Neil Peart

Rush thumb|Neil Peart 2008 Neil Peart (September 12, 1952 – January 7, 2020) was a Canadian musician, writer, lyricist, and drummer for the band Rush. Rush Lyrics How I prayed just to get awayTo carry me anywhereSometimes the angels punish usBy answering our prayers -- Carnies (2012) ...if the music stops and there's only the sound of the rainAll the hope and glory -- All the sacrifice in vain(And) If love remains, though everything is lostWe will pay the price, but we will not count the cost -- Bravado (1991) Like a steely blade in a silken sheathWe don't see what they're made ofThey shout about love, but when push comes to shoveThey live for the things they're afraid ofAnd the knowledge that they fear is a weapon to be used against them...- The Weapon (Part II of 'Fear') (1982) Sometimes I freeze...until the light comesSometimes I fly...into the nightSometimes I fight...against the darknessSometimes I'm wrong...sometimes I'm right -- Freeze (Part IV of 'Fear') (2002) Wave after waveWill flow with the tideAnd bury the world as it doesTide after tideWill flow and recedeLeaving life to go onAs it was... -- Natural Science (1980) You don't get something for nothingYou can't have freedom for free.You won't get wiseWith the sleep still in your eyesNo matter what your dream might be. -- Something for Nothing (1976) There's no bread, let 'em eat cakeThere's no end to what they'll takeFlaunt the fruits of noble birthWash the salt into the earth -- Bastille Day (1975) All the same we take our chances,Laughed at by time, tricked by circumstances,Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose,The more that things change, the more they stay the same. -- Circumstances (1978) A scorching blast of golden fire as it slowly leaves the groundTears away with a mighty forceThe air is shattered by the awesome sound -- Countdown (1982) Features distorted in the flickering lightFaces are twisted and grotesqueSilent and stern in the sweltering nightThe mob moves like demons possessedQuiet in conscience, calm in their rightConfident their ways are best -- Witch Hunt (Part III of 'Fear') (1981) I'm not looking back, but I want to look around me now. -- Time Stand Still (1987) Today is different, and tomorrow the same.It's hard to take the world the way that it came.Too many rapids keep us sweeping along.Too many captains keep on steering us wrong.It's hard to take the heat.It's hard to lay blame.To fight the fire, while we're feeding the flames. -- Second Nature (1987) Faith is cold as ice.Why are little ones born only to sufferfor the want of immunity, or a bowl of rice?Well, who would hold a price on the heads of the innocent childrenif there's some immortal power to control the dice? -- Roll The Bones (1991) You move me, you move me.with your buildings and your eyesAutumn woods and Winter skies.You move me, you move me.Open sea and city lights, busy streets and dizzy heights.You call me, you call me. -- The Analog Kid (1982) The middle aged madonnacalls her neighbor on the phone.Day by day, the seasons passand leave her life alone.But she'll go walking out that dooron some bright afternoonto go and paint big citiesfrom a lonely attic room. -- Middletown Dreams (1985) Miracles will have their claimersMore will bow to RomeHe and she are in the houseBut there's only me at home. -- Anagram (For Mongo) (1989) I feel the sense of possibilitiesI feel the wrench of hard realitiesThe focus is sharp in the city -- The Camera Eye (1981) It takes a little more persistence to get up and go the distanceI'm not giving inI'm not missing outI'm not giving up on implausible dreams -- The Enemy Within (Part I of 'Fear') (1984) Growing up it all seems so one-sidedOpinions all providedThe future pre-decidedDetached and subdividedIn the mass production zoneNowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone -- Subdivisions (1982) Cast in this unlikely roleIll-equipped to actWith insufficient tactOne must put up barriersTo keep oneself intact -- Limelight (1981) No hero in your tragedy,No daring in your escape,No salutes for your surrender,Nothing noble in your fate,Christ, what have you done? -- The Pass (1989) The world weighs on my shouldersBut what am I to do?You sometimes drive me crazyBut I worry about youI know it makes no differenceTo what you’re going throughBut I see the tip of the icebergAnd I worry about you... -- Distant Early Warning (1984) Some are born to move the world, to live their fantasiesBut most of us just dream about the things we'd like to beSadder still to watch it die, then never to have known itFor you, the blind who once could seeThe bell tolls for thee... -- Losing It (1982) Anarchist reactionary, running-dog revisionistHindu, Muslim, Catholic creation, evolutionistRational, romantic, mystic, cynical, idealistMinimal expressionist, post-modern neo-symbolistArmchair rocket scientist, graffiti existentialistDeconstruction primitive performance photo-realistBe-bop or a one-drop or a hip-hop, lite-pop-metallistGold adult contemporary, urban country capitalist -- You Bet Your Life (1991) I hear the sound of gunfire at the prison gate, Are the liberators here?Do I hope or do I fear?For my father and my brother, it’s too late but I must help my mother stand up straight.Are we the last ones left alive?Are we the only human beings to survive? -- Red Sector A (1984) 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 -- Between The Wheels (1984) I set a course just east of LyraAnd northwest of PegasusFlew into the light of DenebSailed across the Milky WayOn my ship, the 'Rocinante'Wheeling through the galaxiesHeaded for the heart of CygnusHeadlong into mystery -- Cygnus X-1, Book One; The Voyage (1977) They say there are strangers who threaten usIn our immigrants and infidelsThey say there is strangeness too dangerousIn our theaters and bookstore shelvesThat those who know what's best for usMust rise and save us from ourselves -- Witch Hunt (Part III of 'Fear') (1980) Now there's no more oak oppressionFor they passed a noble lawAnd the trees are all kept equalBy hatchet, axe and saw -- The Trees (1978) Imagine a man when it all beganThe pilot of 'Enola Gay'Flying out of the shockwave on that August dayAll the powers that be, and the course of historyWould be changed forevermore -- Manhattan Project (1985) We each pay a fabulous priceFor our visions of paradiseBut a spirit with a vision is a dreamWith a mission -- Mission (1987) An ounce of perception, a pound of obscureProcess information at half speedPause, rewind, replayWarm memory chipRandom sample, hold the one you need -- Vital Signs (1981) A planet of playthingsWe dance on the strings of powers we cannot perceiveThe stars aren't aligned or the gods are malignedBlame is better to give than receive -- Freewill (1980) Life is just a candle, and a dream must give it flame... -- The Fountain of Lamneth (1975) Danger plus survival equals fun. --From A Work in Progress All the busy little creatureschasing out their destinies.Living in their poolsthey soon forget about the sea... -- Natural Science (1980) A few guys with guns can spoil everything. -- The Masked Rider (1996) Everything in moderation, with occasional excess -- Ghost Rider (2002) To you, is it movement, or is it action?Is it contact or just reaction?And you, revolution, just resistance?Is it living, or just existence? -- The Enemy Within (Part I of 'Fear') (1984) Adventures suck when you're having them. -- Roadshow (2006) How can anybody be enlightened?Truth is after all so poorly lit -- Turn The Page (1987) Life is like an aimless river The time is now again -- Ceiling Unlimited (2002) No one gets to their heaven without a fight -- Armor and Sword (2007) Quick to judge -- Quick to anger -- Slow to understandIgnorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand -- Witch Hunt (Part III of 'Fear') (1981) When we are youngWandering the face of the EarthWondering what our dreams might be worthLearning that we're only immortalFor a limited time -- Dreamline (1991) Unstable conditionA symptom of lifeIn mental and environmental changeAtmospheric disturbanceThe feverish fluxOf human interface and interchange -- Vital Signs (1981) You can surrenderWithout a prayerBut never really prayPray without surrenderYou can fightWithout ever winningBut never ever winWithout a fight -- Resist (1996) Other Genius is the fire that lights itself. -Commenting on Buddy Rich. The secret to life is, you get up in the morning, and you go to work - from the book Travelling Music I can't play to that! - on Rock Band Among the people whose thinking I like is Ayn Rand, but there are a whole lot of others. It's a kind of disciple mentality that people are applying to me that they think I applied to her and it's all wrong. I'm nobody's disciple and you know 'No god, no government' none of that, so I don't like it applied to me any more than to them.http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19920423franklancaster.htm I define my approach to each day I am given as, "What is the most excellent thing I can do today?" – from the book "Far and Near: On Days Like These" Quotes about Neil Peart Name another drummer in the rock-pop-prog-fusion idiom who thoroughly composed his parts for every song, never deviating live or otherwise, applied his vision to a 30+ piece electric/acoustic 360 degree orchestral rock kit, and somehow managed to make every part musical, seamless, and iconic. He also wrote the lyrics almost every Rush song. I don't care if you don't like Rush, Neil is undeniable. Pat McGee of Stars, as quoted by Consequence (website) Consequence (September 16, 2024) Rush is another impressive array of three otherworldly musicians. The technicality and precision is jaw dropping. I was quite busy on drums early on in the Pixies because of him. Quite a formative band for me when I was younger and learning drums. David Lovering of Pixies (band), as quoted by Consequence (website) Consequence (September 16, 2024) External links References Peart, Neil Category:1952 births Category:2020 deaths Category:Songwriters from Canada Category:Lyricists Category:People from Ontario Category:Left-libertarians Category:Drummers from Canada Category:Travel writers Category:Agnostics Category:Officers of the Order of Canada