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Rush have never been a band to go along with the norm. In many ways, it's a miracle that they've had the mainstream success
they have, given their sound
They load their music with strange time signatures and complex musical phrasings and they're more than a little fond of ten minute songs
marinated in moral philosophy and science fiction
but this is exactly why people love them. Throughout their career, Rush have been proudly anti-conformist and
anti-authoritarian, and this philosophy is clearly reflected in many of their finest works. Let's take a closer look
In 1974 Neil Peart joined Rush, taking over for John Rutsey on the drums
In addition to being an excellent drummer Peart also took over as the band's lyricist
Peart was a voracious reader and many of the texts
he would devour made their way into his lyrics. Of all the authors he read though,
few impacted his lyrics like Ayn Rand. Rand was an influential philosopher and author
To dive into her would be an undertaking but a bit of context is necessary. Rand was the creator of the philosophy of objectivism
The idea that the most moral path is to pursue one's own happiness
It's easy to see this influence on Rush in a song like 'Anthem'
That song was the first track of Peart's first album with Rush and it even shares a title with a Rand novella
In that song Rush succinctly sum up the crux of Rand's theory
While Rush have stated that they aren't
objectivists, the philosophy clearly influences them. In 'Anthem' Peart takes the philosophy and applies it to the art world
But the song also looks at the wider scope of things
Geddy Lee sings of the
impacts that people have had on the world and how they've bettered other's lives by creating art that they wanted to create and
seeking beauty by their own path
Rush lived by this philosophy within their own art
Their next album was a commercial failure, due in large part to strange epic songs full of
obscure lyrics. After its release Rush's label asked that they return to a more radio-friendly sound for their next album and their response
opening their next album with a 20-minute
high-concept sci-fi epic. By pursuing the art that they felt would fulfill them, Rush ended up creating one of the greatest albums ever made, 2112.
The epic song that drives that album continued to pull from Rand's Anthem. So much so, that Peart
credited her in the album's liner notes
Rand's novella tells the story of a dystopian future where the concept of individualism has been eradicated. In this world the main
character discovers the suppressed secrets of electricity and helps spawn a revolution to bring back the concept of
individualism and the self.
Similarly 2112 is set in a dystopian future in the city of Megadon ruled by The Temple of Syrinx
We open on an instrumental overture followed by a single biblical passage referring to those who are pure of heart and artistic
In the next section we are introduced to the priests that rule Megadon
They're an authoritarian theocracy built around the worship of technology claiming their interests are for the common good
By keeping technology away from the people however, they've consolidated their power and ruled the world
a hypocritical in version of their collectivist propaganda. The next section sees our hero discover a guitar in an abandoned cave
After learning to play the instrument he takes music to the priests and shows it to them
The priests realized the power that emotion and self-expression can have on their subjects
So they banned the hero from showing his music to the masses
Despondent the hero leaves and in the next section
he's greeted with a prophetic dream of the elder race of men who left this world many years ago to create their own
society built on hardwork and beauty
The next section is a mournful soliloquy, where the hero
realizes he can't go on living now that he knows what the world could be. And so he commit suicide
As our hero dies, we get the ambiguous ending where a new voice comes in announcing that somebody has assumed control
Presumably the elder race coming back to claim their home
2112 is a brilliant piece that shows why unfettered creativity is important and it paints a bleak picture of a world without it
Rush believed that art in its purest forms can truly save the world. And this mentality didn't stop at 2112
1980s Permanent Waves dives into the importance of individual freedoms with 'Freewill'
The chorus of that song is a celebration of free will
Discussing the importance of being able to choose your own path and make your own beauty
Permanent Waves also featured 'The Spirit of Radio' which warned of what happens when corporations interfere with an artist's individuality
A year after Permanent Waves, Rush released Moving Pictures, a milestone album in their career. That album featured more
experimentation and was bookended by a pair of songs celebrating their individualism
The album's final track, 'Vital Signs' talks about the importance of breaking free from conforming
The opener of Moving Pictures is perhaps Rush's best-known song and it depicts another character who falls in line with
Rush's philosophy on individualism
Today's 'Tom Sawyer' Peart wrote the song alongside Pye Dubois building on Dubois' lyrics that depicted a
free-spirited modern rebel. The second verse of that song lays out the titular characters conviction
The chorus portrays today's Tom Sawyer as a mythic figure an archetype through which you can see society
He is a reflection of the society he defies. By looking at all that he rebels against, you can see the ills of society
When you look at Rush's work, it's no surprise that they could never conform to the norm
They're just not made that way, and they were all the better for it
The reason Rush were able to achieve such greatness was because they knew what they wanted and they were able to pursue their own beauty
fearlessly. And by creating the art that they wanted to create
Rush found true beauty that helps us appreciate our own lives and the world around us.
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