34) I recently saw an article that said something about Alex Lifeson flying in a fighter plane. What's the story behind that? Well, it's well known that Alex is totally mad about flying, and that he has a private pilot's licence, but he has never been professiona, or a pilot in the Canadian Air Force. In 1993 or thereabouts, Rush gave the rights to "Where's My Thing" to the Canadian Department of National Defence, for use in an informational vide, and shortly thereafter, Alex went up in a fighter jet. However, despite the timing, and rumors to the contrary, it was totally coincidental, that he was given hist wish not long after the video came out. Alex had previously expressed interest in the opportunity to go up in a fighter jet, and when that opportunity opened up, the CAF offered him the chance to go for a spin in a CF-5A fighter jet. His once in a lifetime experience as a "fighter-pilot-for-a-day" was detailed in a now defunct military sponsored magazine called Sentinel , which was published by the Government of Canada for members of the Canadian military, and apparently was a great experience for everyone involved.. Alex had a blast up there in the wild blue yonder, and was given his flight suit as a memento (complete with insignia and wings) of his high-flying adventure. From the MSM: . As for the flight, piloted by Captain Gordon "Gordo" Cooper, everything went very well. After the flight, Alex, exhausted and sweating, beamed, describing the experience as being "like sex, only not as messy!" Yes, he got to keep the flight suit, which was originally decked out to read "Captain Lerxst". 419 Squadron had an "Alex Lifeson" crest made, which was sewn on during Alex's pre-flight briefing. In return, Alex gave 419 Squadron a Canadian platinum certification for "Roll The Bones", which was promptly mounted onto 419's "we love us" wall. 35) I heard that Alex Lifeson opened a restaurant. Can anybody tell me about it? The Orbit Room 580 A College St. Toronto -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36) Where did the name "Rush" come from? From the files of the MSM: In August of 1968 the band's formal lineup was Alex on guitar, John Rutsey on drums, and Jeff Jones on bass and vocals. They got a job to play at the "Coff-In," a coffee house in the basement of an Anglican Church [great name, eh?] for $25/night. "The band was excited, but they had a big problem. While they had been dreaming of playing, they had neglected to come up with a name for their group. So a few days before the gig they sat around in John's basement trying to come up with an appropriate monicker. They weren't having much luck when John's older brother Bill piped up, 'Why don't you call the band Rush' and Rush it was." - from Visions Note: it has also been said in many different sources that they liked the name because it made them something different�In typical 1969 fashion, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee named their act "The Rush," so as to fit into the rock n roll aristocracy led by The Who, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. they were part of �the rush" to be something and somebody equal to all their high hopes and dreams. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37) Why did John Rutsey leave the band? He quit because he had different ideas about the band's future than Alex and Geddy did, and he just wasn't excited about playing in Rush any more. Complications from his diabetes were also a strong argument against extended tours. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 38) Whatever happened to John Rutsey? While John may have left the band, his friendship with them never ended, and they still see each other fairly often. When asked this same question, Alex responded: "Oh John's still around. I see John quite often. He gave up playing shortly after he left the band and went into bodybuilding. He competed on an amateur level for a while, doing that for a few years, and has sort of been in and out of that, but he still works out, and I work out with him a few times a week at a local gym - at a Gold's, here in Toronto." - Alex Lifeson, in the 2/6/89 "Rockline" interview -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions about Fly By Night -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 39) Where did By-Tor's name come from? This one�s pretty easy�plenty of quotes out there about it� Rush's road manager, Howard, came up with the title at a party. There were two dogs at the party, one a German shepherd and the other a tiny white nervous dog. Howard used to call the shepherd By-Tor because anyone that walked into the house was bitten. The other dog was a snow-dog (ie: all white). So from that night on Howard called the pair of dogs "By-Tor and the Snow Dog." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40) What is The Sign of Eth? Once again, another obscure tid bit, only die hard fans, fusty old scholars, and the occasional oddball out there is likely to know this one��read on�.. From The American Heritage: Dictionary eth n. Variant of edh. edh n. 1. A letter appearing in Old English, Old Saxon, Old Norse, and modern Icelandic to represent an interdental fricative. 2. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet representing the interdental voiced fricative, as in /the/, /with/. An edh looks like a lower-case "o" with a wavy propellor. What symbolism an edh has in By-Tor's tale, I have no idea. From the MSM�.. Josh Beatty ([email protected]) wrote the following: "Eth" is a letter in the Old English alphabet that was dropped from the alphabet as it evolved into Middle and Modern English. It represented the sound /th/, as in "cloth" for example. It looked like a lower-case "o" with a cross on top. Capitalized, it was like a "D" with a horizontal line through the straight part. This was also the symbol used for a capitalized "Thorn", another Old English letter representing /th/. "Thorn" was adapted into the Old English alphabet from a Germanic rune of the same name. The rune, in its turn, was associated with the Gothic (as in the tribe of the Goths, not cathedrals) word "thurisaz", which meant "demon". So "Eth" itself has some historical background in representing demons and hell, obviously appropriate in the context of the song. I suppose I see "The sign of Eth is rising in the air..." in two ways: first, that it represents simply the demonic power in the Tobes of Hades, and secondly, that it represents By-Tor himself and that when the sign is, rising, By-Tor is coming forth from Hades to do battle with the Snow Dog (don't we assume usually that Hades is underground? By-Tor would have to rise to get out of there to most anyplace?) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 41) Is Rivendell a real place? If only it were...... Rivendell was a forest vale, and home to a colony of elves, as well as a safe haven for Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring in �The Lord Of The Rings� Saga by J.R.R. Tolkien.. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions about Caress Of Steel ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 42) In "By-Tor And The Snow Dog," By-Tor is the bad guy, but he's a hero in "The Necromancer." What happened? When asked about this on "Rockline," Geddy said something along the lines of, "He saw the light." Neil commented, "I guess he's like all of us - sometimes good, and sometimes he's bad!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 43) Where is Lakeside Park? It's in St. Catherine's, on Lake Ontario., Canada -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 44) What is the significance of May 24? It's Victoria Day, commemorating Queen Victoria's birthday. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 45) Has anybody noticed that "Didacts and Narpets" is an anagram for "Addicts and Parents"? lol...of course. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 46) Does anybody know the lyrics to "Didacts and Narpets"? Here's the best version I've seen yet: Deep Voice: "Stay!" Geddy "Go!" Deep "Work!" Ged "No!" Deep "Think!" Ged "Live!" Deep "Earn!" Ged "Give!" Deep/Ged <Wait or Fight?>/<Right> Deep/Ged <Laugh?>/<Right or Wait?> All? Listen! And from the MSM... In the October 1991 news release from the Rush Backstage Club, Neil says: "Okay, I may have answered this before, but if not, the shouted words in that song represent an argument between Our Hero and the Didacts and Narpets - teachers and parents. I honestly can't rememberer what the actual words were, but they took up opposite positions like: "Work! Live! Earn! Give!" and like that." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 47) In the COS liner notes, a city is mentioned in small print after each song. Why is this? "Ah yes. This goes back to the 'bad old days' when all we did was tour, and consequently had to do most of our song writing on the road, with acoustic guitars and notebooks in hotel rooms. Not the best method of composition, you may imagine, but the only one available to us at the time. Those cities represent the places in which those songs were written." - Neil Peart, in the December 1985 Backstage Club newsletter -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 48) :What does "Terminat hora diem, terminat auctor opus" mean? What?....You dont speak Latin?...........lol...okay....i didnt know either... It means something like: "As the hour ends the day, the author ends his work." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Assorted CoS trivia: "The Necromancer" This song is based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" . The three travellers are Frodo, Sam and Gollum Ambergris is a waxy substance from the intestines of the sperm whale, Now extremely rare, and highly valued for making perfume with. A Panacea is a supposed cure for everything. Bacchus was the Greek & Roman god of wine, earlier called Dionysus. Lakeside Park is mentioned in the movie �Strange Brew.� -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions about 2112 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 49) Has anybody noticed that you can hear part of the 1812 Overture in Yes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50) Where did the story of 2112 come from? "The inspiration behind it was ... It's difficult always to trace those lines because so many things tend to coalesce, and in fact it ended up being quite similar to a book called Anthem by the writer Ayn Rand. But I didn't realize that while I was working on it, and then eventually as the story came together, the parallels became obvious to me and I thought, 'Oh gee, I don't want to be a plagiarist here.' So I did give credit to her writings in the liner notes." - Neil Peart, in the December 2, 1991 "Rockline" interview -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 51) Has anybody noticed the whispering in the background in "The Twilight Zone"? Yes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions about All The World's A Stage -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 52) What do the voices at the end of the album (vinyl only) say? According to Darryl Coombs ([email protected]), this is it: Geddy: Wow Woah Waa What a show Man oh man, I guess that's it Allright I'm going <-- (not sure if Ged) Yeah, yeah, ok, ok. Door slam. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions about A Farewell To Kings -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 53) :What is "Cinderella Man" about? The song is loosely based on a movie called "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town", starring Gary Cooper as a man from a small town who inherits lots of money and moves to the big city. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 54)I read that "Xanadu" was based on a famous poem. Does anybody have a copy? Okay�.all you fusty dusty old English majors/teachers�..ready? On the count of three�.1�..2�..3! The poem is actually "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It is a very famous poem, and your local library undoubtedly has at least one copy collecting dust� -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 55) Where does the name Cygnus X-1 come from? Good question�.i didn�t know�had to look this one up I did! It is the name given to an X-ray source in the constellation of Cygnus, believed to be a black hole. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 56) Where does the name Rocinante come from? In Greek mythology, Rocinante is the name of the horse that Zeus rides. It was also the name of Don Quixote�s horse, and then in more recent times, it was the name of Steinbeck's motor home in �Travels With Charlie� -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions about Hemispheres -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 57) What do the French lyrics in "Circumstances" mean? This one is published in a few places. "The more that things change, the more they stay the same." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 58) Is there a message in "The Trees"? Sorry if this disappoints all you fans of the hidden meaning�.lol� "No. It was just a flash. I was working on an entirely different thing when I saw a cartoon picture of these trees carrying on like fools. I thought, "What if trees acted like people?" So I saw it as a cartoon really, and wrote it that way. I think that's the image that it conjures up to a listener or a reader. A very simple statement." -- Neil Peart, in the April/May 1980 Modern Drummer magazine -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 59) What does "La Villa Strangiato" mean? From the MSM: "Weird City" is a rough translation of the title, according to Visions. Atthe Tossavainen <[email protected]> has told me that "La villa, be it Spanish or Italian, doesn't mean a village or a city, but rather a HOUSE. Strangiato is probably just pidgin Spanish, a made-up word." The song itself is based on several of Alex's nightmares and some cartoon themes. Much of this music can be heard on a CD called The Carl Stalling Project - "Music From Warner Bros. Cartoons 1936-1958." Warner Bros. - 26027-2 (approximately 77 minutes on CD). These are the original soundtracks from Loony Tunes/Merrie Melodies, mostly in the '40s and '50s. - thanks to [email protected] for catalog info [email protected] (Frank Schaapherder) gave me this information: The first part of "La Villa Strangiato," "Buenos Nochas, Mein Froinds!," is based on the German song "Gute Nacht, Freunde," written by A. Yondrascheck. I noted the resemblance between the two songs immediately when I first heard "La Villa." The notes until the fast part are almost identical. Also note the similarities in the titles - they have the same meaning, and the reference to German in Rush's title (Mein Froinds). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions about Permanent Waves -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 60) Has anybody ever noticed that the signs on the right side of the Permanent Waves cover say Lee, Lifeson and Peart? Yes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61) 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.) Because of a silly mistake a newspaper made more than 50 years ago�(shakes head)�man!�some corporate nabobs need to loosen up!.. "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 I�m sure a lot of you are confused, so allow me 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. They jumped the gun�Truman won, and there is a famous picture of Truman, grinning to beat the band, and holding up a paper with the infamous headline. Apparently STILL an embarrassing moment for the corporate entity known as the Chicago Daily Tribune. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 62) What is the "words of the profits" quote in "The Spirit Of Radio" about? Good catch!�not everyone catches that little bit�.okay�It's referring to "The Sounds of Silence," by Simon and Garfunkel. Compare the relevant lyrics: from "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'" from "The Spirit of Radio": "For the words of the profits, are written on the studio wall, concert hall - echoes with the sounds ... of salesmen." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 63) 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 64) In "Free Will" which lyrics are correct (the ones on the album sleeve or the ones Geddy sings)? (winces)�..okay�.listen close everyone� "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 hmmmmmm���the end of the story?��.not exactly��read on���. Check this E-mail that the MSM got from Stevie Duda: From [email protected]@flash.netSat Sep 14 23:29:32 1996 Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1996 21:43:07 -0500 From: Stevie Duda <"[email protected]"@flash.net> To: [email protected] Subject: Rush >Hi Randy. I'm a newbie so I'll try not to embarrass myself. I was >reading the FAQ list. I know you don't need corrections or anything. I >however wanted to share this. >I am a member of the Backstage Fan Club and saw what James in New York >wrote to Neil about the lyrics of Freewill. (about the words sung being diff than > those on the album sleeve) Well, having noticed the same >discrepancy myself, I made copies of my album lyrics which were incorrect >according to the lyrics in two song books I had. So I did write to Neil >about it. In his letter he states, "You and James of New York are right >about this thing. I don't know how it happened- the lyrics are right on >the Canadian sleeve- I can only imagine that our American record company >got hold of an uncorrected typeset. I hate that!" So once again human error rears its ugly head in the form of some anonymous idiot typesetter out there. (pats all American heads in rushland)�the amricans aren�t stupid or in need of cleaning their ears!�ah vindication!��lol� -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 65) 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 note: all those closet literati out there also know, that Lotus-land is mentioned in an episode in "The Odyssey" where Odysseus goes to the land of the lotus-eaters, and finds a populus which simply �hangs out,� doing nothing but eatin lotus petals or some such thing, and are perfectly happy and basically brainless. Hmmmm�..sounds a little like some of our government officials�(claps hand over mouth...did I say that?...lol...ayup...i did indeed!�shame on me...no respect for authority...tsk tsk... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions about Moving Pictures -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 66) What building is on the cover of Moving Pictures? The building on the cover of Moving Pictures is the current seat of the Government of Ontario, at Queen's Park. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 67) What do the pictures on the MP cover mean? (groans)�.A very bad play on words "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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 68) 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 69) What is a barchetta? From the MSM: 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. For more information, head your browser to http://www.supercars.net/past_cars/ferrari/166mm/index.html (Thanks to Jerry Martinez) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 70) What does "YYZ" mean? Where would I be without help from the MSM!�..id be hopelessly lost and confuzzled that�s where!�.lol� 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." sheeesh!....talk about obscure!�lol...gotta love it! John Ambrose <[email protected]> has pointed out that "YYZ" is actually pronounced "Y Y Zed" in Canada. This is documented in Visions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 71) What is the mob saying at the beginning of "Witch Hunt"? I had absoulutly no idea and had to go looking........via the MSM of course....lol "It is purposely mixed so th |
| FAQ 2 |