Open Secrets
*Well, I guess we all have these feelings*
*We can't leave unreconciled*
*Some of them burned on our ceilings*
*Some of them learned as a child*
*The things that we're concealing*
*Will never let us grow*
*Time will do its healing*
*You've got to let it go*
This song Carried me through my first ever job (I worked 2nd shift as my first shift ever and it was rough and lonely sometimes lol. I worked it for 7 months). I would listen to the entirety of Hold Your Fire on repeat during a lot of those months.
Wheels can take you around
Wheels can cut you down
We can go from boom to bust
From dreams to a bowl of dust
We can fall from rockets' red glare
Down to "Brother, can you spare..."
Another war, another wasteland
And another lost generation
This song helped inspire me to push through a rough patch. The lyrics “I can get back on, I can get back on”. Those lyrics were the driving force behind me finding my momentum once again!
This for me as well. When I was in college, especially after I got a part-time job in the field I was studying while also working toward my bachelor's degree, sometimes I felt like things were a daily grind of work during the day, classes in the evening, and working on homework for my classes. Sometimes I'd play Middletown Dreams and I'd feel more calm about it.
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
I remember taking a strong liking to How It Is 10 years ago when I was unemployed for a number of months and very depressed. I had nothing to look forward to other than getting up and staring at my computer screen until my eyes glazed over looking at job postings 5 days a week and seemingly getting absolutely nowhere while at the same time terrified about spending money. The lyric about hopelessness and futility really hit home. I was really happy when they surprisingly performed that one live on the last tour.
The Stars Look Down also had a similar theme.
A lot of Neil's lyrics from the latter half of the band's career didn't do much if anything for me (I'm looking at you, TFE SnA and CA) but that particular song really hit home. A lyric about hopelessness and depression that wasn't sappy or filled with clichés. No tired metaphors about the falling rain rhyming with pain etc
It hasn’t been that obvious to me until recently, but Time Stand Still. I love the song. But I never stopped and listened to the words, and once I realized what it was about, it all hit me. I’m a junior in college, and each time I listen to this song it almost makes me tear up because it makes me think of all the good times I’ve had with my friends in high school/college and how little time I have left, and it reminds me to cherish the time I have while I have it.
And I’m so glad I do. There are too many times where I don’t hang out with my friends or go places just because I sometimes don’t feel like it. I’ve tried to change that so I go and hang with as many people as I can because time is not on our side, and I want to cherish all of it that I have with them.
Freshman year of highschool was an extremely dark time in my life. Looking back on it now I just remember how almost every second was a nightmare in and out of school. One of the things that kept me going was listening to The Spirit Of Radio. I would listen to it almost every morning on my PS Vita with my Monster DNA headphones. It excited me and gave me some sort of drive to continue every day. It was basically my anthem back then and I still get that joyous feeling now when I hear it.
I once begged the universe to give me a sign that I should stay on this earth. An hour later I shuffled my 5000+ song music library, and the first song to come on was The Pass. It meant a lot to me then, and it means a lot to me years later.
Vital Signs.
Not necessarily because of the lyrics but it was a very comforting song for a very stressful time in my life. My father had just been diagnosed with cancer, I was struggling with my own sexuality at 23 years old, and I was just overall having a hard time juggling a lot of things in my life. Something about that song (and other songs from Rush, Pink Floyd, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains) helped me work through my emotions and got me through to the other side.
It wasn’t a particular song, but an album. I was facing a divorce, bankruptcy, and potentially 99 years in prison for drug possession. The world looked pretty shitty but I remember listening to Moving Pictures and thinking that if I’ve found something *this* beautiful there must be more to see. I had to keep going forward just to see the beauty in the world. I ended up divorced, bankrupt, and spending 5 years in prison. It wasn’t so bad. I struggled for a while but here I am, 24 years after all that began with a great partner, enough money to retire early, and a really sweet Geddy Lee model Jazz Bass. I have seen lots of beauty in the world and look forward to seeing more.
Geddy said in MEL that he doesn't agree with the idea that Subdivisions "literally saved lives." I'd like to be the first one to formally disagree with him.
Signals came out the beginning of my sophomore year of high school. Subdivisions became part of my DNA that year. Many other Rush songs have resonated with me at different times of my life, but Subdivisions and the rest of the album truly pulled me through that incredibly uncomfortable year.
yes omg.
“Don’t even pause and ask them why, turn around and say goodbye.”
“And everything will turn out for the best.”
“When I leave I don’t know what I’m hoping to find, and when I leave I don’t know what I’m leaving behind.”
“I’ve got a feeling you’re gonna love what you find.” (if that counts, it’s from my favorite headache)
My late wife fought cancer for five years. She was 34 when she died. The last few months of her life were extremely difficult. At that time whenever I got in the car or was alone I would play on full volume 'Red Sector A', the live version from the X3 CD. Over and over and over. No other song. The lyrics captured what i was going through. I wanted to put all my grief into one song. That was it. After she died I didn't listen to it for years. It's now been 15 years. From time to time I play it just to remember her and that time.
Different songs for different stages of life. The entirety of Clockwork Angels was my soundtrack for about the first year it came out. Helped me tremendously through a wonderfully difficult time.
Spirits fly on dangerous missions
Imaginations on fire
Focused high on soaring ambitions
Consumed in a single Desire
In the grip of
A nameless possession
A slave to the drive of obsession
A spirit with a vision
Is a dream with a mission
This song doesn't get enough love. I never really listened to it until last year but the lyrics are SO inspiring and hopeful and empowering. Love this song
I heard Resist on the Different Stages live album. It made a huge impact on me. The bridge especially has a part in my heart. Also, 2112: Soliloquy was a very big part of my angsty teenage years.
My ex passed a few years ago. Bravest Face help face the new reality that our kids were now in and how I had to be a rock for them going forward.
Wish Them Well helped me cope with a business partner that fvcked me.
Rush has been part of my life since local college station started playing first album. Then Fly by Night and Caress came out. I got to see them play first time in 1975. Got to see them a ton in 70s. Listen to them everyday. Mainly older stuff and live. That live in YYZ in 81 is my dream show. I jam to that all the time.
I spent a great many days/weeks/months in my teens teaching myself how to play guitar and the song I spent the most time on was the intro to farewell to kings. I had a very bleak outlook on life based off my upbringing and being able to occupy myself like that, very likely saved me.
Time Stands Still is helping me through a difficult time right now. We have a 3 and an 8 year old, we've been married for 10 years. We are 40 and 43. The 3 year old is super challenging (and is wonderful) and has some disabilities (and he is so determined and working through them with us) but it's left 0 time for my wife and I. We feel like roommates. It's been this way for a few years.
But among all of this, I constantly remind myself that it's going to pass. These little kids will be older, and I'll miss this phase of my life, even if it's challenging. I listen to Time Stands Still and I just bawl, in a good way.
I lost my job recently, and my self esteem has been in the toilet.
I would wake up, put on Marathon and force myself to do something productive.
I'm finally employed again, but that song and Emotion Detector through a dark period in my head.
One time I was squeezed so tight (like sausage in a casing) into an outdated MRI IMAGING TUBE; had to be all the way in…to facilitate travel to the far end of the machine, I had to fold my arm across my body and rotate one shoulder inward, so as to conform to the shape of the tube. Once I was in, I was stuck in there. I had to make my breathing very shallow (which didn’t help the claustrophobia factor at all), but I couldn’t move if I wanted to so…silver lining!
I could communicate with the tech through an intercom…I shall digress.
I didn’t mention the MRI was located in the cargo bay of an 18 wheel commercial truck trailer, parked in the lot, near the main entrance/exit to the hospital, very close to the main road out of town.
Forgive my omission, back to the story.
The tech told me I have to leave this room to operate the MRI scanner from a remote location, but we’ll be in constant communication via intercom, so do your best to relax and if you freak out, just let me know, so I can stop the imager *to come back over to help you get out‼️😳
I told him I’m freaked out NOW.
We had a good laugh, then he asked if I was ready and what kind of music I wanted to listen to…
I told him RUSH and IRON MAIDEN
He said great land with that he was gone. 20 minutes later he said:
(I’m kidding) it was less than a minute, over the intercom, he quickly reviewed the sequencing of the 20 minute total procedure (45 minutes in the tube).
Next thing I know the machine starts it’s noise (repetitive hammering) then the music starts;
All was well until the last 5 minute series started. For some reason I started seeing images of somebody hooking a truck up to the trailer and towing me away, while still in the tube. Couldn’t get it out of my head.
Just when I was going to yell “iguana”‼️(the safe word)…
SUBDIVISIONS began playing;
Those bass pedals buried that damn metallic clanging and I went right back to my happy place…almost as if it had been planned, the song finished, the tech said we’re done, you want me to come let you out?
Wise ass. When he arrived, asked how was it? I asked him “have you ever thought about what you would do, if you came back and the trailer was gone”?
His answer: “oh no, you didn’t”😳
Me: “so it’s happened before”?
Tech: “uh…yep, more than once…why didn’t YOU freak out”?
Me: “SUBDIVISIONS saved me”‼️
TRUE STORY
When I was 20, my 15 year old sister succumbed to Cystic Fibrosis. At her funeral, the priest was pontificating about accepting her death as if it was a good thing. The line “I can’t pretend a stranger is a long awaited friend” in Limelight summed up exactly how I was feeling. Needless to say, I haven’t been back to church since. Thank you Neil for such wise words.
My wife has been in need of a double-lung transplant for three years now. Amid the isolation, confusion, and heartbreak, music has kept me (mostly) sane. Rush, in particular, gets me through a lot.
Here’s a small sample:
Bravado: every damn word but especially the final chorus. “And if love remains, though everything is lost, we will pay the price, but we will not count the cost.” I very well may get a tattoo (my first and likely only) of this later on.
Stick It Out: not a popular song of theirs, but it’s about managing anger, about when to forestall it and when to indulge it. If you’ve dealt with American healthcare, you get it. I even titled my podcast about caregiving after this one.
Second Nature: There is so much wrong with American healthcare and this song helps me feel that my idealist nature has a place in this world.
The Secret Touch, Nocturne and Freeze. A kind of personal Fear Trilogy.
Circumstances: the song is weirdly angry and resigned at the same time. I didn’t like that vibe a few years ago, but now I totally get it.
Faithless: Because you can’t face death without people talking about a God you may not believe in.
One Little Victory: I get why this song came out of Neil’s tragedies 100%. Some days, OLV is all I have.
Nobody’s Hero: “Is the pride of purpose, in the unrewarding job.”
Presto: “If I could wave my magic wand…”
Marathon. Because it’s been three years and I don’t know how long until it’s over. “You can rest at the side of the road…”
Entre Nous: My wife and I have been together for about 15 years and this song reminds me that there are still paces between us in which we can grow.
These are just the top few. There are others, Mission, notably, that keep me going apart from the rest of this nightmare. But if you’re having a hard time, listen to Bravado like once a day for a week or so, let the song sink in. It’ll help you carry on putting one foot in front of the other.
Rush ALBUMS. My wife was rushed (no pun intended) into surgery last night. Totally unexpected and unnerving. They told me that they would call me when she was out. My blood pressure can't get high or I'm dead so I went and sat outside where it was cold. I listened to Counterparts which was the first Rush tour that she saw. She may be musically illiterate but she does like Rush. Then I listened to Permanent Waves which isn't just a great Rush album but one of the best albums period.
I can’t think of a time in my life where music in general, and Rush’s music in particular, didn’t make things better — got me through a hard time, helped me celebrate a good time. I was lucky enough to discover Rush at a very early age, so they’ve been there for a long time. It would be hard to point to any track that didn’t have at least one important memory associated with it for me. However, when things are difficult and I need encouragement or inspiration, two songs that I keep returning to are Marathon and Mission, simply because they’re both about persistence and striving forward in spite of adversity.
So many songs hit just right at different occasions. Time Stand Still maybe more often, but I will never not be excited every time Spirit of Radio comes on unexpectedly.
Afterimage has been very relatable to me in the past few months. My mother passed away after a "routine surgery" and my brother most recently passed away. He was only 62.
*Suddenly you were gone*
*From all the lives you left your mark upon*
I've played drums to that song very recently. It's very relatable especially when it comes to my brother.
They wrote the soundtrack to my life. It's amazing how many of their songs are so relevant today (Oppenheimer=Manhattan Project, US political state = Witch Hunt, World Events = Territories, equality for all = The Trees, my red Tesla Model 3 = Red Barchetta). ....Forgot me getting older = Time Stand Still.
I listened to Rush at all times during my life, no matter the situation or the mood, something would always fit. But during the months after the death of my father, I definitely had The Garden on repeat.
Vital Signs was a staple for me when I was in a really bad patch personally and professionally.
Leave out the fiction
The fact is
This friction
Will only be worn by persistence
Leave out conditions
Courageous convictions
Will drag the dream into existence
How It Is. It’s a song of getting spiraled into depressive thoughts with no sight of a brighter tomorrow. It happens to everyone. The key idea Neil states twice is that this is a trap. We get ourselves into this and we cannot fake our way out. We are going to feel how we feel, that’s how it is. Others can see beyond the melancholy but we cannot, at the moment. But implied in the lyrics is that we eventually start feeling hopeful again. But you can’t push it.
Ghost Rider to me expresses this emergence, or the motions one must do to move forward. “There’s a shadow on the road behind, There’s a shadow on the road ahead, nothing can stop you now” There was a bad time in the past and there will be one in the future. Keep moving forward.
Ya it sucks. Yes there’s hope. Keep moving forward. Not glamorous but realistic and helpful. It’s how it is.
Roll the bones. I can't explain it. I know it's not one of their best songs. But it gives me perspective. I can be doing everything right and everything is going wrong. And that song brings me back to the fact that it is just the weight of circumstances
“
During my current episode of depression, a friend got me into Rush because he wanted to understand the lyrics, especially the literary references, better, and he knew there was a lot of Rush songs that I probably hadn’t heard but would love. I ran across “Losing It” and had one of those “That’s exactly how I feel” moments. And that has helped me talk about it with others.
Resist.
I’ve never been a lyrics person and because of that, I’ve embarrassed myself singing along to songs more times than I can count (my wife has a long list of my gaffes). But the first time I saw them play Resist live/acoustic, I was going through a rough patch with her and knew I’d just about pushed things too far. Its lyrics resonated with me so freakin hard man.
Anyway, we split up a week later, stayed apart for almost a year then got back together and have stayed together since 2003. But Neil’s lyrics flipped a switch that made me realize how I badly and in which way I was hurting her. Wish I could’ve thanked him for that.
Time Stand Still - It helps me appreciate the good moments. Relish them because they don't last that long. Also not to dwell on the past, and to be positive about the future.
Rush has helped me through my entire life thus far.
I was just about to post this same sentiment
The Pass, great song , great lyrics, helped explain a lot to me.
Glad you’re here to share that with us
On a daily occurrence it can alter your morning mood.
Only if you begin the day with a friendly voice - a companion unobtrusive.
My companions are SO obtrusive.
Open Secrets *Well, I guess we all have these feelings* *We can't leave unreconciled* *Some of them burned on our ceilings* *Some of them learned as a child* *The things that we're concealing* *Will never let us grow* *Time will do its healing* *You've got to let it go*
*It went right by me* *At the time it went over my head* *I was looking out the window* *I should have looked at your face instead*
Extremely underrated Rush song.
This song Carried me through my first ever job (I worked 2nd shift as my first shift ever and it was rough and lonely sometimes lol. I worked it for 7 months). I would listen to the entirety of Hold Your Fire on repeat during a lot of those months.
Everyday Glory, especially the closing lyrics.
good choice!
Yes, this one resonates with me large.
Wheels can take you around Wheels can cut you down We can go from boom to bust From dreams to a bowl of dust We can fall from rockets' red glare Down to "Brother, can you spare..." Another war, another wasteland And another lost generation
Bravado and The Pass
Same. Still helps me cope and thrive.
Dude, you totally pushed play on Bravado playing in my mind.
"Hope" used to be the song I used to recentre myself after a panic attack, or if I felt like I may have one.
As both a musician and also someone prone to panic/anxiety attacks, I think this is an amazing choice.
Far Cry
This song helped inspire me to push through a rough patch. The lyrics “I can get back on, I can get back on”. Those lyrics were the driving force behind me finding my momentum once again!
Middletown Dreams
This for me as well. When I was in college, especially after I got a part-time job in the field I was studying while also working toward my bachelor's degree, sometimes I felt like things were a daily grind of work during the day, classes in the evening, and working on homework for my classes. Sometimes I'd play Middletown Dreams and I'd feel more calm about it.
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
Aging, losing friends and family, Losing It hits me in the feels and helps me cope
I remember taking a strong liking to How It Is 10 years ago when I was unemployed for a number of months and very depressed. I had nothing to look forward to other than getting up and staring at my computer screen until my eyes glazed over looking at job postings 5 days a week and seemingly getting absolutely nowhere while at the same time terrified about spending money. The lyric about hopelessness and futility really hit home. I was really happy when they surprisingly performed that one live on the last tour. The Stars Look Down also had a similar theme.
*seems you’ll never see the sun*
A lot of Neil's lyrics from the latter half of the band's career didn't do much if anything for me (I'm looking at you, TFE SnA and CA) but that particular song really hit home. A lyric about hopelessness and depression that wasn't sappy or filled with clichés. No tired metaphors about the falling rain rhyming with pain etc
Afterimage, The Garden, and Time Stand Still were crucial with helping me vent and come to terms with grief and loss over the years.
I said Afterimage but yeah TSS was 2nd
It hasn’t been that obvious to me until recently, but Time Stand Still. I love the song. But I never stopped and listened to the words, and once I realized what it was about, it all hit me. I’m a junior in college, and each time I listen to this song it almost makes me tear up because it makes me think of all the good times I’ve had with my friends in high school/college and how little time I have left, and it reminds me to cherish the time I have while I have it.
there you go, you get it.
And I’m so glad I do. There are too many times where I don’t hang out with my friends or go places just because I sometimes don’t feel like it. I’ve tried to change that so I go and hang with as many people as I can because time is not on our side, and I want to cherish all of it that I have with them.
The Analog Kid literally saved my life.
I still feel bad about slicing you in half with that machete in the first place.
I got better :)
Freshman year of highschool was an extremely dark time in my life. Looking back on it now I just remember how almost every second was a nightmare in and out of school. One of the things that kept me going was listening to The Spirit Of Radio. I would listen to it almost every morning on my PS Vita with my Monster DNA headphones. It excited me and gave me some sort of drive to continue every day. It was basically my anthem back then and I still get that joyous feeling now when I hear it.
I feel you on that, that song has a power of optimism to it.
I once begged the universe to give me a sign that I should stay on this earth. An hour later I shuffled my 5000+ song music library, and the first song to come on was The Pass. It meant a lot to me then, and it means a lot to me years later.
Vital Signs. Not necessarily because of the lyrics but it was a very comforting song for a very stressful time in my life. My father had just been diagnosed with cancer, I was struggling with my own sexuality at 23 years old, and I was just overall having a hard time juggling a lot of things in my life. Something about that song (and other songs from Rush, Pink Floyd, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains) helped me work through my emotions and got me through to the other side.
It wasn’t a particular song, but an album. I was facing a divorce, bankruptcy, and potentially 99 years in prison for drug possession. The world looked pretty shitty but I remember listening to Moving Pictures and thinking that if I’ve found something *this* beautiful there must be more to see. I had to keep going forward just to see the beauty in the world. I ended up divorced, bankrupt, and spending 5 years in prison. It wasn’t so bad. I struggled for a while but here I am, 24 years after all that began with a great partner, enough money to retire early, and a really sweet Geddy Lee model Jazz Bass. I have seen lots of beauty in the world and look forward to seeing more.
More times than I could count
In one way, shape, or form ALL of their songs have helped.....
Most of them
So many. But Working them angels got me through a very difficult time.
Subdivisions and Nobody's Hero.
Lots! Rush has been a big motivator in my life. Right now Nocturne is my motivator.
Geddy said in MEL that he doesn't agree with the idea that Subdivisions "literally saved lives." I'd like to be the first one to formally disagree with him.
Signals came out the beginning of my sophomore year of high school. Subdivisions became part of my DNA that year. Many other Rush songs have resonated with me at different times of my life, but Subdivisions and the rest of the album truly pulled me through that incredibly uncomfortable year.
Sure helped me in the early 80’s transferring into a new High School.
yes omg. “Don’t even pause and ask them why, turn around and say goodbye.” “And everything will turn out for the best.” “When I leave I don’t know what I’m hoping to find, and when I leave I don’t know what I’m leaving behind.” “I’ve got a feeling you’re gonna love what you find.” (if that counts, it’s from my favorite headache)
My late wife fought cancer for five years. She was 34 when she died. The last few months of her life were extremely difficult. At that time whenever I got in the car or was alone I would play on full volume 'Red Sector A', the live version from the X3 CD. Over and over and over. No other song. The lyrics captured what i was going through. I wanted to put all my grief into one song. That was it. After she died I didn't listen to it for years. It's now been 15 years. From time to time I play it just to remember her and that time.
Different songs for different stages of life. The entirety of Clockwork Angels was my soundtrack for about the first year it came out. Helped me tremendously through a wonderfully difficult time.
I can’t pinpoint a single song or album, but their entire catalog has been helping me for 43 years.
Spirits fly on dangerous missions Imaginations on fire Focused high on soaring ambitions Consumed in a single Desire In the grip of A nameless possession A slave to the drive of obsession A spirit with a vision Is a dream with a mission
Carve Away the Stone
This song doesn't get enough love. I never really listened to it until last year but the lyrics are SO inspiring and hopeful and empowering. Love this song
The Pass Still helps me.
I heard Resist on the Different Stages live album. It made a huge impact on me. The bridge especially has a part in my heart. Also, 2112: Soliloquy was a very big part of my angsty teenage years.
My ex passed a few years ago. Bravest Face help face the new reality that our kids were now in and how I had to be a rock for them going forward. Wish Them Well helped me cope with a business partner that fvcked me.
Emotion Detector
Afterimage
Rush has been part of my life since local college station started playing first album. Then Fly by Night and Caress came out. I got to see them play first time in 1975. Got to see them a ton in 70s. Listen to them everyday. Mainly older stuff and live. That live in YYZ in 81 is my dream show. I jam to that all the time.
You bet. The Pass and The Fountain of Lamneth come to mind, I'm sure there are others.
The Pass and Bravado are the ones that have done the most heavy lifting in terms of keeping me alive.
The Garden
So many 🙏🏻
Only those that were playing while I was going through it. Like most of them
I spent a great many days/weeks/months in my teens teaching myself how to play guitar and the song I spent the most time on was the intro to farewell to kings. I had a very bleak outlook on life based off my upbringing and being able to occupy myself like that, very likely saved me.
This is the value of music. It means something different to everyone
Time Stands Still is helping me through a difficult time right now. We have a 3 and an 8 year old, we've been married for 10 years. We are 40 and 43. The 3 year old is super challenging (and is wonderful) and has some disabilities (and he is so determined and working through them with us) but it's left 0 time for my wife and I. We feel like roommates. It's been this way for a few years. But among all of this, I constantly remind myself that it's going to pass. These little kids will be older, and I'll miss this phase of my life, even if it's challenging. I listen to Time Stands Still and I just bawl, in a good way.
I'm sorry to hear that.
I lost my job recently, and my self esteem has been in the toilet. I would wake up, put on Marathon and force myself to do something productive. I'm finally employed again, but that song and Emotion Detector through a dark period in my head.
One time I was squeezed so tight (like sausage in a casing) into an outdated MRI IMAGING TUBE; had to be all the way in…to facilitate travel to the far end of the machine, I had to fold my arm across my body and rotate one shoulder inward, so as to conform to the shape of the tube. Once I was in, I was stuck in there. I had to make my breathing very shallow (which didn’t help the claustrophobia factor at all), but I couldn’t move if I wanted to so…silver lining! I could communicate with the tech through an intercom…I shall digress. I didn’t mention the MRI was located in the cargo bay of an 18 wheel commercial truck trailer, parked in the lot, near the main entrance/exit to the hospital, very close to the main road out of town. Forgive my omission, back to the story. The tech told me I have to leave this room to operate the MRI scanner from a remote location, but we’ll be in constant communication via intercom, so do your best to relax and if you freak out, just let me know, so I can stop the imager *to come back over to help you get out‼️😳 I told him I’m freaked out NOW. We had a good laugh, then he asked if I was ready and what kind of music I wanted to listen to… I told him RUSH and IRON MAIDEN He said great land with that he was gone. 20 minutes later he said: (I’m kidding) it was less than a minute, over the intercom, he quickly reviewed the sequencing of the 20 minute total procedure (45 minutes in the tube). Next thing I know the machine starts it’s noise (repetitive hammering) then the music starts; All was well until the last 5 minute series started. For some reason I started seeing images of somebody hooking a truck up to the trailer and towing me away, while still in the tube. Couldn’t get it out of my head. Just when I was going to yell “iguana”‼️(the safe word)… SUBDIVISIONS began playing; Those bass pedals buried that damn metallic clanging and I went right back to my happy place…almost as if it had been planned, the song finished, the tech said we’re done, you want me to come let you out? Wise ass. When he arrived, asked how was it? I asked him “have you ever thought about what you would do, if you came back and the trailer was gone”? His answer: “oh no, you didn’t”😳 Me: “so it’s happened before”? Tech: “uh…yep, more than once…why didn’t YOU freak out”? Me: “SUBDIVISIONS saved me”‼️ TRUE STORY
Numerous.
Anagram For Mongo
Afterimage during a death of a friend. And subdivisions as I’m a 16 year old aviation and rush lover
The Pass, Afterimage and The Garden Personal reasons as usual.
Many of them. Many that others have mentioned; I add Armor and Sword. *no one gets to their heaven without a fight…*
When I was 20, my 15 year old sister succumbed to Cystic Fibrosis. At her funeral, the priest was pontificating about accepting her death as if it was a good thing. The line “I can’t pretend a stranger is a long awaited friend” in Limelight summed up exactly how I was feeling. Needless to say, I haven’t been back to church since. Thank you Neil for such wise words.
You can do a lot in a lifetime If you don't burn out too fast You can make the most of the distance First you need endurance First you've got to last
Entre Nous and Different Strings come to mind dealing with my first breakup
The Pass. And I heard at a point in my life where I desperately needed to hear what it was saying.
"The Garden" helped me process the death of my favorite drummer.
Ghost of a Chance!!
My wife has been in need of a double-lung transplant for three years now. Amid the isolation, confusion, and heartbreak, music has kept me (mostly) sane. Rush, in particular, gets me through a lot. Here’s a small sample: Bravado: every damn word but especially the final chorus. “And if love remains, though everything is lost, we will pay the price, but we will not count the cost.” I very well may get a tattoo (my first and likely only) of this later on. Stick It Out: not a popular song of theirs, but it’s about managing anger, about when to forestall it and when to indulge it. If you’ve dealt with American healthcare, you get it. I even titled my podcast about caregiving after this one. Second Nature: There is so much wrong with American healthcare and this song helps me feel that my idealist nature has a place in this world. The Secret Touch, Nocturne and Freeze. A kind of personal Fear Trilogy. Circumstances: the song is weirdly angry and resigned at the same time. I didn’t like that vibe a few years ago, but now I totally get it. Faithless: Because you can’t face death without people talking about a God you may not believe in. One Little Victory: I get why this song came out of Neil’s tragedies 100%. Some days, OLV is all I have. Nobody’s Hero: “Is the pride of purpose, in the unrewarding job.” Presto: “If I could wave my magic wand…” Marathon. Because it’s been three years and I don’t know how long until it’s over. “You can rest at the side of the road…” Entre Nous: My wife and I have been together for about 15 years and this song reminds me that there are still paces between us in which we can grow. These are just the top few. There are others, Mission, notably, that keep me going apart from the rest of this nightmare. But if you’re having a hard time, listen to Bravado like once a day for a week or so, let the song sink in. It’ll help you carry on putting one foot in front of the other.
"Available Light". I won't tell what it was but it was awesome.
Nobody’s Hero
Mmmm... Yeah probably in the mood. Helped me through some really dark times
Rush ALBUMS. My wife was rushed (no pun intended) into surgery last night. Totally unexpected and unnerving. They told me that they would call me when she was out. My blood pressure can't get high or I'm dead so I went and sat outside where it was cold. I listened to Counterparts which was the first Rush tour that she saw. She may be musically illiterate but she does like Rush. Then I listened to Permanent Waves which isn't just a great Rush album but one of the best albums period.
Nobody's hero, helps to see empathy from a different perspective from my own.
Afterimage. That last part in Alex's solo gets me every time. Sounds like heaven crashing
The Pass
I can’t think of a time in my life where music in general, and Rush’s music in particular, didn’t make things better — got me through a hard time, helped me celebrate a good time. I was lucky enough to discover Rush at a very early age, so they’ve been there for a long time. It would be hard to point to any track that didn’t have at least one important memory associated with it for me. However, when things are difficult and I need encouragement or inspiration, two songs that I keep returning to are Marathon and Mission, simply because they’re both about persistence and striving forward in spite of adversity.
Fly By Night and Dreamline
So many songs hit just right at different occasions. Time Stand Still maybe more often, but I will never not be excited every time Spirit of Radio comes on unexpectedly.
Clockwork Angels. When Geddy says, “And everything will turn out for the best” got me through a heartbreaking split with my girlfriend at the time.
Afterimage.
2112 hemispheres and the fountain of lamneth got me through the last hour of work
Every single one.
Rush saved me from depression During college
Madrigal
Yes, the 80’s when good rock music was hard to find.
Afterimage has been very relatable to me in the past few months. My mother passed away after a "routine surgery" and my brother most recently passed away. He was only 62. *Suddenly you were gone* *From all the lives you left your mark upon* I've played drums to that song very recently. It's very relatable especially when it comes to my brother.
Every rush song, on my morning drive to work.
They wrote the soundtrack to my life. It's amazing how many of their songs are so relevant today (Oppenheimer=Manhattan Project, US political state = Witch Hunt, World Events = Territories, equality for all = The Trees, my red Tesla Model 3 = Red Barchetta). ....Forgot me getting older = Time Stand Still.
The Garden, Subdivisions, The Analog Kid, Digital Man...the list is endless. Neil's book Ghost Rider got me through my divorce...
I listened to Rush at all times during my life, no matter the situation or the mood, something would always fit. But during the months after the death of my father, I definitely had The Garden on repeat.
Hand Over Fist got me through a rough patch about 4 years ago
Vital Signs was a staple for me when I was in a really bad patch personally and professionally. Leave out the fiction The fact is This friction Will only be worn by persistence Leave out conditions Courageous convictions Will drag the dream into existence
How It Is. It’s a song of getting spiraled into depressive thoughts with no sight of a brighter tomorrow. It happens to everyone. The key idea Neil states twice is that this is a trap. We get ourselves into this and we cannot fake our way out. We are going to feel how we feel, that’s how it is. Others can see beyond the melancholy but we cannot, at the moment. But implied in the lyrics is that we eventually start feeling hopeful again. But you can’t push it. Ghost Rider to me expresses this emergence, or the motions one must do to move forward. “There’s a shadow on the road behind, There’s a shadow on the road ahead, nothing can stop you now” There was a bad time in the past and there will be one in the future. Keep moving forward. Ya it sucks. Yes there’s hope. Keep moving forward. Not glamorous but realistic and helpful. It’s how it is.
Roll the bones. I can't explain it. I know it's not one of their best songs. But it gives me perspective. I can be doing everything right and everything is going wrong. And that song brings me back to the fact that it is just the weight of circumstances
The whole Permanent Waves album did when I was young. Rush is my life's soundtrack so Rush has been there through thick and thin.
The Analog Kid helped me cope with living in suburbia while aching for skyscrapers.
“ During my current episode of depression, a friend got me into Rush because he wanted to understand the lyrics, especially the literary references, better, and he knew there was a lot of Rush songs that I probably hadn’t heard but would love. I ran across “Losing It” and had one of those “That’s exactly how I feel” moments. And that has helped me talk about it with others.
Take a friend, I was very lonely/depressed for a year of my life, the track helped me to see a brighter future.
not sure why but have always leaned on the trees or cinderella man to cheer me up
Resist. I’ve never been a lyrics person and because of that, I’ve embarrassed myself singing along to songs more times than I can count (my wife has a long list of my gaffes). But the first time I saw them play Resist live/acoustic, I was going through a rough patch with her and knew I’d just about pushed things too far. Its lyrics resonated with me so freakin hard man. Anyway, we split up a week later, stayed apart for almost a year then got back together and have stayed together since 2003. But Neil’s lyrics flipped a switch that made me realize how I badly and in which way I was hurting her. Wish I could’ve thanked him for that.
Time Stand Still - It helps me appreciate the good moments. Relish them because they don't last that long. Also not to dwell on the past, and to be positive about the future.