
Machine gun images pass like malice through the looking glass
The slack-jaw gaze of true profanity
Feels more like surrender than defeat
If culture is the curse of the thinking class
Ceiling unlimited
World so wide
Turn and turn again, turn again
Feeling unlimited
Still unsatisfied
Changes never end, never end
The vacant smile of true insanity
Dressed up in the mask of tragedy
Programmed for the guts and glands of idle minds and idle hands
I rest my case, at least my vanity
Dessed up in the mask of comedy
If laughter is a storm for a drowning man
Ceiling unlimited
Windows open wide
Look and look again, look again
Feeling unlimited
Eyes on the prize
Changes never end, never end
Winding like an ancient river
The time is now again
Wandering like an ancient river
The time is now again
Winding like an endless river
Peaceable Kingdom
-----------------
All this time we're talking and sharing our rational views
A billion other voices are spreading other news
All this time we're living and trying to understand
While a billion other choices are making their demands
Talk of a peaceable kingdom
Talk of a time without fear
The ones we wish would listen
Are never going to hear
Justice against the Hanged Man
Knight of Wands against the hour
Swords against the kingdom
Time against the Tower
All this time we're shuffling and laying out all our cards
While a billion other dealers are slipping past our guards
All this time we're hoping and praying we all might learn
While a billion other teachers are teaching them how to burn
Dream of a peaceable kingdom
Dream of a time without war
The ones we wish could hear us
Have heard it all before
Away toward the clearing sky
The Hermit against the Lovers
Oh, the Devil against the Fool
Swords against the kingdom
The Wheel against the rules
All this time we're builded like bonfires in the dark
A billion other blazes are shooting off their sparks
Every spark a drifting ember of desire
To fall upon the earth and spark another fire
A global angel on the fly
Away toward the clearing sky
Vapor Trail
-----------
Stratospheric traces
Of our transitory flight
Trails of condensation
Held in narrow bands of white
The sun is turning black
The world is turning gray
All the stars fade from the night
The ocean drain away
Horizon to horizon
Memory written on the wind
Fading away like an hourglass
Grain by grain
Swept away like voices in a hurricane
In a vapor trail
In a vapor trail
Atmospheric phases
Make the transitory lapse
Vaporize the memories
That freeze the fading past
Silence all the songbirds
Stilled by the killing frost
For it's burned to ashes
Every name is lost
Horizon to horizon
Memory written on the wind
Washed away like footprints in the rain
Swept away like voices in a hurricane
In a vapor trail
In a vapor trail
Washed away like footprints in the rain
Swept away like voices in a hurricane
In a vapor trail...
And those little whippersnappers better have a beer bong if I'm stuck in the lawn seats.
>>>> Ok then I will break it down for you....
Vapor Trail
Stratospheric traces
Of a transitory flight
Trails of condensation
Held in narrow paths of white
The trail of smoke from the airplane engines that leave a temporary mark in the sky.. in this case the sky above Manhattan
The sun is turning black
The world is turning gray
Images of people leaving the WTC site covered in ashes
All the stars fade from the night
The oceans rain away
From Horizon to Horizon
Memories written on the wind
Fading away like an hourglass, grain by grain
> Swept away like voices in a hurricane
All that smoke and ash like a violent storm
As for the rest of the lyrics, perhaps predicting a world war triggered in the middle east?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.