Has anybody ever noticed that the signs on the right side of the
_Permanent
Waves_ cover say Lee, Lifeson and Peart?
Yes.
Why was the headline on the newspaper on the cover of _Permanent
Waves_
blocked out? (Note: The Anthem Canadian release does not have this
problem.)
"There are always the inevitable last minute crises, such as the
Chicago
Daily Tribune being still so embarrassed about their 'Dewey
defeats
Truman' error of more than thirty years ago that they actually refused to
let us
use it on the cover!" - Neil Peart, in the _Permanent Waves_
tourbook
To clarify this: When Harry Truman ran against Thomas Dewey for
president, Truman lost in most of the states with early returns.
So,
it looked like Dewey was going to win. The Tribune released an
early
morning paper the next day with a "Dewey defeats Truman"
headline.
What is the "words of the profits" quote in "The Spirit Of Radio"
about?
It's referring to "The Sounds of Silence," by
Simon and Garfunkel. Here are the relevant lyrics:
"The Sounds of Silence":
"And the sign said:
'The words of the prophets are
written on the subway walls,
and tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence'"
"The Spirit of Radio":
"For the words of the profits,
Are written on the studio wall,
Concert hall -
Echoes with the sounds ...
Of salesmen."
What is "Free Will" about?
"The song is about freedom of choice and free will, and you
believing in what you decide you believe in." - Geddy Lee, in the
December 4, 1989 "Rockline" interview
In "Free Will" which lyrics are correct (the ones on the album sleeve
or
the ones Geddy sings)?
"That's a funny question. I've had a few lately from people who are
so
sure that what they hear is correct, that they disbelieve what I've
put
in the lyric sheets! Imagine! People have quoted me whole verses
of
what they hear, as opposed to what's printed, sure that they are
right
and the cover (me) is wrong. Scary stuff, these egocentric
individuals.
I assure you, other than perhaps dropping an "and" or a "but," we
take
great care to make the lyric sheets accurate." - Neil Peart,
in the December 1985 Backstage Club newsletter
But I'm *sure* that what the lyric sheet says isn't what Geddy
sings!
So what? People have argued about this far too much already. If
it's
really bothering you, write a letter to the band and complain.
Lighten
up - it's just a song!
Where is "Lotus-Land"?
"Lotus-land as it appears in 'Free Will' is simply a metaphor for
an
idealized background, a 'land of milk and honey.' It is sometimes
also used as a pejorative name for Los Angeles, though that was
not
in my mind when I wrote it." - Neil Peart
Lotus-land is mentioned in an episode in "The Odyssey" where
Odysseus
goes to the land of the lotus-eaters, where the people hang out
and eat lotus petals or some such and are perfectly happy but
are basically brainless.
I heard something about a song called "Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight."
Apparently it was supposed to be on _Permanent Waves_, but was
dropped.
Is there a way to get a tape of it?
According to _Visions_, it was never recorded. Some bits from it
ended up in "Natural Science."
Questions about _Moving Pictures_
What building is on the cover of _Moving Pictures_?
According to rkleiner@alfred.carleton.ca (Ron Kleiner):
The building on the cover of _Moving Pictures_ is the current seat
of
the Government of Ontario, at Queen's Park.
What do the pictures on the MP cover mean?
"When Hugh Syme was developing the multitude of puns for the
cover,
he wanted the guys 'moving pictures' to have some 'moving
pictures'
to be moving past the people who were 'moved' by the 'picture' -
get
it? So he asked us to think of some ideas for these pictures. The
'man descending to hell' is actually a woman - Joan of Arc - being
burned at the stake (as per 'Witch Hunt'), and the card-playing
dogs
are there because it was a funny, silly idea - one of the most
cliche'd pictures we could think of - a different kind of
'moving picture.'" - Neil Peart, in the December 1985 Backstage
Club
newsletter What is "Tom Sawyer" about?
"I've been avoiding most of the questions that ask for explanations
for
different songs, as really the song is meant to do the explaining
for
me! But since you ask so nicely ... 'Tom Sawyer' was a
collaboration
between myself and Pye Dubois, an excellent lyricist who wrote the
lyrics for Max Webster. His original lyrics were kind of a
portrait
of a modern day rebel, a free-spirited individualist striding
through
the world wide-eyed and purposeful. I added the themes of
reconciling
the boy and man in myself, and the difference between what people
are
and what others perceive them to be - namely me I guess." - Neil
Peart,
in the December 1985 Backstage Club newsletter
My _Moving Pictures_ CD is missing the first half second or so
from
"Tom Sawyer." Can I get a new one?
Yes. Here's the address for PolyGram QA:
Cecilia E. Schultz
Customer Service / Warranty Department
PolyGram Group Distribution, Inc.
6220 Churchman Bypass
Indianapolis, IN 46203
Phone: (800) 428-4437
Fax: (317) 788-1803
My _Moving Pictures_ CD contains pictures of Geddy and Alex, but not
Neil.
Why is this? Can I get a CD with all 3 pictures?
I have no information about why the picture of Neil is missing from
the
Mercury CD of _Moving Pictures_. The missing picture is present in
the
liner notes for the MFSL gold CD of this album.
Who is Pye Dubois?
Pye Dubois was the lyricist for Max Webster. "Tom Sawyer" began
life
as a Max Webster song called "Louis The Warrior," but Pye gave the
lyrics to Neil after "Battlescar" was recorded. Pye also helped
Neil write "Force Ten."
What is a barchetta?
The barchetta is a type of Ferrari race car.
Barchetta is actually pronounced "Barketta", according to 2
Italian
friends of mine. Another source of information is:
"The Complete Ferrari" by Godfrey Eaton; 1986 by Cadogan Books
Ltd.
Where can I get a copy of "A Nice Morning Drive," by Richard S.
Foster?
It was printed in the November 1973 issue of "Road & Track"
magazine.
It is also available for FTP on syrinx.umd.edu in the rush/special
directory.
What does "YYZ" mean?
YYZ is the transmitter code for Toronto's Lester B. Pearson
International Airport. Every airport is assigned a unique 3
letter
code, and that code is always being transmitted so that pilots can
tell, roughly, where they are and verify that their navigational
radios are tuned properly. These codes are also written on your
luggage tags when you fly. The intro to the song is Morse code
for "YYZ."
How does Neil play plywood?
"Well you wear gloves so as not to get splinters, you take a piece
of
1/4" plywood, and smack it down HARD on the top of a wooden stool.
Very demanding, technically - took years of practice." - Neil
Peart
At 8:54 and 8:56 in "The Camera Eye," there are some mumblings that I
can't
quite make out. Does anybody know for sure what is being said?
(These mumblings are at 8:55 and 8:57 in the MFSL gold pressing of
_Moving Pictures_.)
No. {The first time I posted this FAQ, I received no fewer than 8
emails from people who claimed to know exactly what is being
said there. Unfortunately, none of them agreed with each
other,
which tells me that at least 7 of them were wrong, so I'm
only
going to change this answer if somebody can come up with
proof
that they are right, such as an interview or magazine
article.}
What is the mob saying at the beginning of "Witch Hunt"?
"It is purposely mixed so that you cannot understand what is being
said, but the tenor of the situation, the hatred, the ill will,
and
the fear comes through loud and clear. This effect was created by
emptying the studio (in the middle of a snowy night) of production
staff, road crew and band, and depositing everyone in the cold
outside
the isolated facility. With tape recorders rolling, Neil gave his
best fanatic's speech, gradually getting more and more whipped up
as
everyone involved let themselves get carried away." - from
_Visions_
Here's how Alex Lifeson described that session in an interview
called
"In The Studio" from the MP era.
"We went outside of Le Studio and it was so cold, it was really
cold;
we were well into December by then, I think. We were all out
there.
We put a couple of mics outside. We started ... rauw, raew, wrow ...
(starts mumbling), ranting and raving. We did a couple of tracks
of
that. I think we had a bottle of Scotch or something with us to
keep
us warm. So as the contents of the bottle became less and less,
the ranting and raving took on a different flavor and you got
little
lines of ... you remember Roger Ramjet (sp?), the cartoon Roger
Ramjet?
What was the bad guy's name ... his gang of hoods, they always had
these little things they would say whenever they were mumbling ...
mrrblaarrr ... mrrblaarrr ... crauss. It started to take all this ...
we
were in the control room after we had layed down about twelve
tracks of mob - in hysterics. Every once in awhile you'd hear
somebody say something really stupid."
What is that thing on Neil's chest in the "Vital Signs"
video?
It's a microphone. A PZM, to be exact. It was used in an attempt
to get the drums to be recorded the way Neil hears them.
Has anybody noticed that Geddy says "Everybody got to evelate from the
norm"
at the end of "Vital Signs"?
Yes.
Questions about _Exit ... Stage Left_
Has anybody noticed that the ESL cover photo contains stuff from all
of
the band's previous studio albums?
Yes. Here's the list:
"Rush" from the first album on the side of a box
The owl fron FBN
Picture of back cover of COS
Man w/star logo from 2112
The puppet king from AFTK
The businessman from HEM
The lady off the cover of PEW
Two movers from MP
What does Geddy say just before "Jacob's Ladder" on ESL?
"We'd like to do an old song for you right now ... This was done a
long
time ago by the [possibly "that"] old T.C. Broonsie. This is
called
'Jacob's Ladder.'" - thanks to Michael Sensor
<JPJ103@psuvm.psu.edu>
Who is T.C. Broonsie?
Terry Brown.
Questions about _Signals_
What is the _Signals_ cover supposed to mean?
"Well, I was given the word "Signals." It was such a broad concept
that it was baffling for all of us. We really had trouble with
that
one, and I decided that, with such a phenomenally important word
with
the kind of potency it potentially had, to go with something
really
dumb, really inane. But something which would still tie in with
songs
such as "Chemistry," and the subdivision aspect of the fire
hydrants,
lawns, and neighborhood dogs." - Hugh Syme
In an effort to explain the _Signals_ sleeve, Geddy states: "Well,
we
wanted the album to sound different and we also thought that the
packaging
should have a different feel. When we were talking about _Signals_,
Hugh
had this concept of taking the idea down to a basic human level -
territorial or even sexual. So that's how the design with the dog and
the
fire hydrant came about. The little map on the back features
make-believe
subdivisions, with a lot of silly names and places. The red dots
represent
all the fire hydrants and basically the whole thing maps out a series
of
territories." - from _Success Under Pressure_
Who is the writer in "Losing It" about?
Neil discusses this song in _Modern Drummer_ magazine, in the April
1984
issue. The writer represents Ernest Hemingway. The dancer "...
drew
a bit from that film with Shirley MacLaine called _The Turning
Point_ ..."
Who are Young and Crippen?
They were the astronauts on the first shuttle flight.
What are the voices at the end of "Countdown" saying?
- This is a combination of what several people (the list is getting
too long) think the end sequence on 'Countdown' goes like...
Columbia is now reaching precise window in space for main engine
cutoff
Mark - 2 minutes, 40 seconds...Columbia now 39 nautical miles
altitude,
42 nautical miles downrange...
Columbia you're lookin' a little hot, and all your calls'll be a
little
early...
Young and Crippen really moving out now velocity now reading -uh-
sixty-two hundred feet per second
What a view, what a view
Glad you're enjoying it
Jay, how does it all look?
Columbia to Houston, er, we have forty seconds to LOS; configure
LOS, you're looking good burnin' over the hill, we'll see you in
Madrid
And we enjoyed the music Bob, thank ya
Ah, we enjoyed it, we just wanted to share some with you
According to several readers of the sci.space.shuttle newsgroup,
the
NASA meaning of LOS is "loss of signal." The term LOS is applied
to any loss of telemetry for whatever reason, although in this
case
the shuttle was indeed passing out of reach of the ground
station.
Questions about _Grace Under Pressure_
Is that crackling noise about 10-20 seconds into "Distant Early
Warning" on
the _Grace Under Pressure_ CD supposed to be there, or is my copy
defective?
It's supposed to be there. There is a rumbling at that point on
the
_A Show Of Hands_ CD and on the _Grace Under Pressure Tour_ video,
but people without subwoofers may be unable to detect it.
Who was Absalom?
He was a character from the Bible, son of King David (the one who
killed
Goliath). He killed his half-brother for raping their half-sister.
Then,
he tried to over-throw David and get the throne. A battle resulted,
and
(against David's wishes) Absalom was killed by King David's Mighty
Men,
when his hair was caught in a tree and suspended him above the
ground.
David grieved for his son by lamenting, "Absalom, Absalom, my son."
I
have thought about this story's connection quite a bit. Perhaps it
is
about David, and how he had the "weight of the world" on his
shoulders
and he was worrying about Absalom.
-- from Teri Piatt (tpiatt@lazy.helios.nd.edu)
To quote Neil:
"Before I ever knew who or what Absalom was, I always loved the
sound
of it. I had thought perhaps it was an ancient prayer or
something.
There is a book by William Faulkner called _Absalom, Absalom_,
which,
again, I loved the sound of. I wanted to put it in the song, as a
play
on words with 'absolute' and 'obsolete,' but I thought I'd better
find
out for sure what it meant. So I called my wife and asked her to
look
it up in the encyclopedia. When I learned the real story, and its
Biblical roots, I decided that it was still appropriate, as it was
the
ultimate expression of compassion, which is what the song was
really
about. 'Absalom, Absalom. My son, my son. Would God I had died
for
thee.' (Now don't anyone go reading any religion into that!)"
Who is the boy in the "Distant Early Warning" video?
He is Geddy's son, Julian.
Is "Afterimage" about anybody in particular?
The song is about Robbie Whelan, a good friend of the band who
died
in a car accident. He has the "Right Field" credit in the
_Signals_
liner notes.
What is "Red Sector A" about?
Red Sector A is the area the band watched a shuttle launch
from.
On the other hand ...
In the July 1985 Backstage Club mailing, Neil Peart said that,
"It is one of the 'grace under pressure' themes which captured my
imagination on the last album, and is not meant to portray a
specific
human atrocity, although many of the historical accounts which
inspired
it were of course set in World War II. There have been many periods
of
slavery and mass imprisonment in the world and also many fictional
accounts of the future. I was thinking of all these things, and
wanted
to try to express something timeless enough to encompass them
all."
What songs make up the "Fear" trilogy?
The "Fear" trilogy consists of:
Part 1: The Enemy Within (Grace Under Pressure)
Part 2: The Weapon (Signals)
Part 3: Witch Hunt (Moving Pictures)
Has this trilogy ever been performed live?
Yes. It's on the _Grace Under Pressure Tour_ video.
Why do the songs appear in reverse order?
"It's really kind of strange how it turned out, and it's not meant to
be
as mysterious and clever as it looks. It was more accidental. At
the
time of _Moving Pictures_, I had actually sketched out each of the
three
songs in my notebook and talked to the other guys about them and what
I
was going to go for, but the easiest one for me to clarify in my
mind
and in words was 'Witch Hunt,' because it was the simplest concept
to
deal with, and then 'The Weapon' came next because my thinking led up
to
that point, but in fact a couple snatches of lyrics and even both of
the
verses for 'The Enemy Within' were written as long ago as that, and
all
of the titles and everything were fixed on, and what I wanted to
write
about, but 'The Enemy Within' was the most difficult one to deal
with,
so it ended up being the last one done, so they happened to go in
the
order 3-2-1." - Neil Peart, in an interview on KGB 101 FM, San
Diego, 10/2/84
What is the significance of 1001001 in "The Body
Electric?"
In the video, the protagonist is a prisoner attempting to escape
from some sort of prison. The number on his uniform is 1001001.
Many people have converted this number into decimal and noticed
that ASCII 73 is a capital I and read significance into that,
but I've never seen anything "official" on the subject. My
_opinion_ is that 1001001 was used because it fits and sounds
neat.
Questions about _Grace Under Pressure Tour_ video
Who is Count Floyd?
He was a character on the Canadian TV show SCTV {similar to "WKRP
in Cincinnati," but a TV station}. The Count Floyd character had
a
show that featured really bad movies {movies so bad that even
Elvira wouldn't show them}.
Questions about _Power Windows_
Has anybody noticed that _Power Windows_ is "brought to you by the
letter M"?
Yes. We've noticed the similar accreditations in _Presto_ and
_Roll The Bones_, too.
Why is _Power Windows_ brought to us by the letter M?
From the April 1992 Kerrang interview:
"That started on _Power Windows_," recalls Alex, "when we were
sequencing
the tracks and Neil commented that 50 percent of the songs began with
an
'M' - 'Marathon,' 'Manhattan Project,' 'Middletown Dreams,' and
'Mystic
Rhythms.' It's as innocent as that. It's nothing to do with
'Sesame
Street'!"
"We throw a lot of silly little things into the credits,"
shrugs Geddy, "little inside jokes. It's just an immature habit we
developed!" Questions about _Hold Your Fire_
What do the three spheres on the _Hold Your Fire_ cover
represent?
"It's so difficult to describe the album cover because you want to
leave a little bit of mystery, and you want it to be interpreted
by
the person who is holding the thing in front of them. So I'm
really
not going to say too much about what the cover says to me, but
it's
nothing extremely mystical or anything. It has nothing to do with
brown rice." - Geddy Lee, on "Rockline," 10/5/87
How many Rush symbols are there in the _Hold Your Fire_ inside
photo?
It has been suggested that the newspapers on the steps may have
"Dewey Defeats Truman" headlines. Unfortunately, the headlines
aren't
visible, even in the big print of the picture in the HYF
tourbook.
the fire hydrant from "Signals"
the TV from "Power Windows"
the clock indicating 9:12 (21:12 military time)
the number 15 on the main building - in the "Hold Your Fire"
tour book, they mentioned that this was their 15th album to
date.
the juggler is clearly holding his fire.
at the very far left, underneath the chains, is a trunk with
the logo from their first album. This was spotted on a 12-inch
picture disk from the album. It cannot be seen in many
other versions of the picture.
The Chinese neon sign above the restaurant reads "Tai-Shan."
A friend told me that the car is a Mercury, but I don't know this
for sure.
Look right off of the juggler's right shoulder in the open window.
There is someone's hand shown holding a pistol. {People have
questioned
this one - can somebody who has found it send me a better
description
of where they see it?}
In one of the upper right hand windows of the right hand most
apartment
building you can see part of the head and crown of the Statue of
Liberty
who we all know holds a burning torch in her right hand.
The arches on the building are suspiciously similar to the MP
cover.
Special mention goes to nth@cs.brown.edu (Nate Huang) for the most
obscure observation yet: "The restaurant sign has the same
recognizable
font style as the lettering on the Grace Under Pressure cover."
{Yes, I know it's not exactly the same. Please don't tell me that
again.}
Leaning against the trash can in the front is an oxford shoe, just
like
the one the girl wears on the ESL cover.
The back side of the owl on FBN is resembled on the lamp post on the
far
right side. (Only on the CD and tour book)
{ I think this is pushing it a little, but I can see how one
might
see it as an owl ... Dan }
A copy of the painting on the far left on MP is wrapped up in cloth
and
leaning against the front steps.
How did Pye Dubois come to be involved with "Force Ten"? What
does
the title of that song mean?
"It was more or less an afterthought in the writing stage. We
took
two months to do all of our writing and preproduction, you know,
preparation for the making of the record, and we had nine songs,
and
we had about a day and a half left of time booked before we were
supposed to leave and get ready to make the record. And our
producer
and all of us were pushing for ten tracks on the album, and some
lyrics had been submitted to us by a friend of ours, Pye Dubois,
who
co-wrote 'Tom Sawyer' with us in years gone by. And Neil was able
to
put some of his own thoughts to one of the songs that he had and
present it to us in the morning of the last day that we were
there,
and we loved the results, so we got together and brainstormed for
about 2 or 3 hours, and we had Force Ten." - Geddy Lee, on
"Rockline,"
10/5/87
Gregg Jaeger (jaeger@buphy.bu.edu) sent me this tidbit:
In the _Presto_ mailing from the Backstage Club a writer asks:
"What
does the title 'Force Ten' refer to?" and Neil responds:
"The Beaufort scale - look it up!"
{Yes, I know that the definition of the Beaufort scale could be
put
here in this file. It won't be. Don't bother to type it in and
send
it to me. I won't put it in the FAQ. Why, you ask? Well, if
Neil told us to look it up, who am I to ruin the surprise? So
look it up - you'll like it. }
Has Aimee Mann ever appeared live with Rush? How are her vocals
in
"Time Stand Still" reproduced live?
Those parts are sampled - she doesn't appear live at Rush
shows.
What film are the clips in the "Lock And Key" video and the _A Show
Of
Hands_ laserdisc, just before "Lock And Key," from?
It's called _The Last Mile_. It can be purchased as part of the
Video Film Classics series from Video Classics Inc. and Kartes
Video Communications Inc.
What is "Tai Shan" about?
"Tai' Shan" (from _Hold Your Fire_) is the name of an actual "holy
mountain"in China. The mythical (?) emperor Huang Ti had so much power
that he
was able to summon all the spirits of the world to him on top of
Tai' Shan to proclaim his power.
Legend has it that if you climb to the top of this mountain and
"raise your hands to heaven," you _will_ live to be at least 100
years old. Neil wrote these lyrics while sitting at the top of
the mountain.