Rush
THE STUDIO ALBUMS · 1989-2007
Released: September 30th, 2013THE STUDIO ALBUMS · 1989-2007
| Lyrics | --- | Liner Notes | --- | Album Artwork | --- | Purchase |Liner Notes
All songs by Geddy Lee / Alex Lifeson / Neil Peart
Except:
"Leave That Thing Alone", "Malignant Narcissism, "The Main Monkey Business" and "Where's My Thing" (Geddy Lee / Alex Lifeson)
"Hope" (Alex Lifeson)
"Between Sun & Moon" and "Test For Echo" (Geddy Lee / Alex Lifeson / Neil Peart / Pye Dubois)
All songs © Core Music Publishing
(SOCAN world excluding USA/SESAC USA)
Used by Permission/All Rights Reserved.
© 2013 Rhino Entertainment Company, A Warner Music Group Company, for the U.S. and WEA International Inc. for the world outside the U.S. © 2013 Anthem Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Manufactured in the EU. · 8122796508
Track Listing
Disc 1 - PRESTO
1. Show Don't Tell (5:01)
2. Chain Lightning (4:33)
3. The Pass (4:51)
4. War Paint (5:24)
5. Scars (4:07)
6. Presto (5:45)
7. Superconductor (4:47)
8. Anagram (for Mongo) (4:00)
9. Red Tide (4:29)
10. Hand Over Fist (4:11)
11. Available Light (5:03)
Disc 2 - ROLL THE BONES
1. Dreamline (4:38)
2. Bravado (4:56)
3. Roll The Bones (5:30)
4. Face Up (3:54)
5. Where's My Thing? (Part IV, "Gangster Of Boats" Trilogy) (3:49)
6. The Big Wheel (5:15)
7. Heresy (5:26)
8. Ghost Of A Chance (5:19)
9. Neurotica (4:40)
10. You Bet Your Life (5:00)
Disc 3 - COUNTERPARTS
1. Animate (6:03)
2. Stick It Out (4:30)
3. Cut To The Chase (4:48)
4. Nobody's Hero (4:54)
5. Between Sun And Moon (4:37)
6. Alien Shore (5:45)
7. Speed Of Love (5:02)
8. Double Agent (4:51)
9. Leave That Thing Alone (4:05)
10. Cold Fire (4:26)
11. Everyday Glory (5:11)
Disc 4 - Test for Echo
1. Test For Echo (5:56)
2. Driven (4:27)
3. Half The World (3:43)
4. The Color Of Right (4:49)
5. Time And Motion (5:01)
6. Totem (4:58)
7. Dog Years (4:55)
8. Virtuality (5:44)
9. Resist (4:24)
10. Limbo (5:29)
11. Carve Away The Stone (4:05)
Disc 5 - Vapor Trails
1. One Little Victory (5:08)
2. Ceiling Unlimited (5:28)
3. Ghost Rider (5:40)
4. Peaceable Kingdom (5:23)
5. The Stars Look Down (4:28)
6. How It Is (4:05)
7. Vapor Trail (4:57)
8. Secret Touch (6:34)
9. Earthshine (5:38)
10. Sweet Miracle (3:40)
11. Nocturne (4:49)
12. Freeze (Part IV of "Fear") (6:21)
13. Out Of The Cradle (5:03)
Disc 6 - Feedback
1. Summertime Blues [Eddie Cochran] (3:52)
2. Heart Full of Soul [The Yardbirds] (2:52)
3. For What It's Worth [Buffalo Springfield] (3:30)
4. The Seeker [The Who] (3:27)
5. Mr. Soul [Buffalo Springfield] (3:51)
6. Seven And Seven Is [Love] (2:53)
7. Shapes Of Things [The Yardbirds] (3:16)
8. Crossroads [Robert Johnson] (3:27)
Disc 7 - Snakes & Arrows
1. Far Cry (5:21)
2. Armor and Sword (6:36)
3. Workin' Them Angels (4:47)
4. The Larger Bowl (4:07)
5. Spindrift (5:24)
6. The Main Monkey Business Instrumental (6:01)
7. The Way The Wind Blows (6:28)
8. Hope Instrumental (2:02)
9. Faithless (5:31)
10. Bravest Face(5:12)
11. Good News First (4:51)
12. Malignant Narcissism Instrumental (2:17)
13. We Hold On (4:13)
Show Don't Tell
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
how many times do you hear it?
it goes on all day long
everyone knows everything
and no one's ever wrong
until later
who can you believe?
it's hard to play it safe
but apart from a few good friends
we don't take anything on faith
until later
Show Don't Tell
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
You've figured out the score
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
I've heard it all before
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
I don't care what you say
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
you can twist perceptions
reality won't budge
you can raise objections
I will be the judge
and the jury
I'll give it due reflection
watching from the fence
give the jury direction
based on the evidence
I, the jury
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
Hey - order in the court
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
Let's try to keep it short
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
Enough of your demands
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
Witness take the stand
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
Hey - order in the court
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
Let's try to keep it short
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
I don't care what you say
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
Let's see exhibit A
Chain Lightning
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
energy is contagious
enthusiasm spreads
tides respond to lunar gravitation
wverything turns in synchronous relation
laughter is infectious
excitement goes to my head
winds are stirred by planets in rotation
sparks ignite and spread new information
respond, vibrate, feed back, resonate
sun dogs fire on the horizon
meteor rain stars across the night
this moment may be brief
but it can be so bright
hope is epidemic
optimism spreads
bitterness breeds irritation
ignorance breeds imitation
sun dogs fire on the horizon
meteor rain stars across the night
this moment may be brief
but it can be so bright
reflected in another source of light
when the moment dies
the spark still flies
reflected in another pair of eyes
dreams are sometimes catching
desire goes to my head
love responds to your invitation
love responds to imagination
respond, vibrate, feed back, resonate
The Pass
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
proud swagger out of the schoolyard
waiting for the world's applause
rebel without a conscience
martyr without a cause
static on your frequency
electrical storm in your veins
raging at unreachable glory
straining at invisible chains
and now you're trembling on a rocky ledge
staring down into a heartless sea
can't face life on a razor's edge
nothing's what you thought it would be
All of us get lost in the darkness
Dreamers learn to steer by the stars
All of us do time in the gutter
Dreamers turn to look at the cars
turn around and turn around and turn around
Turn around and walk the razor's edge
Don't turn your back
And slam the door on me
it's not as if this barricade
blocks the only road
it's not as if you're all alone
in wanting to explode
someone set a bad example
made surrender seem all right
the act of a noble warrior
who lost the will to fight
and now you're trembling on a rocky ledge
staring down into a heartless sea
done with life on a razor's edge
nothing's what you thought it would be
no hero in your tragedy
no daring in your escape
no salutes for your surrender
nothing noble in your fate
Christ, what have you done?
War Paint
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
girl before the mirror
appraises her disguise
child become a mother
tries to fix her eyes
no more of his excuses
it has to be today
she can keep her fantasy
if she can get away
paint her name on a one-way street
painted cheeks with angry heat
wounded pride on painted eyes
paint the night with battlecries
all puffed up with vanity
we see what we want to see
to the beautiful and the wise
the mirror always lies
boy before the mirror
checks his camoflauge
polishes his armor
and the charger in the garage
no more lame excuses
it has to be tonight
he can take the princess
if he can take the fight
pound the drums with martial beat
pound the streets with marching feet
wounded pride, distorted eyes
paint the night with battlecries
all puffed up with vanity
we see what we want to see
to the powerful and the wise
the mirror always lies
boys and girls together
mistake conceit for pride
- ambition for illusion
- dreams for self-delusion
girls and boys together
see what it is we lack
boys and girls together
let's paint the mirror black
paint it black
Scars
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
I've stood upon my mountaintop
and shouted at the sky
walked above the pavement
with my sense amplified
- I get this feeling
all my nerves are naked wires
tender to the touch
sometimes super-sensitive
but who can care too much?
- I get this feeling
Scars of pleasure
Scars of pain
Atmospheric changes
Make them sensitive again
each emotional injury
leaves behind its mark
sometimes they come tumbling out
like shadows in the dark
- I get this feeling
when I think about all I have seen
and all I'll never see
when I think about the people
who have opened up to me
- I get this feeling
snow falls deep around my house
and holds the winter light
I've heard the lions hunting
in the Serengeti night
- I get this feeling
forests turned to factories
and river, sea, and sky
hungry child in the desert
and the flies that cloud her eyes
- I get this feeling
Pleasure leaves a fingerprint
As surely as mortal pain
In memories they resonate
And echo back again
Presto
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
if I could wave my magic wand...
I am made from the dust of the stars
and the oceans flow in my veins
Here I hide in the heart of the city
like a stranger coming out of the rain
the evening plane rises up from the runway
over constellations of light
I look down into a million houses
and wonder what you're doing tonight
If I could wave my magic wand
I'd make everything all right
I'm not one to believe in magic
But I sometimes have a second-sight
I'm not one with a sense of proportion
When my heart still changes overnight
I had a dream of a winter garden
a midnight rendezvous
silver, blue, and frozen silence
what a fool I was for you
I had a dream of the open water
I was swimming away out to sea
so deep I could never touch bottom
what a fool I used to be
If I could wave my magic wand
I'd set everybody free
I'm not one to believe in magic
Though my memory has a second-sight
I'm not one to go pointing my finger
When I radiate more heat than light
don't ask me
I'm just improvising
my illusion of careless flight
can't you see
my temperature's rising
I radiate more heat than light
don't ask me
I'm just sympathizing
my illusions a harmless flight
can't you see
my temperature's rising
I radiate more heat than light
Superconductor
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
packaged like a rebel or a hero
target mass appeal
to make an audience feel
he really means it
package the illusion of persona
careful to conceal
the fact that she's only too real
she's got to screen it
hit you in a soft place
a melody so sweet
a strong and simple beat
that you can dance to
Watch his every move
SUPERCONDUCTOR
Orchestrate illusions
SUPERCONDUCTOR
Watch his every move
SUPERCONDUCTOR
Hoping you'll believe
Designing to deceive
That's entertainment
he can put a target on the market
bask in your applause
reality withdraws
now he believes it
the role becomes the actor
she's addicted to applause
the stage a world because
she never leaves it
hit you in a soft place
with sentimental ease
they know the fantasies
that you romance to
Watch her every move
SUPERCONDUCTOR
She can manipulate reactions
SUPERCONDUCTOR
Watch her every move
SUPERCONDUCTOR
Pin the donkeys on her tail
Fantasy for sale
That's entertainment.
Anagram (for Mongo)
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
there's a snake coming out of the darkness
parade from paradise
end the need for eden
chase the dreams of merchandise
there is tic and toc in atomic
leaders make a deal
the cosmic is largely comic
a con they couldn't conceal
There is no safe seat at the feast
Take your best stab at the beast
The night is turning thin
The saint is turning to sin
raise the art to resistance
danger dare to be grand
pride reduced to humble pie
diamonds down to sand
take heart from earth and weather
the brightness of new birth
take heart from the harvest
shave the harvest from the earth
Reasoning is partly insane
Image just an eyeless game
The night is turning thin
The saint is turning to sin
miracles will have their claimers
more will bow to Rome
he and she are in the house
but there's only me at home
rose is a rose of splendor
posed to respond in the end
lonely things like nights,
I find, end finer with a friend
I hear in the rate of her heart
A tear in the heat of the art
The night turns thin
The saint turns to sin
Red Tide
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
nature has some new plague
to run in our streets
history some new wrinkle
we are doomed to repeat
fugitives at the bedroom door
lovers pause to find an open store
rain is burning on the forest floor
and the red tide kisses the shore
THIS IS NOT A FALSE ALARM
THIS IS NOT A TEST
stay out of the sun
it only burns my skin
sky full of poison
and the atmosphere's too thin
bless the sun, the rain no more
river running like an open sore
black wind falling to the ocean floor
and the red tide washes ashore
THIS IS NOT A FALSE ALARM
THIS IS NOT A TEST
Nowhere we can fly away
Nowhere we can rest
The party is disrupted by
An uninvited guest
deadline approaches
for the weary land
it used to be something
but we let it run down in our hands
too late for debate, too bad to ignore
quiet rebellion leads to open war
bring a sea-change to the factory floor
as the red tide covers the shore
Now's the time to turn the tide
Now's the time to fight
Let us not go gently
To the endless winter night
Now's the time to make the time
While hope is still in sight
Let us not go gently
To the endless winter night
Hand Over Fist
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
hand over fist
paper around the stone
scissors cut the paper
cut the paper to the bone
hand over fist
paper around the stone
scissors cut the paper
and the rock must stand alone
I could disappear into the crowd
but not if I keep my head in the clouds
I could walk away so proud
it's easy enough if you don't laugh too loud
I thought I was okay alone
wait for the postman and the telephone
lost in a world of my own
I thought I could run alone
thought I could run through the night alone
Hand over hand
Doesn't seem so much
Hand over hand
Is the strength of the common touch
you talk as we walk along
you never imagined I could be so wrong
humming your favorite song
you know I've hated that song for so long
how can we ever agree?
like the rest of the world
we grow farther apart
I swear you don't listen to me
holding my hand to my heart
holding my fist to my racing heart
Take a walk outside myself
In some exotic land
Greet a passing stranger
Feel the strength in his hand
Feel the world expand
I feel my spirit resist
But I open up my fist
Lay hand over hand over
Hand over fist
Available Light
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
the restless wind
has seen all things
in every kind of light
rising with the full moon
to go howling through the night
the sleepless wind
has heard all things
between the sea and sky
in the canyons of the city
you can hear the buildings cry
oh the wind can carry
all the voices of the sea
oh the wind can carry
all the echoes home to me
Run with wind and weather
To the music of the sea
All four winds together
Can't bring the world to me
Chase the wind around the world
I want to look at life - In the available light
play of light
a photograph
the way I used to be
some half-forgotten stranger
doesn't mean that much to me
trick of light
moving picture
moments caught in flight
make the shadows darker
or the colors shine too bright
oh the light can carry
all the visions of the sea
oh the light can carry
all the images to me
Run to light from shadow
Sun gives me no rest
Promise offered in the east
Broken in the west
Chase the sun around the world
I want to look at life - In the available light
All four winds together
Can't bring the world to me
Shadows hide the play of light
So much I want to see
Chase the light around the world
I want to look at life - In the available light
I'll go with the wind
I'll stand in the light
Dreamline
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
He's got a road map of Jupiter
A radar fix on the stars
All along the highway
She's got a liquid-crystal compass
A picture book of the rivers
Under the Sahara
They travel in the time of the prophets
On a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun
Like lovers and heroes, and the restless part of everyone
We're only at home when we're on the run
On the run
He's got a star map of Hollywood
A list of cheap motels
All along the freeway
She's got a sister out in Vegas
The promise of a decent job
Far away from her hometown
They travel on the road to redemption
A highway out of yesterday -- that tomorrow will bring
Like lovers and heroes, birds in the last days of spring
We're only at home when we're on the wing
On the wing
WHEN WE ARE YOUNG
WANDERING THE FACE OF THE EARTH
WONDERING WHAT OUR DREAMS MIGHT BE WORTH
LEARNING THAT WE'RE ONLY IMMORTAL --
FOR A LIMITED TIME
Time is a gypsy caravan
Steals away in the night
To leave you stranded in Dreamland
Distance is a long-range filter
Memory a flickering light
Left behind in the heartland
We travel in the dark of the new moon
A starry highway traced on the map of the sky
Like lovers and heroes, lonely as the eagle's cry
We're only at home when we're on the fly
On the fly
We travel on the road to adventure
On a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun
Like lovers and hereos, and the restless part of everyone
We're only at home when we're on the run
On the run...
Bravado
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
If we burn our wings
Flying too close to the sun
If the moment of glory
Is over before it's begun
If the dream is won --
Though everything is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost
When the dust has cleared
And victory denied
A summit too lofty
River a little too wide
If we keep our pride --
Though paradise is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost
And if the music stops
There's only the sound of the rain
All the hope and glory
All the sacrifice in vain
If love remains
Though everything is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost
Roll The Bones
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Well, you can stake that claim --
Good work is the key to good fortune
Winners take that praise
Losers seldom take that blame
If they don't take that game
And sometimes the winner takes nothing
We draw our own designs
But fortune has to make that frame
We go out in the world and take our chances
Fate is just the weight of circumstances
That's the way that lady luck dances
Roll the bones
Why are we here?
Because we're here.
Roll the bones
Why does it happen?
Because it happens.
Roll the bones
Faith is cold as ice --
Why are little ones born only to suffer
For the want of immunity
Or a bowl of rice?
Well, who would hold a price
On the heads of the innocent children
If there's some immortal power
To control the dice?
We come into the world and take our chances
Fate is just the weight of circumstances
That's the way that lady luck dances
Roll the bones..
Jack -- relax.
Get busy with the facts.
No zodiacs or almanacs,
No maniacs in polyester slacks.
Just the facts.
Gonna kick some gluteus max.
It's a parallax -- you dig?
You move around
The small gets big. It's a rig
It's action -- reaction --
Random interaction.
So who's afraid
Of a little abstraction?
Can't get no satisfaction
From the facts?
You better run, homeboy --
A fact's a fact
From Nome to Rome, boy.
What's the deal? Spin the wheel.
If the dice are hot -- take a shot.
Play your cards. Show us what you got --
What you're holding.
If the cards are cold,
Don't go folding.
Lady Luck is golden;
She favors the bold. That's cold
Stop throwing stones --
The night has a thousand saxophones.
So get out there and rock,
And roll the bones.
Get busy!
Face Up
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
You turn my head
I spin my wheels
Running on empty --
You know how that feels
I'm on a roll now --
Or is it a slide?
Can't be too careful
With that dangerous pride
If I could only reach that dial inside
And turn it up
FACE UP -- Or you can only back down
FACE UP -- Hit the target, or you better hit the ground
FACE UP -- There's still time to turn the game around
FACE UP -- Turn it up --
Or turn that wild card down
Turn it up
Don't complain
Don't explain
I don't think my new resolve
Can stand the strain
I'm in a groove now --
Or is it a rut?
I need some feedback
But all the lines are cut
I get so angry, but I keep my mouth shut
And turn it up
You get all squeezed up inside
Like the days were carved in stone
You get all wired up inside
And it's bad to be alone
You can go out, you can take a ride
And when you get out on your own
You get all smoothed out inside
And it's good to be alone
Turn it up
Where's My Thing?
(Part IV, "Gangster Of Boats" Trilogy)
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson
Instrumental
The Big Wheel
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Well, I was only a kid -- didn't know enough to be afraid
Playing the game, but not the way the big boys played
Nothing to lose -- maybe I had something to trade
The way the big wheel spins
Well, I was only a kid, on a holy crusade
I placed no trust in a faith that was ready-made
Take no chances on paradise delayed
So I do a slow fade
PLAYING FOR TIME
Don't want to wait for heaven
LOOKING FOR LOVE
For an angel to forgive my sins
PLAYING WITH FIRE
Chasing something new to believe in
LOOKING FOR LOVE
The way the big wheel spins
Well, I was only a kid, cruising around in a trance
Prisoner of fate, victim of circumstance
I was lined up for glory, but the tickets sold out in advance
The way the big wheel spins
Well, I was only a kid, gone without a backward glance
Going for broke, going for another chance
Hoping for heaven -- hoping for a fine romance
If I do the right dance
Wheel goes round, landing on a twist of faith
Taking your chances you'll have the right answers
When the final judgment begins
Wheel goes round, landing on a leap of fate
Life redirected in ways unexpected
Sometimes the odd number wins
The way the big wheel spins
Heresy
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
All around that dull gray world
From Moscow to Berlin
People storm the barricades
Walls go tumbling in
The counter-revolution
People smiling through their tears
Who can give them back their lives
And all those wasted years?
All those precious wasted years --
Who will pay?
All around that dull gray world
Of ideology
People storm the marketplace
And buy up fantasy
The counter-revolution
At the counter of a store
People buy the things they want
And borrow for a little more
All those wasted years
All those precious, wasted years
Who will pay?
Do we have to be forgiving at last?
What else can we do?
Do we have to say goodbye to the past?
Yes, I guess we do
All around this great big world
All the crap we had to take
Bombs and basement fallout shelters
All our lives at stake
The bloody revolution
All the warheads in its wake
All the fear and suffering --
All a big mistake
All those wasted years
All those precious, wasted years
Who will pay?
Ghost Of A Chance
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Like a million little doorways
All the choices we made
All the stages we passed through
All the roles we played
So many different directions
Our separate paths might have turned
With every door that we opened
Every bridge that we burned
Somehow we find each other
Through all that masquerade
Somehow we found each other
Somehow we have stayed
In a state of grace
I DON'T BELIEVE IN DESTINY
OR THE GUIDING HAND OF FATE
I DON'T BELIEVE IN FOREVER
OR LOVE AS A MYSTICAL STATE
I DON'T BELIEVE IN THE STARS OR THE PLANETS
OR ANGELS WATCHING FROM ABOVE
BUT I BELIEVE THERE'S A GHOST OF A CHANCE
WE CAN FIND SOMEONE TO LOVE
AND MAKE IT LAST
Like a million little crossroads
Through the backstreets of youth
Each time we turn a new corner
A tiny moment of truth
So many different connections
Our separate paths might have made
With every door that we opened
Every game we played
Somehow we find each other
Through all that masquerade
Somehow we found each other
Somehow we have stayed
In a state of grace
Neurotica
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
You just don't get it
What it is ... well, you're not really sure
You move like you're walking on this ice
Talking like you're still insecure
Time is a spiral -- Space is a curve
I know you get dizzy, but try not to lose your nerve
Life is a diamond you turn into dust
Waiting for rescue, and I know you just
Don't get it
You just don't get it
Neurotica -- Exotica
It's just Erotica -- Hypnotica
It's just Psychotica -- Chaotica
It's just Exotica -- Neurotica
You just don't get it
Baby, don't you ask yourself why?
If you don't like the answer -- forget it
You know I hate to see you cry
Fortune is random -- Fate shoots from the hip
I know you get crazy, but try not to lose your grip
Life is a diamond you turn into dust
Looking for trust, and I know that you just
Don't get it
You just don't get it
SNAP!
Hide in your shell, let the world go to hell
It's like Russian roulette to you
SNAP!
Sweat running cold, you can't face growing old
It's a personal threat to you
SNAP!
The world is a cage for your impotent rage
But don't let it get to you
SNAP!
You Bet Your Life
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
June another hunter, like a wolf in the sun
Just another junkie on a scoring run
Just another victim of the things he has done
Just another day -- in the life of a loaded gun
THE ODDS GET EVEN -- You name the game
THE ODDS GET EVEN -- The stakes are the same
YOU BET YOUR LIFE
Just another winner, pours his life down the drain
Just another island in a hurricane
Just another loser, like a cat in the rain
Just another day -- in the path of a speeding train
THE ODDS GET EVEN -- You name the game
THE ODDS GET EVEN -- The stakes are the same
YOU BET YOUR LIFE
anarchist reactionary running-dog revisionist
hindu muslim catholic creation/evolutionist
rational romantic mystic cynical idealist
minimal expressionist post-modern neo-symbolist
armchair rocket scientist graffiti existentialist
deconstruction primitive performance photo-realist
be-bop or a one-drop or a hip-hop lite-pop-metallist
gold adult contemporary urban country capitalist
Just another gypsy with a plastic guitar
Just another dancer with her eyes on the stars
Just another dreamer who was going too far
Just another drunk -- at the wheel of a stolen car
THE ODDS GET EVEN -- You name the game
THE ODDS GET EVEN -- The stakes are the same
YOU BET YOUR LIFE
Animate
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
POLARIZE ME
SENSITIZE ME
CRITICIZE ME
CIVILIZE ME
COMPENSATE ME
ANIMATE ME
COMPLICATE ME
ELEVATE ME
Goddess in my garden
Sister in my soul
Angel in my armor
Actress in my role
Daughter of a demon-lover
Empress of the hidden face
Priestess of the pagan mother
Ancient queen of inner space
Spirit in my psyche
Double in my role
Alter in my image
Struggle for control
Mistress of the dark unconscious
Mermaid of the lunar sea
Daughter of the great enchantress
Sister to the boy inside of me
My counterpart -- my foolish heart
A man must learn to rule his tender part
A warming trend -- a gentle friend
A man must build a fortress to defend
A secret face -- a touch of grace
A man must learn to give a little space
A peaceful state -- a submissive trait
A man must learn to gently dominate
Stick It Out
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Trust to your instincts
If it's safely restrained
Lightning reactions
Must be carefully trained
Heat of the moment
Curse of the young
Spit out your anger
Don't swallow your tongue
STICK IT OUT
Don't swallow the poison
SPIT IT OUT
Don't swallow your pride
STICK IT OUT
Don't swallow your anger
SPIT IT OUT
Don't swallow the lies
Natural reflex
Pendulum swing
You might be too dizzy
To do the right thing
Trial under fire
Ultimate proof
Moment of crisis
Don't swallow the truth
STICK IT OUT
Each time we bathe our reactions
In artificial light
Each time we alter the focus
To make the wrong moves seem right
You get so used to deception
You make yourself a nervous wreck
You get so used to surrender
Running back to cover your neck
STICK IT OUT
Cut To The Chase
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
It is the fire that lights itself
But it burns with a restless flame
The arrow on a moving target
The archer must be sure of his aim
It is the engine that drives itself
But it chooses the uphill climb
A bearing on magnetic north
Growing farther away all the time
Can't stop -- moving
Can't stop -- moving
Can't stop --
YOU MAY BE RIGHT
IT'S ALL A WASTE OF TIME
I GUESS THAT'S JUST A CHANCE
I'M PREPARED TO TAKE
A DANGER I'M PREPARED TO FACE
CUT TO THE CHASE
It is the rocket that ignites itself
And launches its way to the stars
A driver on a busy freeway
Racing the oblivious cars
It's the motor of the western world
Spinning off to every extreme
Pure as a lover's desire
Evil as a murderer's dream
Young enough not to care too much
About the way things used to be
I'm young enough to remember the future --
The past has no claim on me
I'm old enough not to care too much
About what you think of me
But I'm young enough to remember the future
And the way things ought to be
WHAT KIND OF DIFFERENCE
CAN ONE PERSON MAKE?
CUT TO THE CHASE
Nobody's Hero
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
I knew he was different, in his sexuality
I went to his parties, as a straight minority
It never seemed a threat to my masculinity
He only introduced me to a wider reality
As the years went by, we drifted apart
When I heard that he was gone
I felt a shadow cross my heart
But he's nobody's --
Hero -- saves a drowning child
Cures a wasting disease
Hero -- lands the crippled airplane
Solves great mysteries
Hero -- not the handsome actor
Who plays a hero's role
Hero -- not the glamor girl
Who'd love to sell her soul
If anybody's buying
NOBODY'S HERO
I didn't know the girl, but I knew her family
All their lives were shattered
in a nightmare of brutality
They try to carry on, try to bear the agony
Try to hold some faith
in the goodness of humanity
As the years went by, we drifted apart
When I heard that she was gone
I felt a shadow cross my heart
But she's nobody's --
Hero -- the voice of reason
Against the howling mob
Hero -- the pride of purpose
In the unrewarding job
Hero -- not the champion player
Who plays the perfect game
Not the glamor boy
Who loves to sell his name
Everybody's buying
NOBODY'S HERO
As the years went by, we drifted apart
When I heard that you were gone
I felt a shadow cross my heart
Hero
Between Sun And Moon
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart and Pye Dubois
There is a lake between sun and moon
Not too many know about
In the silence between whisper and shout
The space between wonder and doubt
This is a fine place
Shining face to face
Those bonfire lights in the mirror of sky
The space between wonder and why
ahh yes to yes to ahh ahh to yes
why the sun why the sun
There is a fine line between love and illusion --
A fine place to penetrate
The gap between actor and act
The lens between wishes and fact
This is a fine place
To hesitate
Those bonfire lights in the lake of sky
The time between wonder and why
Some need to pray to the sun at high noon
Some need to howl at the midwinter moon
Reborn and baptized in a moment of grace
We just need a break --
From the headlong race
ahh yes to yes to ahh ahh to yes
why the sun why the sun
Alien Shore
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
You and I, we are strangers by one chromosome
Slave to the hormone, body and soul
In a struggle to be happy and free
Swimming in a primitive sea
You and I, we must dive below the surface
A world of red neon, and ultramarine
Shining bridges on the ocean floor
Reaching to the alien shore
For you and me -- Sex is not a competition
For you and me -- Sex is not a job description
For you and me -- We agree
You and I, we are pressed into these solitudes
Color and culture, language and race
Just variations on a theme
Islands in a much larger stream
For you and me -- Race is not a competition
For you and me -- Race is not a definition
For you and me -- We agree
Reaching for the alien shore
You and I, we reject these narrow attitudes
We add to each other, like a coral reef
Building bridges on the ocean floor
Reaching for the alien shore
For you and me -- We hold these truths to be self-evident
For you and me -- We'd elect each other president
For you and me -- We might agree
But that's just us
Reaching for the alien shore
Speed Of Love
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Love is born with lightning bolts
Electro-magnetic force
Burning skin and fireworks
A storm on a raging course
Like a force of nature,
Love can fade with the stars at dawn
Sometimes it takes all your strength
Just to keep holding on
At the speed of love
A radiance that travels
At the speed of love
My heart goes out to you
Love is born with solar flares
From two magnetic poles
It moves towards a higher plane
Where two halves make two wholes
Like a force of nature,
Love shines in many forms
One night we are bathed in light
One day carried away in the storms
At the speed of love
Nothing changes faster
Than the speed of love
My heart goes out to you
We don't have to talk
We don't even have to touch
I can feel your prescence
In the silence that we share
Got to keep moving
At the speed of love
Nothing changes faster
Than the speed of love
Got to keep on shining
At the speed of love
Nothing changes faster
Than the speed of love
My heart goes out to you
Double Agent
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Where would you rather be?
Anywhere but here
When will the time be right?
Anytime but now
On the edge of sleep,
I was drifting for half the night
Anxious and restless,
pressed down by the darkness
Bound up and wound up so tight
So many decisions, a million revisions
Caught between darkness and light...
Wilderness of mirrors
World of polished steel
Gears and iron chains
Turn the grinding wheel
I run between the shadows
Some are phantoms, some are real
Where would you rather be?
Anywhere but here
When will the time be right?
Anytime but now
The doubt and the fear
I know would all disappear
Anywhere but here
On the edge of sleep,
I heard voices behind the door
The known and the nameless,
familiar and faceless
My angels and my demons at war
Which one will lose -- depends on what I choose
Or maybe which voice I ignore...
Wilderness of mirrors
Streets of cold desire
My precious sense of honor
Just a shield of rusty wire
I hold against the chaos --
And the cross of holy fire
Wilderness of mirrors
So easy to deceive
My precious sense of rightness
Is sometimes so naive
So that which I imagine
Is that which I believe
On the edge of sleep, I awoke to a sun so bright
Rested and fearless, cheered by your nearness
I knew which direction was right
The case had been tried by the jury inside
The choice between darkness and light...
Leave That Thing Alone
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson
Instrumental
Cold Fire
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
It was long after midnight
When we got to unconditional love
She said sure, my heart is boundless
But don't push my limits too far
I said if love was so transcendant
I don't understand these boundaries
She said just don't disappoint me --
You know how complex women are
I'll be around
If you don't let me down
Too far
It was just before sunrise
When we started on traditional roles
She said sure I'll be your partner
But don't make too many demands
I said if love has these conditions
I don't understand those songs you love
She said this is not a love song
This isn't fantasy-land
I'll be around
If you don't push me down
Too far
DON'T GO TOO FAR --
The phosphorescent wave on a tropical sea
Is a cold fire
DON'T CROSS THE LINE --
The pattern of moonlight on the bedroom floor
Is a cold fire
DON'T LET ME DOWN --
The flame at the heart of a pawnbroker's diamond
Is a cold fire
DON'T BREAK THE SPELL --
The look in your eyes as you head for the door
Is a cold fire
Love is blind if you are gentle
Love can turn to a long, cold burn
Everyday Glory
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
In the house where nobody laughs
And nobody sleeps
In the house where love lies dying
And the shadows creep
A little girl hides, shaking,
With her hands on her ears
Pushing back the tears, 'til the pain disappears
Mama says some ugly words
Daddy pounds the wall
They can fight about their little girl later
But right now they don't care at all
No matter what they say...
No matter what they say...
EVERYDAY PEOPLE
EVERYDAY SHAME
EVERYDAY PROMISE
SHOT DOWN IN FLAMES
EVERYDAY SUNRISE
ANOTHER EVERYDAY STORY
RISE FROM THE ASHES --
A BLAZE OF EVERYDAY GLORY
In the city where nobody smiles
And nobody dreams
In the city where desperation
Drives the bored to extremes
Just one spark of decency
Against a starless night
One glow of hope and dignity
A child can follow the light
No matter what they say
No matter what they say...
If the future's looking dark
We're the ones who have to shine
If there's no one in control
We're the ones who draw the line
Though we live in trying times --
We're the ones who have to try
Though we know that time has wings --
We're the ones who have to fly
Test For Echo
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart and Pye Dubois
Here we go -- vertigo
Video vertigo
Test for echo
Here we go -- in slo-mo
Video vertigo
Test for echo
Some kind of trouble on the sensory screen
Camera curves over caved-in cop cars
Bleacher-creatures, would-be desperados
Clutch at plausible deniability
Don't touch that dial --
We're in denial
Until the showcase trial on TV
Some kind of pictures on the sense o'clock news
Miles of yellow tape -- silhouetted chalklines
Tough-talking hood boys in pro-team logo knockoffs
Conform to uniforms of some corporate entity
Don't change that station
It's Gangster Nation
Now crime's in syndication on TV
What a show -- vertigo
Video vertigo
Test for echo
Touch and go -- in slo-mo
Video vertigo
Test for echo
Some kind of drama live on satellite
Hidden camera coverage from the crime scene to the courtroom
Nail-biting hoodboys in borrowed ties and jackets
Clutching at the straws of respectability
Can't do the time?
Don't do the crime
And wind up in the perp walk on TV
Driven
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Driven up and down in circles
Skidding down a road of black ice
Staring in and out storm windows
Driven to a fool's paradise
BUT IT'S MY TURN TO DRIVE
Driven to the margin of error
Driven to the edge of control
Driven to the margin of terror
Driven to the edge of a deep, dark hole
Driven day and night in circles
Spinning like a whirlwind of leaves
Stealing in and out back alleys
Driven to another den of thieves
BUT IT'S MY TURN TO DRIVE
Driven in -- Driven to the edge
Driven out -- On the thin end of the wedge
Driven off -- By things I've never seen
Driven on -- By the road to somewhere I've never been
IT'S MY TURN TO DRIVE
The road unwinds towards me
What was there is gone
The road unwinds before me
And I go riding on
Half The World
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Half the world hates
What half the world does every day
Half the world waits
While half gets on with it anyway
Half the world lives
Half the world makes
Half the world gives
While the other half takes
Half the world is
Half the world was
Half the world thinks
While the other half does
Half the world talks
With half a mind on what they say
Half the world walks
With half a mind to run away
Half the world lies
Half the world learns
Half the world flies
As half the world turns
Half the world cries
Half the world laughs
Half the world tries
To be the other half
Half of us divided
Like a torn-up photograph
Half of us are trying
To reach the other half
Half the world cares
While half the world is wasting the day
Half the world shares
While half the world is stealing away
The Color Of Right
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
I don't have an explanation
For another lonely night
I just feel this sense of mission
And the sense of what is right
Take it easy on my now --
I'd be there if I could
I'm so full of what is right
I can't see what is good
It's a hopeless situation
Lie awake for half the night
You're not sure what's going on here
But you're sure it isn't right
Make it easy on yourself
There's nothing more you can do
You're so full of what is right
You can't see what is true
A quality of justice
A quantity of light
A particle of mercy
Makes the color of right
Gravity and distance
Change the passage of light
Gravity and distance
Change the color of right
Time And Motion
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Time and motion
Wind and sun and rain
Days connect like boxcars in a train
Fill them up with precious cargo
Squeeze in all that you can find
Spontaneous elation
And the long-enduring kind
Time and motion
Flesh and blood and fire
Lives connect in webs of gold and razor wire
Spin a thread of precious contact
Squeeze in all that you can find
Spontaneous relations
And the long-enduring kind
The mighty ocean
Dances with the moon
The silent forest
Echoes with the loon
Time and motion
Live and love and dream
Eyes connect like interstellar beams
Superman in Supernature
Needs all the comfort he can find
Spontaneous emotion
And the long enduring kind
Totem
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
I've got twelve disciples and a Buddha smile
The Garden of Allah - Viking Valhalla
A miracle once in a while
I've got a pantheon of animals in a pagan soul
Vishnu and Gaia - Aztec and Maya
Dance around my totem pole
I believe in what I see
I believe in what I hear
I believe that what I'm feeling
Changes how the world appears
Angels and demons dancing in my head
Lunatics and monsters underneath my bed
Media messiahs preying on my fears
Pop culture prophets playing in my ears
I've got celestial mechanics
To synchronize my stars
Seasonal migrations - daily variations
World of the unlikely and bizarre
I've got idols and icons, unspoken holy vows
Thoughts to keep well-hidden -
sacred and forbidden
Free to browse among the holy cows
That's why I believe
Angels and demons inside of me
Saviors and Satans all around me
Sweet chariot, swing low, coming for me
Dog Years
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
In a dog's life
A year is really more like seven
And all too soon a canine
Will be chasing cars in doggie heaven
It seems to me
As we make our own few circles 'round the sun
We get it backwards
And our seven years go by like one
Dog years -- It's the season of the itch
Dog years -- With every scratch it reappears
In the dog days
People look to Sirius
Dogs cry for the moon
But those connections are mysterious
It seems to me
While it's true that every dog will have his day
When all the bones are buried
There is barely time to go outside and play
Dog years -- It's the season of the itch
Dog years -- With every scratch it reappears
Dog years -- For every sad son of a bitch
Dog years -- With his tail between his ears
I'd rather be a tortoise from Galapagos
Or a span of geological time
Than be living in these dog years
In a dog's brain
A constant buzz of low-level static
One sniff at the hydrant
And the answer is automatic
It seems to me
As we make our own few circles 'round the block
We've lost our senses
For the higher-level static of talk
Virtuality
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Like a shipwrecked mariner adrift on an unknown sea
Clinging to the wreckage of the lost ship Fantasy
I'm a castaway, stranded in a desolate land
I can see the footprints in the virtual sand
Net boy, net girl
Send your signal 'round the world
Let your fingers walk and talk
And set you free
Net boy, net girl
Send your impulse 'round the world
Put your message in a modem
And throw it in the Cyber Sea
Astronauts in the weightlessness of pixellated space
Exchange graffiti with a disembodied race
I can save the universe in a grain of sand
I can hold the future in my virtual hand
Let's dance tonight
To a virtual song
Press this key
And you can play along
Let's fly tonight
On our virtual wings
Press this key
To see amazing things
Like a pair of vagabonds who wave between two passing trains
Or the glimpse of a woman's smile through a window in the rain
I can smell her perfume, I can taste her lips
I can feel the voltage from her fingertips
Net boy, net girl
Send your heartbeat 'round the world
Resist
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
I can learn to resist
Anything but temptation
I can learn to co-exist
With anything but pain
I can learn to compromise
Anything but my desires
I can learn to get along
With all the things I can't explain
I can learn to resist
Anything but frustration
I can learn to persist
With anything but aiming low
I can learn to close my eyes
To anything but injustice
I can learn to get along
With all the things I don't know
You can surrender
Without a prayer
But never really pray
Pray without surrender
You can fight
Without ever winning
But never ever win
Without a fight
Limbo
Music: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart
Instrumental
"Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist?"
"Mmmm, Mash goooood!"
Carve Away The Stone
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
You can roll that stone
To the top of the hill
Drag your ball and chain
Behind you
You can carry that weight
With an iron will
Or let the pain remain
Behind you
Chip away the stone
(Sisyphus)
Chip away the stone
Make the burden lighter
If you must roll that rock alone
You can drive those wheels
To the end of the road
You will still find the past right
Behind you
Try to deny
The weight of the load
Try to put the sins of the past night
Behind you
Carve away the stone
(Sisyhpus)
Carve away the stone
Make a graven image
With some features of your own
You call roll the stone
To the top of the hill
You can carry that weight
With an iron will
You can drive those wheels
To the end of the road
You can try to deny
The weight of the load
Roll away the stone
(Sisyhpus)
Roll away the stone
If you could just move yours
I could get working on my own
One Little Victory
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
A certain measure of innocence
Willing to appear naive
A certain degree of imagination
A measure of make-believe
A certain degree of surrender
To the forces of light and heat
A shot of satisfaction
In a willingness to risk defeat
Celebrate the moment
As it turns into one more
Another chance at victory
Another chance to score
The measure of the moment
Is a difference of degree
Just one little victory
A spirit breaking free
One little victory
The greatest act can be
One little victory
A certain measure of righteousness
A certain amount of force
A certain degree of determination
Daring on a different course
A certain amount of resistance
To the forces of the light and love
A certain measure of tolerance
A willingness to rise above
Ceiling Unlimited
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
It's not the heat
It's the inhumanity
Plugged into the sweat of a summer street
Machine gun images pass
Like malice through the looking glass
The slackjaw gaze
Of true profanity
Feels more like surrender than defeat
If culture is the curse of the thinking class
If culture is the curse of the thinking class
ceiling unlimited
world so wide
turn and turn again
feeling unlimited
still unsatisfied
changes never end
The vacant laugh
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 -
Or at least my vanity
Dressed up in the mask of Comedy
If laughter is a straw for a drowning man
If laughter is a straw for a drowning man
ceiling unlimited
windows open wide
look and look again
feeling unlimited
eyes on the prize
changes never end
winding like an ancient river
the time is now again
hope is like an endless river
the time is now again
Ghost Rider
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Pack up all those phantoms
Shoulder that invisible load
Keep on riding north and west
Haunting that wilderness road
Like a ghost rider
Carry all those phantoms
Through bitter wind and stormy skies
From the desert to the mountain
From the lowest low to the highest high
Like a ghost rider
Keep on riding north and west
Then circle south and east
Show me beauty, but there is no peace
For the ghost rider
Shadows on the road behind
Shadows on the road ahead
Nothing can stop you now
There's a shadow on the road behind
There's a shadow on the road ahead
Nothing can stop you now
Sunrise in the mirror
Lightens that invisible load
Riding on a nameless quest
Haunting that wilderness road
Like a ghost rider
Just an escape artist
Racing against the night
A wandering hermit
Racing toward the light
From the White Sands
To the Canyonlands
To the redwood stands
To the Barren Lands
Sunrise on the road behind
Sunset on the road ahead
There's nothing to stop you now
Nothing can stop you now
Peaceable Kingdom
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
A wave toward the clearing the sky
All this time we're talking and sharing our Rational View
A billion other voices are spreading other news
All this time we're living and trying to understand
Why 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 would hear us
Have heard it all before
A wave toward the clearing sky
A wave toward the clearing sky
The Hermit against The Lovers
Or the Devil against the Fool
Swords against the kingdom
The Wheel against the rules
All this time we're burning 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 homeward angel on the fly
A wave toward the clearing sky
The Stars Look Down
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Like the fly on the wheel, who says
"What a lot of dust we're raising"
Are you under the illusion
That you're part of this scheme?
Seems like a lifetime ago
You could look with pride
On your world of dreams
What is the meaning of this?
And the stars look down
What are you trying to do?
And the stars look down
Was it something I said?
And the stars look down
Like the rat in a maze who says,
"Watch me choose my own direction"
Are you under the illusion
The path is winding your way?
Are you surprised by confusion
When it leads you astray?
Have you lived a lifetime today -
Or do you feel like you just got carried away?
What is the meaning of this?
And the stars look down
What are you trying to do?
And the stars look down
Was it something I said?
And the stars look down
Something you'd like me to do?
And the stars look down
The stars look down
How It Is
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Here's a little trap
That sometimes catches everyone
When today's as far as we can see
Faith in bright tomorrows
giving way to resignation
That's how it is - how it's going to be
It's such a cloudy day
Seems we'll never see the sun
Or feel the day has possibilities
Frozen in the moment -
the lack of imagination
Between how it is and how it ought to be
Here's a little trap
That sometimes trips up everyone
When we tire of our own company
Sometimes we're the last to see beyond the day's frustrations
That's how it is - how it's going to be
It's such a cloudy day
Seems we'll never see the sun
I feel the day is all uncertainty
Burning in the moment - trapped by the desperation
Between how it is and how it ought to be
Foot upon the stair
Shoulder to the wheel
You can't tell yourself not to care
You can't tell yourself how to feel
That's how it is
Another cloudy day
Vapor Trail
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
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 oceans 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
Atmospheric phases make the transitory last
Vaporize the memories that freeze the fading past
Silence all the songbirds
Stilled by the killing frost
Forests burn to ashes
Everything is lost
Washed away like footprints in the rain
In a vapor trail
Secret Touch
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
The way out
Is the way in
The way out
Is the way in...
Out of touch
With the weather and the wind direction
With the sunrise
And the phases of the moon
Out of touch
With life in the land of the loving
With the living night
And the darkness at high noon
You can never break the chain
There is never love without pain
A gentle hand, a secret touch on the heart
Out of sync
With the rhythm of my own reactions
With the things that last
And the things that come apart
Out of sync
With love in the land of the living
A gentle hand, a secret touch on the heart
A healing hand, a secret touch on the heart
There is never love without pain
Life is a power that remains
Earthshine
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
On certain nights
When the angles are right
And the moon is a slender crescent
Its circle shows
In a ghostly glow
Of earthly luminescence
Earthshine
A beacon in the night
I can raise my eyes to
Earthshine
Earthshine
A jewel out of reach
Form a dream to rise to
Earthshine
Floating high
In the evening sky
I see my faint reflection
Pale facsimile
Like what others see
When they look in my direction
Earthshine
Stretching out your hand
Full of starlit diamonds
Earthshine
Reflected light
To another's sight
And the moon tells a lover's story
My borrowed face
And my third-hand grace
Only reflect your glory
You're still out of reach
Form a dream to rise to
Earthshine
Sweet Miracle
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
I wasn't walking on water
I was standing on a reef
When the tide came in
Swept beneath the surface
Lost without a trace
No hope at all
No hope at all
Oh - sweet miracle
Oh - sweet miracle
Of life
I wasn't walking with angels
I was talking to myself
Rising up to the surface
Raging against the night
Starless night
Oh - sweet miracle
Love's sweet miracle
Of life
Oh salvation
Oh salvation
I wasn't praying for magic
I was hiding in plain sight
Rising up from the surface
To fly into the light
Nocturne
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Did I have a dream?
Or did the dream have me?
Set off on a night-sea journey
Without memory or desire
Drifting through lost latitudes
With no compass and no chart
Flying through hallucination
Distant voices, signal fires
Lighting up my unconscious
And the secret places of the heart
Dream - Temporary madness
Dream - A voice in the wilderness
Dream - Unconscious revelations
The morning says, the answer is yes
Floating through a darkened mirror
Deep reflections in disguise
Soaring through lost altitudes
Without wonder, without fear
Symbols on a field of visions
Behind the curtain of sleeping eyes
On the instant of waking
Another world of dreams appears
Dream - A walk in the wilderness
Dream - Unconscious recreation
The morning says, the answer is yes
Freeze
(part IV of "fear")
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
The city crouches, steaming
In the early morning half-light
The sun is still a rumor
And the night 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
Coiled for the spring
Or caught like a creature in the headlights
Into a desperate panic
Or a tempest of blind fury
Like a cornered beast
Or a conquering hero
The menace threatens, closing
And I'm frozen in the shadows
I'm not prepared to run away
And I'm not prepared to fight
I can't 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're wrong - and sometimes we're right
Sometimes we fight - against the darkness
Sometimes we fly - into the night
Blood running cold
Mind going down into a dark night
Of a desperate panic
Or a tempest of blind fury
Like a cornered beast
Or a conquering hero
Sometimes I freeze
Sometimes I fight
Sometimes I fly
Into the night
Out Of The Cradle
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
It's not a place
It's a yearning
It's not a race
It's a journey
It's not an act
It's attraction
It's not a style
It's an action
It's a dream for the waking
It's a flower touched by flame
It's a gift for the giving
It's a power with a hundred names
Surge of energy, spark of inspiration
The breath of love is electricity
Maybe Time is bird in flight
Endlessly mocking
Here we come out of the cradle
Endlessly rocking
Endlessly rocking
It's a hand
That rocks the cradle
It's a motion
That swings the sky
It's method on the edge of madness
It's a balance on the edge of a knife
It's a smile on the edge of sadness
It's a dance on the edge of life
Endlessly r o c k i n g
Summertime Blues
[Eddie Cochran]
Well, I'm gonna raise a fuss,
Yes I'm a gonna raise a holler
About working all summer
Just to try to earn a dollar
Well I went to the boss man
And tried to get a break...
("He said, "No, dice, bud
You gotta work late")
Sometimes I wonder what I'm gonna do
Cause there ain't no cure for the summertime blues
Well my mom and poppa told me
"Son you gotta earn some money,
If you want to use the car
To go ridin' next Sunday."
Well I wouldn't go to work
Told the boss I was sick...
(They said, "Now you can't use the car
Cause you didn't work a lick")
Sometimes I wonder what I'm gonna do
Cause there ain't no cure for the summertime blues
I'm gonna take two weeks
I'm gonna have a fine vacation
Gonna take my problems
To the United Nations
Well I went to my congressman
And he said, quote...
("I'd love to help you, son
But you're too young to vote")
Sometimes I wonder what I'm gonna do
Cause there ain't no cure for the summertime blues
Heart Full of Soul
[The Yardbirds]
Sick at heart and lonely,
Deep in dark despair
Thinking one thought only-
Where is she tell me where
And if she says to you
She don't love me
Just give her my message
Tell her of my plea
And I know if she had me back again
Well I would never make her sad
I've gotta heart full of soul
She's been gone such a long time
Longer than I can bear
But if she says she wants me
Tell her that I'll be there
And if she says to you
She don't love me
Just give her my message
Tell her of my plea.
For What It's Worth
[Buffalo Springfield]
There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
The Seeker
[The Who]
I looked under chairs
I looked under tables
I try to find the key
To fifty million fables
They call me the seeker
I've been searchin' low and high
I won't get to get what I'm after
Till the day I die
I asked Bobby Dylan
I asked the Beatles
I asked Timothy Leary
But he couldn't help me either
They call me the seeker
I've been searchin' low and high
I won't get to get what I'm after
Till the day I die
People tend to hate me
Cause I never smile
As I ransack their homes they wanna shake my hand
Focusin' on nowhere, investigatin' miles
I'm a seeker, I'm a really desperate man
I won't get to get what I'm after
Till the day I die
I learned how to raise my voice in anger
Yeah but look at my face, ain't this a smile
I'm happy when life's good, and when it's bad I cry
I got values but I don't know how or why
I'm lookin' for me
You're lookin' for you
We're lookin' at each other and we don't know what to do
They call me the seeker
I've been searchin' low and high
I won't get to get what I'm after
Till the day I die
Mr. Soul
[Buffalo Springfield]
Oh, hello, Mr. Soul, I dropped by to pick up a reason
For the thought that I caught that my head is the event of the season
Why in crowds just a trace of my face could seem so pleasin'
I'll cop out to the change, but a stranger is putting the tease on
I was down on a frown when the messenger brought me a letter
I was raised by the praise of a fan who said I upset her
Any girl in the world could have easily known me better
She said "you're strange, but don't change," and I let her
In a while, will the smile on my face turn to plaster?
Stick around while the clown who is sick does the trick of disaster
For the race of my head and my face is moving much faster
Is it strange I should change? I don't know, why don't you ask her?
Seven And Seven Is
[Love]
When I was a boy I thought about the times I'd be a man
I'd sit inside a bottle and pretend that I was in a jam
In my lonely room I'd sit my mind in an ice cream cone
You can throw me if you wanna 'cause I'm a bone and I go
And I go "Oop-ip-ip, oop-ip-ip, yeah."
If I don't start cryin' it's because that I have got no eyes
My father's in the fireplace and my dog lies hypnotized
Through a crack of light I was unable to find my way
Trapped inside a night but I'm a day and I go
And I go "Oop-ip-ip, oop-ip-ip, yeah."
When I was a boy I thought about the times I'd be a man
I'd sit inside a bottle and pretend that I was in a can
Through a crack of light I was unable to find my way
Trapped inside a night but I'm a day
And I go "Oop-ip-ip, oop-ip-ip, yeah."
Shapes Of Things
[The Yardbirds]
Shapes of things before my eyes,
Just teach me to despise.
Will time make men more wise?
Here within my lonely frame,
My eyes just hurt my brain.
But will it seem the same?
Come tomorrow, will I be older?
Come tomorrow, may be a soldier.
Come tomorrow, may I be bolder than today?
Now the trees are almost green.
But will they still be seen?
When time and tide have been.
Fall into your passing hands.
Please don't destroy these lands.
Don't make them desert sands.
Soon I hope that I will find,
Thoughts deep within my mind.
That won't disgrace my kind.
Crossroads
[Robert Johnson]
I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
Asked the Lord above, have mercy now, save poor Bob if you please
Standin' at the crossroads, tried to flag a ride
Whee-hee, I tried to flag a ride
Didn't nobody seem to know me, everybody pass me by
Standin' at the crossroads, risin' sun goin' down
Standin' at the crossroads baby, the risin' sun goin' down
I believe to my soul now, po' Bob is sinkin' down
You can run, you can run, tell my friend Willie Brown
You can run, you can run, tell my friend Willie Brown
That I got the crossroad blues this mornin', Lord, baby I'm sinkin' down
I went to the crossroad, mama, I looked east and west
I went to the crossroad, babe, I looked east and west
Lord, I didn't have no sweet woman, ooh well, babe, in my distress
Far Cry
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Pariah dogs and wandering madmen
Barking at strangers and speaking in tongues
The ebb and flow of tidal fortune
Electrical changes are charging up the young
It's a far cry from the world we thought we'd inherit
It's a far cry from the way we thought we'd share it
You can almost feel the current flowing
You can almost see the circuits blowing
One day I feel I'm on top of the world
And the next it's falling in on me
I can get back on
I can get back on
One day I feel I'm ahead of the wheel
And the next it's rolling over me
I can get back on
I can get back on
Whirlwind life of faith and betrayal
Rise in anger, fall back and repeat
Slow degrees on the dark horizon
Full moon rising, lays silver at your feet
You can almost see the circle growing
You can almost feel the planets glowing
One day I fly through a crack in the sky
And the next it's falling in on me
I can get back on
I can get back on
Armor and Sword
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
The snakes and arrows a child is heir to
Are enough to leave a thousand cuts
We build our defenses, a place of safety
And leave the darker places unexplored
Sometimes the fortress is too strong
Or the love is too weak
What should have been our armor
Becomes a sharp and angry sword
Our better natures seek elevation
A refuge for the coming night
No one gets to their heaven without a fight
We hold beliefs as a consolation
A way to take us out of ourselves
Meditation, or medication
A comfort, or a promised reward
Sometimes that spirit is too strong
Or the flesh is too weak
Sometimes the need is just too great
For the solace we seek
The suit of shining armor
Becomes a keen and bloody sword
A refuge for the coming night
A future of eternal light
No one gets to their heaven without a fight
Confused alarms of struggle and flight
Blood is drained of color
By the flashes of artillery light
No one gets to their heaven without a fight
The battle flags are flown
At the feet of a god unknown
No one gets to their heaven without a fight
Sometimes the damage is too great
Or the will is too weak
What should have been our armor
Becomes a sharp and burning sword
Workin' Them Angels
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Driving away to the east, and into the past
History recedes in my rear-view mirror
Carried away on a wave of music down a desert road
Memory humming at the heart of a factory town
All my life
I've been workin' them angels overtime
Riding and driving and living
So close to the edge
Workin' them angels - Overtime
Riding through the Range of Light to the wounded city
Filling my spirit with the wildest wish to fly
Taking the high road to the wounded city
Memory strumming at the heart of a moving picture
All this time
I've been working them angels overtime
Riding and driving and flying
Just over the edge
Workin' them angels - Overtime
Driving down the razor's edge between the past and the future
Turn up the music and smile
Get carried away on the songs and stories of vanished times
Memory drumming at the heart of an English winter
Memories beating at the heart of an African village
The Larger Bowl
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
(a pantoum)
if we're so much the same, like I always hear
why such different fortunes and fates?
some of us live in a cloud of fear
some live behind iron gates
why such different fortunes and fates?
some are blessed and some are cursed
some live behind iron gates
while others see only the worst
some are blessed and some are cursed
the golden one or scarred from birth
while others only see the worst
such a lot of pain on the earth
the golden one or scarred from birth
some things can never be changed
such a lot of pain on this earth
it's somehow so badly arranged
some things can never be changed
some reasons will never come clear
it's somehow so badly arranged
if we're so much the same, like I always hear
Spindrift
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
As the waves crash in
On the western shore
The wind blows fierce from the east
Wavetops torn into flying spindrift
As the waves crash in
On the western shore
It makes me feel uneasy
The spray that's torn away
Is an image of the way I feel
What am I supposed to say?
Where are the words to answer you
When you talk that way?
As the sun goes down
On the western shore
The wind blows hard from the east
It whips the sand into a flying spindrift
As the sun goes down
On the western shore
It makes me feel uneasy
In the hot dry rasp of the devil winds
Who cares what a fool believes?
What am I supposed to say?
Where are the words to answer you
When you talk that way?
Words that fly against the wind and waves
(A little closer to you)
Where is the wave that will carry me
A little closer to you?
What am I supposed to do?
Where are the words that will make you see
What I believe is true?
The Main Monkey Business
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson
Instrumental
The Way The Wind Blows
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Now it's come to this
It's like we're back in the Dark Ages
From the Middle East to the Middle West
It's a world of superstition
Now it's come to this
Wide-eyed armies of the faithful
From the Middle East to the Middle West
Pray, and pass the ammunition
So many people think that way
You gotta watch what you say
To them and them, and others too
Who don't seem to see things the way you do
We can only grow the way the wind blows
On a bare and weathered shore
We can only bow to the here and now
In our elemental war
We can only grow the way the wind blows
We can only bow to the here and now
Or be broken down blow by blow
Now it's come to this
Hollow speeches of mass deception
From the Middle East to the Middle West
Like crusaders in unholy alliance
Now it's come to this
Like we're back in the Dark Ages
From the Middle East to the Middle West
It's a plague that resists all science
It seems to leave them partly blind
And they leave no child behind
While evil spirits haunt their sleep
While shepherds bless and count their sheep
Like a solitary pine
On a bare wind-blasted shore
We can only grow the way the wind blows
Hope
Music: Alex Lifeson
Instrumental
Faithless
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
I've got my own moral compass to steer by
A guiding star beats a spirit in the sky
And all the preaching voices -
Empty vessels ring so loud
As they move among the crowd
Fools and thieves are well disguised
In the temple and marketplace
Like a stone in the river
Against the floods of spring
I will quietly resist
Like the willows in the wind
Or the cliffs along the ocean
I will quietly resist
I don't have faith in faith
I don't believe in belief
You can call me faithless
But I still cling to hope
And I believe in love
And that's faith enough for me
I've got my own spirit level for balance
To tell if my choice is leading up or down
And all the shouting voices
Try to throw me off my course
Some by sermons, some by force
Fools and thieves are dangerous
In the temple and marketplace
Like a forest bows to winter
Beneath the deep white silence
I will quietly resist
Like a flower in the desert
That only blooms at night
I will quietly resist
Bravest Face
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Though we might have precious little
It's still precious
I like that song
About this wonderful world
It's got a sunny point of view
And sometimes I feel it's true
At least for a few of us
I like that world
It makes a wonderful song
But there's a darker point of view
That's sadly just as true
For so many among us
In the sweetest child there's a vicious streak
In the strongest man there's a child so weak
In the whole wide world there's no magic place
So you might as well rise, put on your bravest face
I like that show
Where they solve all the murders
That heroic point of view
It's got justice and vengeance too
At least, so the story goes
I like that story -
Makes a satisfying case
But there's a messy point of view
That's sadly just as true
For so many among us
In the softest voice there's an acid tongue
In the oldest eyes there's a soul so young
In the shakiest will there's a core of steel
On the smoothest ride there's a squeaky wheel
Though we might have precious little
It's still precious
Good News First
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
The best we can agree on
Is it could have been worse
What happened to your old
Benevolent universe'
You know the one with stars
That revolve around you
Beaming down full of promises
To bring good news
You used to feel that way
The saddest words you could ever say
But I know you'll remember that day
And the most beautiful words I could ever say
The worst thing about it all
Is that you might have been right
And I'm still not really sure
What started that fight
But I still get this feeling
There's more trouble ahead
So never mind the bad news
Let's have the good news instead
Some would say they never fear a thing
Well I do
And I'm afraid enough for both of us -
For me and you
Time, if nothing else, will do its worst
So do me that favor
And tell me the good news first
Malignant Narcissism
Music: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart
Instrumental
"Usually a case of malignant narcissism brought on during childhood."
We Hold On
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
How many times
Do we tire of all the little battles
Threaten to call it quits
Tempted to cut and run
How many times
Do we weather out the stormy evenings
Long to slam the front door
Drive away into the setting sun
Keep going until dawn
How many times must another line be drawn
We could be down and gone
But we hold on
How many times
Do we chafe against the repetition
Straining against a fate
Measured out in coffee breaks
How many times
Do we swallow our ambitions
Long to give up the same old way
Find another road to take
Keep holding on so long
'Cause there's a chance
That we might not be so wrong
We could be down and gone
But we hold on
How many times
Do we wonder if it's even worth it
There's got to be some other way
To get me through the days
But we hold on
