Signals--Rush (1982)
Lyrics
Coming off the huge success of both Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures, Rush chose
to take their next studio album in a bit of a different direction. The result? A fantastic
record that draws on new influences such as punk and reggae, yet still allows the band to
retain their signature sound. Since the early albums, Rush had been refining and evolving
their style and musicianship, so the new sounds explored in Signals allowed them to
continue in this fashion.
Subdivisions This song truly captures the feeling of living in a place where
conformity is expected. I listened to it often before I bought this album, courtesy
of Chronicles, and react with delight when I hear it played on KGGO. I remember also
being excited upon hearing Red Green talk about covering the roofs of "an entire
subdivision" with vinyl copies of Frampton Comes Alive. Apparently subdivision is a
Canadian term, much like "washroom," or "
Kraft dinner."
In fact, the only real problem I have with this song is that I can, actually, think of a
place where the dreamer and misfit is more alone. Yeah, it's called the far unlit
unknown and I've lived there all my life! Naw, I'm not bitter. I'm sure it sucks
to live in the subdivision, but it's hard to have sympathy for people who have neighbors
within actual walking distance.
Additionally, the video for this tune features a total dork playing video games (not
to say that all gamers are dorks, though this one happens to be), some "cool kids"
cruising Younge
Street, and a most excellent zoom-out shot of the city.
Yay Toronto!
Analog Kid Just flat out rocks, there is no other way to put it. There are
even cool tempo changes! See, it is possible to be punk and prog at the same time =)
A great "transition" tune (e.g., going off to college) with the lyric "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..."
Hey,
do you think the line "music of the spheres" is a nod to the Hemispheres album?
The imagery is really evocative, too, what with the flash of silver leaves, circling hawk,
fawn-eyed girl and all. The words touch all your senses; you can feel the hot wind, smell and
taste the blades of grass, and hear a worried mother calling. All this and a monster
guitar riff, who could ask for more? Perhaps that the boy finds delight in a girl with
pasty-white legs for a change, we don't want anyone to get skin cancer here.
Chemistry Fully solidifying their status as a geek rock band was this tune about...science. I think if I had a boyfriend and we talked on
AOL Instant Messenger, whoever was logged on first would IM the other and say, "Signal transmitted." And the appropriate reply would, of course be, "Message received." Aah, what happy times those would be.
Such emotion in the delivery of "Seems to me it's chemistry." I don't know that I really understand what this song is about, but I'm just glad Rush never released a song called "Physics," because I would probably have to hate it
on principle. The closest we get is Manhattan Project (topic: nuclear bombs) and Superconductor (title: refers to a collection of many Cooper pair electrons with opposite spin at a very low energy state).
Ok then....even though it is about a school subject, I do like this song
for the emotion it carries forth.
The Weapon Call me a ditz,
but I don't understand this song.
Well, I think it has something to do with capital punishment, but I'm not
getting much else. It is very spooky and cool, with an almost militaristic
sound at times.
So maybe it's about war? Well, that makes sense too.
New World Man This song is kind of dorky but I still like it.
The changing tempos/time signatures really add. It is a nice balance to
the previous tune. Also, the line, "He's got a problem with his poisons,
but you know we'll find the cure,"
reminds me of someone I know. [Someone with whom I would not associate
with the song as a whole, however, because he doesn't really give a rat's
ass about the third world.]
I'm sitting here on the couch listening to my Signals record and I can't
remember the title to this next song...I must be Losing It
(Unintentional bad humor there...I seriously couldn't remember the title
and then when it occured to me I had to take the lame joke route!)
Anyway, the only word for this song is "haunting." This is accomplished
through vivid imagery in the lyrics and a dark brooding sound to the music.
I would say an often-overlooked gem.
Countdown Now apparently, this song is a big deal, but I just
don't get it. Probably because sometimes I simply don't get to listen
to the entire record, and have thus not been exposed to it as much. Once
I have an opinion, I'll come back and update, k?
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