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J“ living on a lighted stage j“
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j“ approaches the unreal j“
3
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j“ for those who think and feel j“
4
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j“ in touch with some reality j“
5
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j“ beyond the gilded cage j“
6
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Ahh!
7
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Owww! Ohhh!
8
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Oh!
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Would you please welcome
from Canada, rush!
10
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J“ there's no bread, let them eat cake j“
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j“ and there's no end
to what they'll take j“
12
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j“ flaunt the fruits of noble birth j“
13
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j“ and wash the salt into the earth j“
14
00:02:07,586 --> 00:02:11,089
j“ but they're marching to bastille day j“
15
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j“ la guillotine claimed
her bloody prize j“
16
00:02:14,217 --> 00:02:16,337
If you get a band together,
growing up,
17
00:02:16,386 --> 00:02:17,864
you didn't think
about writing your own music,
18
00:02:17,888 --> 00:02:20,057
you learned other songs
and you identified yourself
19
00:02:20,182 --> 00:02:21,600
by the kind of music you played
20
00:02:21,725 --> 00:02:26,063
and all the best players quickly learned
the language was rush.
21
00:02:49,419 --> 00:02:52,381
The first time I heard rush,
I was like, "oh, my god,"
22
00:02:52,506 --> 00:02:55,884
I had no idea this
band was this incredible.
23
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I became obsessed.
They were my gods.
24
00:02:58,470 --> 00:03:01,807
I listened to it and I
thought, "wow! That is amazing playing."
25
00:03:01,932 --> 00:03:04,351
My mind was just totally blown.
26
00:03:04,476 --> 00:03:08,188
I bought every magazine, I had
every record, I cut out every picture,
27
00:03:08,313 --> 00:03:11,191
I would go to sleep at night
with rush on the heads,
28
00:03:11,316 --> 00:03:13,860
I'd wake up and it was still playing.
I did that.
29
00:03:13,985 --> 00:03:15,487
I, Sebastian bach,
30
00:03:15,612 --> 00:03:17,989
was member number three
31
00:03:18,115 --> 00:03:21,702
of the rush backstage club at Toronto,
mother trucker.
32
00:03:21,827 --> 00:03:23,537
Rush is just one of those bands
33
00:03:23,662 --> 00:03:27,416
that has a deep reservoir of rocket sauce.
34
00:03:27,541 --> 00:03:30,210
A lot of bands,
they've only got so much in the bottle.
35
00:03:30,335 --> 00:03:32,254
They use it up sometimes in one song.
36
00:03:32,379 --> 00:03:33,880
These guys were the real deal.
37
00:03:34,005 --> 00:03:36,550
Their bottle was so big
and so filled to the brim,
38
00:03:36,675 --> 00:03:39,052
they were shaking it literally for decades
39
00:03:39,177 --> 00:03:41,221
and still there was sauce coming out.
40
00:03:48,145 --> 00:03:50,439
What makes rush unique is fearlessness.
41
00:03:50,564 --> 00:03:52,983
It's the quality of
starting to write a song
42
00:03:53,108 --> 00:03:55,110
and not caring about what's popular,
what's not.
43
00:03:55,235 --> 00:04:00,615
There's only one band that sounds like
that. What kind of band is rush? It's rush.
44
00:04:00,741 --> 00:04:02,367
I believe that when people step back
45
00:04:02,492 --> 00:04:03,910
and actually really look
46
00:04:04,035 --> 00:04:05,579
at who the great bands were,
47
00:04:05,704 --> 00:04:07,038
they are one of those bands
48
00:04:07,164 --> 00:04:09,374
but somehow
they were never popular enough
49
00:04:09,499 --> 00:04:12,961
that they get commonly name-checked
as one of the great bands of all time.
50
00:04:13,086 --> 00:04:15,839
A lot of the other stuff
has been over-explained.
51
00:04:15,964 --> 00:04:19,801
Zeppelin has been over-explained,
the Beatles have been over-explained,
52
00:04:19,926 --> 00:04:22,387
it doesn't tell the whole story,
and you could say,
53
00:04:22,512 --> 00:04:24,824
"why was this band marginalized.
What was it?" It doesn't matter.
54
00:04:24,848 --> 00:04:29,561
At some point they're there and somebody
has to explain why they're there.
55
00:04:51,875 --> 00:04:54,586
J“ living on a lighted stage j“
56
00:04:54,711 --> 00:04:57,130
j“ approaches the unreal j“
57
00:04:57,255 --> 00:05:00,050
j“ for those who think and feel j“
58
00:05:00,175 --> 00:05:03,178
j“ in touch with some reality j“
59
00:05:03,303 --> 00:05:06,223
j“ beyond the gilded cage j“
60
00:05:12,354 --> 00:05:15,232
J“ cast in this unlikely role j“
61
00:05:15,357 --> 00:05:17,734
j“ ill-equipped to act j“
62
00:05:17,859 --> 00:05:20,695
j“ with insufficient tact j“
63
00:05:21,321 --> 00:05:23,573
j“ one must put up barriers j“
64
00:05:23,698 --> 00:05:25,826
j“ to keep oneself intact j“
65
00:05:29,204 --> 00:05:31,915
j“ living in the limelight j“
66
00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:34,668
j“ the universal dream j“
67
00:05:34,793 --> 00:05:36,920
j“ for those who wish to seem j“
68
00:05:37,045 --> 00:05:40,125
I guess we should start at the
beginning and talk about your upbringing,
69
00:05:40,215 --> 00:05:42,467
where you were born
and what your childhood was like.
70
00:05:42,592 --> 00:05:44,719
Ok, how do I start my beginnings?
71
00:05:44,845 --> 00:05:49,683
I was born in willowdale, Ontario.
I was a nebbishy, quiet kid.
72
00:05:49,808 --> 00:05:51,977
My parents were both holocaust survivors
73
00:05:52,102 --> 00:05:54,896
and emigrated here after the war.
74
00:05:55,021 --> 00:05:57,732
They basically arrived
with ten bucks in their pocket
75
00:05:57,858 --> 00:06:01,611
and worked their way up
to a lower-middle-class kind of income
76
00:06:01,736 --> 00:06:03,488
and raised me in the suburbs.
77
00:06:03,613 --> 00:06:04,990
When we first moved in,
78
00:06:05,115 --> 00:06:08,994
we were one of the few Jewish families
to live in our neighborhood
79
00:06:09,119 --> 00:06:13,456
and we were constantly living in terror
of being beat up because of that fact,
80
00:06:13,582 --> 00:06:15,500
so it was an exciting time.
81
00:06:16,751 --> 00:06:19,337
When I was twelve, my father passed away
82
00:06:19,462 --> 00:06:23,383
and I had to go to synagogue
in the morning and in the evening
83
00:06:23,508 --> 00:06:25,802
every day for eleven months and one day.
84
00:06:25,927 --> 00:06:29,264
I was not really
allowed to listen to music.
85
00:06:29,389 --> 00:06:31,558
So that whole year was devoid
86
00:06:31,683 --> 00:06:35,687
of what all the other kids
were just starting to get turned on to.
87
00:06:35,812 --> 00:06:38,189
After the year, he really came out
88
00:06:38,315 --> 00:06:40,025
and he was himself.
89
00:06:40,150 --> 00:06:43,361
I said to gedd, "mom wants
to buy you a nice present,
90
00:06:43,486 --> 00:06:45,697
"you're such a good,
hard-working kid."
91
00:06:45,822 --> 00:06:49,701
He says, "mom, next door
Terry has a guitar."
92
00:06:49,826 --> 00:06:55,582
As we drove into the drive I said,
"here's $50, go to Terry, get your guitar."
93
00:06:55,707 --> 00:06:58,627
And then Alex entered my life
in junior high school.
94
00:06:58,752 --> 00:07:00,712
We liked the same kind of bands
95
00:07:00,837 --> 00:07:04,507
but I think we bonded more
over our goofiness than over music.
96
00:07:06,718 --> 00:07:09,471
My earliest memory of you
is your Paisley shirt.
97
00:07:09,596 --> 00:07:11,556
- Your purple Paisley shirt.
- Yeah.
98
00:07:11,681 --> 00:07:15,769
It was purple. Burgundy, god...
99
00:07:15,894 --> 00:07:17,228
Corduroys.
100
00:07:17,354 --> 00:07:19,814
I was born in fernie
in British Columbia.
101
00:07:19,940 --> 00:07:23,401
My parents came over
after the war from yugoslavia.
102
00:07:23,526 --> 00:07:26,905
We moved to Toronto and I would say
it was a very normal upbringing.
103
00:07:27,030 --> 00:07:29,908
My father usually had two or three jobs
at any given time
104
00:07:30,033 --> 00:07:32,077
and he believed
that if you wanted something,
105
00:07:32,202 --> 00:07:34,204
you went out and you worked for it. Period.
106
00:07:34,329 --> 00:07:37,749
This is when Alex was a youngster
107
00:07:37,874 --> 00:07:40,752
and this is when he was
a Navy league cadet.
108
00:07:40,877 --> 00:07:44,047
He was such a cutie.
109
00:07:44,172 --> 00:07:45,590
One day he came and he said,
110
00:07:45,715 --> 00:07:48,176
"mom, dad, if I bring you
a good report card,
111
00:07:48,301 --> 00:07:51,096
"will you buy me a guitar?"
112
00:07:51,221 --> 00:07:55,433
And, you know,
he brought a very good report card
113
00:07:55,558 --> 00:07:58,144
and we promised,
and we didn't even have money,
114
00:07:58,269 --> 00:08:00,939
we just borrowed the money
and bought him a guitar.
115
00:08:01,064 --> 00:08:04,067
I would come home after school
and play until dinner
116
00:08:04,192 --> 00:08:06,403
and then, supposed to do my homework,
117
00:08:06,528 --> 00:08:10,448
I just played the guitar all the time.
I couldn't stop playing.
118
00:08:12,909 --> 00:08:14,369
This wasn't here.
119
00:08:14,494 --> 00:08:17,372
None of these houses,
it's just the school and the field.
120
00:08:17,497 --> 00:08:19,624
Yeah. There's fisherville.
121
00:08:19,749 --> 00:08:23,294
I remember my homeroom class
was the third window from the end.
122
00:08:23,420 --> 00:08:26,256
Alex was always
the teacher's pet at school,
123
00:08:26,381 --> 00:08:28,383
he always smiled up to the teachers
124
00:08:28,508 --> 00:08:30,969
and, you know, he was a real schmoozer.
125
00:08:31,094 --> 00:08:32,804
We were in the same homeroom.
126
00:08:32,929 --> 00:08:35,640
Did we used to take
all our classes together?
127
00:08:35,765 --> 00:08:36,808
In grade nine we did.
128
00:08:36,933 --> 00:08:39,269
And one year we wrote each other's test.
129
00:08:39,394 --> 00:08:40,746
We had almost finished with the test
130
00:08:40,770 --> 00:08:45,150
and we said at the end, "you sign my name,
I'll sign yours." "Ok."
131
00:08:45,275 --> 00:08:46,359
We were bad.
132
00:08:46,484 --> 00:08:48,528
Oh, yeah, I do remember...
133
00:08:48,653 --> 00:08:51,448
That's how bad we were.
We upset the teacher.
134
00:08:53,491 --> 00:08:54,611
We were very similar.
135
00:08:54,701 --> 00:08:57,996
We both felt like we were really
outside the rest of our class,
136
00:08:58,121 --> 00:09:00,623
the rest of our school,
the rest of everything.
137
00:09:00,749 --> 00:09:04,210
And then we discovered this manic love
for music that we both had.
138
00:09:04,335 --> 00:09:09,466
We got this gig, early in September
of 1968, in this church basement.
139
00:09:09,591 --> 00:09:11,968
John rutsey was a neighbor
that played the drums
140
00:09:12,093 --> 00:09:13,595
and I asked gedd if he would sit in
141
00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:16,181
because he knew these same songs
that we all knew.
142
00:09:16,306 --> 00:09:17,807
So I said, "sure," I came down
143
00:09:17,932 --> 00:09:22,020
and we were playing this drop-in center
in willowdale called the coffin.
144
00:09:22,145 --> 00:09:24,522
That was the coffin there.
145
00:09:24,647 --> 00:09:27,650
You used to come in here
and you used to go downstairs.
146
00:09:30,653 --> 00:09:35,742
We had maybe 35 people there,
we got paid $10 to do the show,
147
00:09:35,867 --> 00:09:38,369
for the whole band, not each, ten bucks
148
00:09:38,495 --> 00:09:40,705
and we went to pancer's deli aftennards
149
00:09:40,830 --> 00:09:44,876
and the three of us sat in a booth
planning our takeover of the world.
150
00:09:45,001 --> 00:09:49,172
J“ my head is full of sunshine j“
151
00:09:49,297 --> 00:09:53,218
j“ my world is spinning round j“
152
00:09:53,343 --> 00:09:56,971
j“ here come the magic people j“
153
00:09:57,097 --> 00:09:59,265
j“ the people with the freedom sound j“
154
00:09:59,390 --> 00:10:01,226
j“ sound j“
155
00:10:01,351 --> 00:10:04,229
When I started
hanging around with Alex and John,
156
00:10:04,354 --> 00:10:05,855
we would come downtown
157
00:10:05,980 --> 00:10:08,983
and there was a coffee shop in yorkville
called the upper crusts
158
00:10:09,109 --> 00:10:11,194
and a lot of musicians
would hang out there.
159
00:10:11,319 --> 00:10:15,156
There was another band that we really
idolized at the time called the paupers.
160
00:10:15,281 --> 00:10:18,201
You could see the guys
from that band hanging around
161
00:10:18,326 --> 00:10:22,205
so we would go in there and order a cup of
tea like they were, trying to be cool,
162
00:10:22,330 --> 00:10:24,791
and we were just
these little suburban hippies.
163
00:10:24,916 --> 00:10:29,212
Always playing with your hair, you know.
Trying to look like you fit in.
164
00:10:29,337 --> 00:10:31,089
I was living on yorkville Avenue
165
00:10:31,214 --> 00:10:33,925
and I had met the guys
at a concert in a church hall.
166
00:10:34,050 --> 00:10:36,678
Even though they were
sixteen-year-old kids,
167
00:10:36,803 --> 00:10:38,972
they were incredibly good players.
168
00:10:39,097 --> 00:10:40,265
I was a fan immediately.
169
00:10:40,390 --> 00:10:42,725
They were playing
the kind of music that I liked.
170
00:10:42,851 --> 00:10:45,812
Ray said, "you guys need
a manager," and what did we know?
171
00:10:45,937 --> 00:10:48,606
We said, "yeah, sure.
Get us up to twelve bucks from ten bucks."
172
00:10:48,731 --> 00:10:51,317
And ray started booking dances
173
00:10:51,442 --> 00:10:55,071
and putting up posters on telephone Poles
and we started to grow.
174
00:10:55,196 --> 00:10:57,782
In Ontario at the time,
with a drinking age that high,
175
00:10:57,907 --> 00:10:59,784
the high schools took it upon themselves
176
00:10:59,909 --> 00:11:01,786
to create entertainment for teenagers.
177
00:11:01,911 --> 00:11:03,746
So there was a real circuit to do.
178
00:11:03,872 --> 00:11:07,250
That's really what bands did
back then, you played at a school dance
179
00:11:07,375 --> 00:11:09,002
and hopefully you had a repertoire
180
00:11:09,127 --> 00:11:11,129
that covered lots
of the current popular music,
181
00:11:11,254 --> 00:11:13,298
but that wasn't really our thing.
182
00:11:13,423 --> 00:11:16,634
J“ I had a woman not too long ago j“
183
00:11:16,759 --> 00:11:19,846
j“ a cool-hearted woman,
let my feelings show j“
184
00:11:19,971 --> 00:11:23,433
j“ damn, that woman, I do all I got j“
185
00:11:23,558 --> 00:11:26,186
j“ ooh, all I wanted
was to treat her good j“
186
00:11:26,769 --> 00:11:29,939
j“ can't understand it,
no matter how I tried j“
187
00:11:30,064 --> 00:11:33,484
j“ till one day my
heart grew cold inside j“
188
00:11:33,610 --> 00:11:36,362
j“ fancy dancer, oh, can't you see j“
189
00:11:36,487 --> 00:11:38,948
we played a lot of Sadie Hawkins dances,
190
00:11:39,073 --> 00:11:41,618
we played a lot of dances
where people couldn't dance very well
191
00:11:41,743 --> 00:11:43,453
because we weren't really a dance band.
192
00:11:43,578 --> 00:11:45,955
Everyone would be staying
at the back of the hall,
193
00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:49,417
they wouldn't even be coming near us,
like we were contagious.
194
00:11:49,542 --> 00:11:53,254
We probably bummed out a lot of people
on their high-school memories.
195
00:11:53,379 --> 00:11:55,506
I was trying to do this
full time and stay alive
196
00:11:55,632 --> 00:11:57,300
and they were still in high school.
197
00:11:57,425 --> 00:12:00,428
They were a part-time band
playing high schools on weekends
198
00:12:00,553 --> 00:12:03,097
and they were practicing
at geddy and Alex's house.
199
00:12:07,977 --> 00:12:11,189
We were rehearsing in my
basement and playing with these guys.
200
00:12:11,314 --> 00:12:12,565
They weren't Jewish guys.
201
00:12:12,690 --> 00:12:17,070
We were really loud and it didn't sound
anything like music to my family.
202
00:12:17,195 --> 00:12:18,863
They just thought I was nuts.
203
00:12:18,988 --> 00:12:23,243
They thought I was probably
a drug-taking freak so they were scared,
204
00:12:23,368 --> 00:12:25,703
they were freaked out,
they didn't know what to do.
205
00:12:25,828 --> 00:12:27,830
They didn't know how to handle it.
206
00:12:36,673 --> 00:12:38,925
The whole neighborhood
was just bumping
207
00:12:39,050 --> 00:12:42,720
because the music was so loud
and everything was vibrating.
208
00:12:42,845 --> 00:12:47,016
I really didn't like it
and it wasn't my kind of music.
209
00:12:47,141 --> 00:12:50,895
Perry como was my kind of music.
210
00:12:51,020 --> 00:12:53,731
Alex's mom and I
used to talk always on the phone,
211
00:12:53,856 --> 00:12:56,109
crying at each other's shoulder.
212
00:12:56,234 --> 00:13:03,032
It was hard because he wanted to just play
and practice and he couldn't study,
213
00:13:03,157 --> 00:13:06,077
he would go to sleep late,
couldn't get up
214
00:13:06,202 --> 00:13:08,788
and that's why he said,
"I'm quitting grade 12,"
215
00:13:08,913 --> 00:13:10,290
and we were very upset.
216
00:13:10,415 --> 00:13:11,976
Like, I don't wanna make
a bunch of money.
217
00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:13,876
Like, if I make a lot
of money that's great,
218
00:13:14,002 --> 00:13:16,587
but I'm not going to go to university
and get a big degree.
219
00:13:16,713 --> 00:13:18,423
Hang on, no.
220
00:13:18,548 --> 00:13:20,842
I don't wanna drive around in a big car
221
00:13:20,967 --> 00:13:23,678
and get people to go,
"hey, there goes Alex,
222
00:13:23,803 --> 00:13:27,348
"he's loaded with money and,
wow, he's really set himself up great."
223
00:13:27,473 --> 00:13:32,103
I don't see why I have to go through
all the bullshit of high school
224
00:13:32,228 --> 00:13:33,604
to learn music.
225
00:13:33,730 --> 00:13:37,358
It's not that we're forcing Alex
to go to university right now or anything.
226
00:13:37,483 --> 00:13:40,653
We're just asking a little favor of him,
just to finish grade 12,
227
00:13:40,778 --> 00:13:42,447
and then he's on his own.
228
00:13:42,572 --> 00:13:46,034
We wanted for him to be something,
to have education.
229
00:13:46,159 --> 00:13:48,619
I was a little bit worried
about his future.
230
00:13:48,745 --> 00:13:51,331
If he doesn't finish high school,
what's gonna happen?
231
00:13:51,456 --> 00:13:54,792
And if the group doesn't succeed,
you know, it was tough.
232
00:13:54,917 --> 00:13:57,086
It was tough to go through that.
233
00:13:57,211 --> 00:13:59,714
You know, the thing is,
my parents were right.
234
00:13:59,839 --> 00:14:01,424
I thought I knew everything.
235
00:14:01,549 --> 00:14:05,553
I have said to you, Alex,
I want you to be free to expand.
236
00:14:05,678 --> 00:14:07,597
You know,
they came from yugoslavia,
237
00:14:07,722 --> 00:14:09,242
people were getting killed everywhere.
238
00:14:09,307 --> 00:14:10,641
My dad was in prison camps.
239
00:14:10,767 --> 00:14:13,811
They came to Canada
and their kids were everything.
240
00:14:13,936 --> 00:14:16,147
That was, I'm sure,
a great disappointment to them
241
00:14:16,272 --> 00:14:19,484
that I wasn't going to do something
that was more professional.
242
00:14:19,609 --> 00:14:22,987
The whole idea of leaving school
was a stressful decision,
243
00:14:23,112 --> 00:14:25,490
but at that age
I was just wanting to be a kid
244
00:14:25,615 --> 00:14:28,618
and there was so much heaviness
in my family's life.
245
00:14:28,743 --> 00:14:31,788
Being holocaust survivors,
losing your dad at twelve,
246
00:14:31,913 --> 00:14:34,582
I kind of wanted
to run away from that a little bit.
247
00:14:34,707 --> 00:14:37,835
To my mother it was the equivalent
of joining the circus.
248
00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,838
She didn't see any music
in what we were doing,
249
00:14:40,963 --> 00:14:44,342
this was just madness
and she didn't really get it
250
00:14:44,467 --> 00:14:47,387
until she, one day, years later,
saw me on television
251
00:14:47,512 --> 00:14:51,391
and then it kind of...
"Oh, he's an entertainer." You know?
252
00:14:51,516 --> 00:14:53,726
"Now I understand what he's doing."
253
00:14:55,937 --> 00:14:59,732
Once again we're back
at the Laura Secord secondary school
254
00:14:59,857 --> 00:15:03,027
and we've got a great trio of guys here
who call themselves rush
255
00:15:03,152 --> 00:15:06,531
and I'll let John, the drummer, introduce
the rest of the guys to you right now.
256
00:15:06,656 --> 00:15:11,828
Well, introducing,
on lead guitar and vocals Alex lifeson.
257
00:15:12,620 --> 00:15:16,499
And on lead vocals and bass guitar,
geddy Lee.
258
00:15:16,624 --> 00:15:20,253
And sitting behind the drums,
here, myself John rutsey.
259
00:15:22,046 --> 00:15:23,631
Ok, we're gonna see in this number
260
00:15:23,756 --> 00:15:26,676
if we can get you to make
a little noise along with us.
261
00:15:26,801 --> 00:15:28,219
It doesn't take too much,
262
00:15:28,344 --> 00:15:31,013
all you've got to do
is put your hands together like this.
263
00:15:39,647 --> 00:15:41,983
J“ well, I've been lyin'
and I've been sneakin' j“
264
00:15:42,108 --> 00:15:44,152
j“ ooh, yeah, yeah j“
265
00:15:44,277 --> 00:15:46,404
j“ well, I've been crowin'
and I've been weepin' j“
266
00:15:46,529 --> 00:15:48,489
j“ ooh, yeah, yeah j“
267
00:15:48,614 --> 00:15:50,825
j“ ooh, your lovin' makes me feel j“
268
00:15:50,950 --> 00:15:52,785
j“ makes me feel mighty real j“
269
00:15:52,910 --> 00:15:55,204
j“ well, I've been lonely
and I've been duped, yeah j“
270
00:15:55,955 --> 00:15:57,832
j“ ooh, yes, now, baby, don't stop j“
271
00:15:57,957 --> 00:15:59,625
j“ I know nothin' about you j“
272
00:16:02,044 --> 00:16:04,881
the turning point came in 1971,
273
00:16:05,006 --> 00:16:08,926
when the drinking age was lowered
to 18 from 21 in Ontario.
274
00:16:09,051 --> 00:16:11,637
As soon as the drinking age dropped to 18,
275
00:16:11,762 --> 00:16:13,598
it was right at the time we turned 18,
276
00:16:13,723 --> 00:16:15,433
so we could finally start playing in bars
277
00:16:15,558 --> 00:16:18,227
which were better paying,
more serious gigs.
278
00:16:18,352 --> 00:16:20,938
What happened
is yorkville got shut down by 1970.
279
00:16:21,063 --> 00:16:24,317
They wanted to rid that area of hippies
and the clubs
280
00:16:24,442 --> 00:16:28,279
and shift it onto young street
and onto queen street as well.
281
00:16:28,404 --> 00:16:30,781
And as soon as the drinking age
went down in '71,
282
00:16:30,907 --> 00:16:33,159
it invited a whole different kind of music
283
00:16:33,284 --> 00:16:36,454
because a drinking crowd
wants a different kind of entertainment
284
00:16:36,579 --> 00:16:37,788
than a listening crowd.
285
00:16:37,914 --> 00:16:40,958
You wanted something harder and heavier.
So a whole new world grew.
286
00:16:41,083 --> 00:16:44,462
The scene in Toronto was vibrant
as far as live bands go.
287
00:16:44,587 --> 00:16:46,255
There were a ton of live venues.
288
00:16:46,380 --> 00:16:49,300
I went into a place called
the Abbey road pub on queen street
289
00:16:49,425 --> 00:16:50,885
and saw rush one night.
290
00:16:51,010 --> 00:16:53,888
I was watching them, going,
"wow, there's something going on here."
291
00:16:54,013 --> 00:16:56,474
We went from playing
a couple of high-school dances
292
00:16:56,599 --> 00:16:57,683
in the course of a month,
293
00:16:57,808 --> 00:16:59,101
to playing six nights a week
294
00:16:59,227 --> 00:17:01,020
with matinees on Saturdays sometimes
295
00:17:01,145 --> 00:17:03,523
and playing four or five 40-minute sets.
296
00:17:03,648 --> 00:17:06,025
We started to get
a little more experimental with music
297
00:17:06,150 --> 00:17:09,487
and that was great because that's really
where we learned our chops.
298
00:17:09,612 --> 00:17:12,240
We're gonna do a number
called garden road for you!
299
00:17:24,293 --> 00:17:27,755
J“ passin' down this garden road,
I've passed it many times j“
300
00:17:30,550 --> 00:17:32,426
j“ beauty flashing in the yard j“
301
00:17:32,552 --> 00:17:34,470
j“ covers many vines j“
302
00:17:36,722 --> 00:17:39,850
j“ each day I seek
the answer that I must know j“
303
00:17:42,687 --> 00:17:46,524
j“ I found my questions
on this garden road j“
304
00:17:46,649 --> 00:17:49,277
Initially, I was trying
to get them a record deal
305
00:17:49,402 --> 00:17:51,112
and no one was willing to sign them.
306
00:17:51,237 --> 00:17:52,321
I couldn't get arrested.
307
00:17:52,446 --> 00:17:55,866
So it became obvious that I was gonna
have to come up with the money
308
00:17:55,992 --> 00:17:57,201
and do the record myself.
309
00:17:57,326 --> 00:18:00,246
We looked for, jeez,
I guess about four months,
310
00:18:00,371 --> 00:18:02,707
trying to get a record deal on rush
in this country
311
00:18:02,832 --> 00:18:04,875
and couldn't get anyone interested at all.
312
00:18:05,001 --> 00:18:06,544
There was just no reaction.
313
00:18:06,711 --> 00:18:08,838
We were willing
to literally give the album away
314
00:18:08,963 --> 00:18:11,632
if somebody would just make
a commitment to promote it.
315
00:18:11,757 --> 00:18:12,757
Couldn't get that.
316
00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,220
Part of the general attitude in Canada
is, unfortunately,
317
00:18:16,345 --> 00:18:19,199
the people coming out to see you,
not all of them, but quite a few of them
318
00:18:19,223 --> 00:18:22,059
go, "well, they're a local band,
how good can they be?"
319
00:18:22,184 --> 00:18:25,438
And it's funny when other people
from the states come out
320
00:18:25,563 --> 00:18:29,900
and they see these so-called local bands,
they go, "man, these guys are fantastic."
321
00:18:30,026 --> 00:18:31,777
There was no one in Canada to sign you.
322
00:18:31,902 --> 00:18:34,447
There were no record companies here,
they were outposts really.
323
00:18:34,572 --> 00:18:37,950
You had to get an American deal
if you wanted to do anything.
324
00:18:38,075 --> 00:18:40,578
J“ Cleveland rocks, Cleveland rocks! J“
325
00:18:40,703 --> 00:18:43,873
Cleveland rocks on wmms!
326
00:18:43,998 --> 00:18:47,209
I was up in my office
and I was listening to the new music.
327
00:18:47,335 --> 00:18:49,587
We were deciding
what we were going to play that week
328
00:18:49,712 --> 00:18:51,756
and, suddenly,
I get this thing from Canada.
329
00:18:51,881 --> 00:18:55,259
I remember dropping the needle
on what was the longest cut,
330
00:18:55,384 --> 00:18:57,762
because back in those days in album rock,
331
00:18:57,887 --> 00:19:00,973
you were always looking
for what was called "bathroom songs."
332
00:19:01,098 --> 00:19:02,725
And a bathroom song was something
333
00:19:02,850 --> 00:19:04,977
that if you did have to answer
the call of nature,
334
00:19:05,102 --> 00:19:08,564
the record wouldn't run out.
And then I start listening to the song
335
00:19:08,689 --> 00:19:13,152
and I'm just, "oh, my god, this is
a perfect record for Cleveland."
336
00:19:13,277 --> 00:19:15,363
Back then it was a factory town.
337
00:19:15,488 --> 00:19:21,118
The song working man, every listener
in the audience felt like that.
338
00:19:24,288 --> 00:19:26,791
J“ I get up at seven, yeah j“
339
00:19:26,916 --> 00:19:30,586
j“ and I go to work at nine j“
340
00:19:30,711 --> 00:19:32,630
j“ I got no time for livin' j“
341
00:19:32,755 --> 00:19:36,384
j“ yes, I'm workin' all the time j“
342
00:19:36,509 --> 00:19:39,804
j“ it seems to me I could live my life j“
343
00:19:39,929 --> 00:19:42,431
j“ a lot better than I think I am j“
344
00:19:43,766 --> 00:19:46,018
j“ I guess that's why they call me j“
345
00:19:46,977 --> 00:19:49,188
j“ they call me the workin' man j“
346
00:19:52,942 --> 00:19:56,737
Phones light up immediately.
"When's the new led zeppelin album out?"
347
00:19:56,862 --> 00:20:00,658
"No, no, not a new led zeppelin album,
a Canadian band, rush."
348
00:20:00,783 --> 00:20:02,827
Every time the record gets played,
349
00:20:02,952 --> 00:20:04,829
people are calling,
"where can we get one?"
350
00:20:04,954 --> 00:20:06,997
We had this cult following going already.
351
00:20:07,123 --> 00:20:12,002
June 1974, I was working
at Mercury records in Chicago,
352
00:20:12,128 --> 00:20:15,256
it was a Monday morning
and on my desk was an album.
353
00:20:15,381 --> 00:20:17,007
A note comes along with it,
354
00:20:17,133 --> 00:20:20,261
it says, "this is the first album
by a Canadian group called rush,"
355
00:20:20,386 --> 00:20:23,472
and that it's already selling in Cleveland
356
00:20:23,597 --> 00:20:25,683
and they're looking for a deal
in the United States.
357
00:20:25,808 --> 00:20:28,769
The artists and repertoire person
who would normally listen was not in,
358
00:20:28,894 --> 00:20:32,773
so they took it
to the least qualified guy, me.
359
00:20:32,898 --> 00:20:35,526
I put on the record and got blown away.
360
00:20:35,651 --> 00:20:39,947
I said, "get the president
of the company on the line.
361
00:20:40,072 --> 00:20:41,866
"We should sign this band."
362
00:20:41,991 --> 00:20:46,078
He said, "don't make a deal with anyone
until we talk."
363
00:20:46,203 --> 00:20:49,457
And he loved the record
and he really wanted to sign us.
364
00:20:49,582 --> 00:20:51,375
By the end of the day
we'd worked out a deal,
365
00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:54,378
signing the band
within eight hours of hearing it.
366
00:20:54,503 --> 00:20:58,549
We went from getting this offer to getting
an advance, to buying equipment.
367
00:20:58,674 --> 00:21:01,218
Everything was happening
very, very quickly.
368
00:21:01,343 --> 00:21:04,930
I don't think that John really
felt comfortable with what was happening.
369
00:21:05,055 --> 00:21:06,891
We talked about musical differences
370
00:21:07,016 --> 00:21:09,351
and he was a much more
straightahead rock kind of guy.
371
00:21:09,477 --> 00:21:11,228
He was more into bad company
372
00:21:11,353 --> 00:21:13,564
whereas gedd and I were
more into yes and Genesis
373
00:21:13,689 --> 00:21:15,524
and pink Floyd and bands like that.
374
00:21:15,649 --> 00:21:17,610
If we'd stayed on the
Toronto local circuit,
375
00:21:17,735 --> 00:21:20,415
we probably would have stayed together
and that would have been fine
376
00:21:20,529 --> 00:21:23,532
but suddenly things were turning a page.
377
00:21:23,657 --> 00:21:27,036
John was not a healthy boy,
he had sugar diabetes.
378
00:21:27,161 --> 00:21:31,040
Of course, like any teenager,
he liked to drink and whatever else.
379
00:21:31,165 --> 00:21:35,544
He was not taking care of himself
and I took geddy and Alex aside and ray
380
00:21:35,669 --> 00:21:38,964
and I said, "we have to replace John.
For his health."
381
00:21:39,089 --> 00:21:41,425
We can't put him out there on that tour
382
00:21:41,550 --> 00:21:43,719
or we'll be bringing him home in a box.
383
00:21:43,844 --> 00:21:45,763
So I discussed it with John,
384
00:21:45,888 --> 00:21:48,182
of course he was heartbroken,
but he understood.
385
00:21:48,307 --> 00:21:51,143
There was no saying
that John wasn't doing his job.
386
00:21:51,268 --> 00:21:54,104
It wasn't for his ability to drum
that he was let go,
387
00:21:54,230 --> 00:21:55,773
it was for health reasons.
388
00:21:55,898 --> 00:21:57,584
It's like coming to the end of high
school
389
00:21:57,608 --> 00:22:01,278
and you're with all your friends and you
think, "we'll know each other forever,"
390
00:22:01,403 --> 00:22:03,447
and then everybody just goes
in their own direction
391
00:22:03,572 --> 00:22:06,242
and, for the most part,
you never see those people again.
392
00:22:06,367 --> 00:22:08,619
It was a big deal,
we had an American contract,
393
00:22:08,744 --> 00:22:09,954
we were going to the states,
394
00:22:10,079 --> 00:22:12,122
we only had less than a month
to find somebody
395
00:22:12,248 --> 00:22:14,250
and get them in shape for us
to go on the road.
396
00:22:14,375 --> 00:22:17,419
We needed a drummer.
Let's put it like that.
397
00:22:42,945 --> 00:22:45,698
Oh, ho! Broken drumhead!
398
00:22:46,657 --> 00:22:48,977
I thought it would be good
to start at the beginning.
399
00:22:49,034 --> 00:22:50,202
Oh, how predictable.
400
00:22:50,327 --> 00:22:52,931
The very beginning. Where you
were born and where you grew up.
401
00:22:52,955 --> 00:22:54,832
Much of that I don't remember.
402
00:22:54,957 --> 00:22:57,001
I know that I was born on the...
403
00:22:57,126 --> 00:23:00,006
We were living on the family farm
near hagersville, Ontario, at the time.
404
00:23:00,129 --> 00:23:02,506
We went to the nearest hospital,
which was in Hamilton
405
00:23:02,631 --> 00:23:06,010
and moved to st Catherine's
when I was about four or so.
406
00:23:06,135 --> 00:23:09,179
I had never been athletic,
I never could play hockey,
407
00:23:09,305 --> 00:23:12,349
I skated on my ankles,
which, for a young Canadian kid,
408
00:23:12,474 --> 00:23:16,186
that's automatically like the hugest curse
a young boy could have.
409
00:23:16,312 --> 00:23:19,064
Well, he was...
In those days, I used to say weird.
410
00:23:19,189 --> 00:23:20,566
He just read everything.
411
00:23:20,691 --> 00:23:22,860
He just read everything there was to read.
412
00:23:22,985 --> 00:23:24,778
He even had to learn to knit
413
00:23:24,904 --> 00:23:27,364
because he had to know how that was done.
414
00:23:27,489 --> 00:23:31,160
It was horrible coming into high
school, once I got interested in rock bands
415
00:23:31,285 --> 00:23:33,537
and started to grow my hair
a little over my ears
416
00:23:33,662 --> 00:23:35,664
and wear bell-bottoms and all that stuff.
417
00:23:35,789 --> 00:23:37,333
The taunting in the hallways
418
00:23:37,458 --> 00:23:40,169
and even physical abuse
out in the smoking area.
419
00:23:40,294 --> 00:23:42,504
The constant misfit sense.
420
00:23:42,630 --> 00:23:46,842
For any kid, especially a sensitive one,
it just wears you down,
421
00:23:46,967 --> 00:23:50,512
so that's why drumming became
an instrument of self-esteem for me.
422
00:23:50,638 --> 00:23:53,182
This was the first time
I was admired for anything.
423
00:23:53,307 --> 00:23:55,851
And that doubled my fervor
about playing drums.
424
00:24:03,025 --> 00:24:06,111
Fortunately, I was in a very serious band
at the time called j.R. Flood.
425
00:24:06,236 --> 00:24:07,404
We'd practice all weekdays
426
00:24:07,529 --> 00:24:10,074
and then weekends we'd be playing
high schools around Ontario
427
00:24:10,199 --> 00:24:11,492
or the nights at Columbus halls.
428
00:24:25,047 --> 00:24:28,384
In the summer of '74, I was working
behind the parts counter for my dad
429
00:24:28,509 --> 00:24:31,512
at the farm equipment dealer
and this white corvette pulled up.
430
00:24:31,637 --> 00:24:34,890
A white corvette doesn't pull up
in a farm equipment dealership that often.
431
00:24:35,015 --> 00:24:36,015
They came and asked
432
00:24:36,058 --> 00:24:38,602
if they could talk to Neil
and take him out for lunch
433
00:24:38,727 --> 00:24:41,647
and I could tell, as Neil came back,
the rest of the afternoon
434
00:24:41,772 --> 00:24:44,108
that he was really troubled with something.
435
00:24:44,233 --> 00:24:47,569
He told me then that these guys
were the managers of rush
436
00:24:47,695 --> 00:24:49,863
and they wanted Neil to come over
and audition
437
00:24:49,989 --> 00:24:51,549
and he said, "I don't
know what to do, dad."
438
00:24:51,573 --> 00:24:53,617
And I said, "well, two things.
439
00:24:53,742 --> 00:24:56,495
"First of all, we'll talk it over
with your mother
440
00:24:56,620 --> 00:24:58,706
"but secondly, as far as I'm concerned,
441
00:24:58,831 --> 00:25:01,875
"this is your passion,
this is all you have wanted all your life,"
442
00:25:02,001 --> 00:25:05,379
and I said, "I guess there will always be
a parts department here
443
00:25:05,504 --> 00:25:07,297
"so I think you've got to go for it."
444
00:25:07,423 --> 00:25:09,800
So I borrowed my mom's pinto,
445
00:25:09,925 --> 00:25:10,968
so perfect,
446
00:25:11,093 --> 00:25:13,512
and loaded my drums into that
and drove up to ajax.
447
00:25:13,637 --> 00:25:19,768
So this car pulls up with this kind of
gangly guy, really kind of short hair.
448
00:25:19,893 --> 00:25:23,313
My first impression
was that he was kind of goofy.
449
00:25:23,439 --> 00:25:27,276
I remember thinking, "god, he's not nearly
cool enough to be in this band."
450
00:25:27,401 --> 00:25:29,737
I had Rogers with two 18-inch bass drums
451
00:25:29,862 --> 00:25:31,822
and everything set up really high
452
00:25:31,947 --> 00:25:35,451
and kind of weird-looking,
and I was kind of weird-looking.
453
00:25:35,576 --> 00:25:38,221
And then he started playing,
he pounded the crap out of those drums.
454
00:25:38,245 --> 00:25:41,415
He played like Keith moon
and John bonham at the same time.
455
00:25:41,540 --> 00:25:44,501
I was blown away.
As soon as he started playing.
456
00:25:44,626 --> 00:25:47,463
He's playing these triplets
and it was so good.
457
00:25:47,588 --> 00:25:51,216
I think it's very common for musicians,
especially in your early years,
458
00:25:51,341 --> 00:25:53,552
to feel that you totally blew it
and I had that feeling.
459
00:25:53,677 --> 00:25:56,513
I could've played better,
I should've played better, all that stuff,
460
00:25:56,638 --> 00:25:59,975
but, um, they picked me.
461
00:26:08,025 --> 00:26:09,860
J“ hey, now, baby j“
462
00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:13,280
j“ well, I like your smile j“
463
00:26:14,865 --> 00:26:18,327
j“ won't you come and talk to me j“
464
00:26:18,452 --> 00:26:20,788
j“ for a little while? J“
465
00:26:22,247 --> 00:26:24,500
j“ well, you're makin' me crazy j“
466
00:26:25,918 --> 00:26:28,170
j“ the way you roll them eyes j“
467
00:26:29,421 --> 00:26:33,050
j“ won't you come and sit with me? J“
468
00:26:33,175 --> 00:26:35,552
j“ I'll tell you all my lies j“
469
00:26:36,595 --> 00:26:39,556
it was like a tornado came and hit my life
and swept it away.
470
00:26:39,681 --> 00:26:41,433
We had two weeks to prepare
471
00:26:41,558 --> 00:26:43,769
and to learn songs
that I'd never heard before
472
00:26:43,894 --> 00:26:45,729
and to gel a little bit
as much as we could.
473
00:26:45,854 --> 00:26:48,440
The first show was going to be
in front of 11,000 people
474
00:26:48,565 --> 00:26:49,733
at Pittsburgh civic arena,
475
00:26:49,858 --> 00:26:51,902
opening for manfred mann
and Uriah heep.
476
00:27:00,536 --> 00:27:02,204
J“ the only time she's happy j“
477
00:27:02,329 --> 00:27:05,374
j“ is when the
bullets fly, fly, fly, fly j“
478
00:27:06,208 --> 00:27:10,295
j“ and she'll make you feel
you're better than any other guy j“
479
00:27:10,420 --> 00:27:13,715
We found that the biggest
rock audience was midwest
480
00:27:13,841 --> 00:27:16,468
and we gave rush
the perfect audience to come into.
481
00:27:16,593 --> 00:27:19,638
It was a great rock audience,
and they loved their rock music.
482
00:27:19,763 --> 00:27:22,850
We had a dressing room
that was just a small kind of room
483
00:27:22,975 --> 00:27:25,310
under the stands at
the far end of the arena,
484
00:27:25,435 --> 00:27:27,479
away from the other dressing rooms.
485
00:27:27,604 --> 00:27:29,773
We had this tour manager,
Howard ungerleider,
486
00:27:29,898 --> 00:27:31,191
who had come in from New York,
487
00:27:31,316 --> 00:27:33,819
he was teaching us how to be professional.
488
00:27:33,944 --> 00:27:36,780
I remember Howard saying,
"you can have booze or something
489
00:27:36,905 --> 00:27:39,950
"and they'll supply it for you."
And we went, "really? Ok. Cool."
490
00:27:40,075 --> 00:27:42,786
I ordered, like, a little bottle
of southern comfort
491
00:27:42,911 --> 00:27:46,748
and I think Alex ordered blue nun wine
or something like that.
492
00:27:46,874 --> 00:27:49,793
I remember taking a sip of this stuff
and it went straight to my head
493
00:27:49,918 --> 00:27:54,131
and I was completely dizzy
and we hit the stage.
494
00:27:54,256 --> 00:27:56,175
By the time I kind of came to my senses,
495
00:27:56,300 --> 00:27:58,260
the set was over and we were off
496
00:27:58,385 --> 00:28:00,470
and I had no idea how well we'd played.
497
00:28:00,596 --> 00:28:04,308
My immediate thoughts were,
"god, he can sing high."
498
00:28:04,433 --> 00:28:08,103
That was my first thought, and how full
it sounded for just a three piece.
499
00:28:08,228 --> 00:28:09,479
Rush came out and nailed it.
500
00:28:09,605 --> 00:28:12,941
It was obvious that they were going
to move up the ladder pretty quick.
501
00:28:13,066 --> 00:28:15,903
J“ hey, baby, it's a quarter to eight j“
502
00:28:16,028 --> 00:28:18,447
j“ I feel I'm in the mood j“
503
00:28:19,948 --> 00:28:22,492
j“ hey, baby, the hour is late j“
504
00:28:22,618 --> 00:28:24,995
j“ I feel I've got to move j“
505
00:28:26,788 --> 00:28:29,917
It was huge. This was the start
of our tour and it was america.
506
00:28:30,042 --> 00:28:33,503
Big, bold, beautiful america
and we were so excited to be doing it.
507
00:28:33,629 --> 00:28:36,465
Here are these three
twenty-year-old guys living a dream.
508
00:28:36,590 --> 00:28:37,925
It was a very exciting time
509
00:28:38,050 --> 00:28:41,428
and we were working eleven days on,
one day off, nine days on, one day off.
510
00:28:41,553 --> 00:28:44,056
We were really working a lot
and traveling all over the place.
511
00:28:44,181 --> 00:28:45,783
The circuit was
different back then.
512
00:28:45,807 --> 00:28:47,207
The money certainly wasn't as great
513
00:28:47,309 --> 00:28:49,811
and you wanted to play
five or six times a week.
514
00:28:49,937 --> 00:28:54,233
You could play markets like Johnson city,
Tennessee or yakima, Washington.
515
00:28:54,358 --> 00:28:57,527
You would talk about how many shows
in Iowa you were going to do.
516
00:28:57,653 --> 00:29:00,697
Every day and we would always
share the driving.
517
00:29:00,822 --> 00:29:02,199
Everybody was sharing rooms.
518
00:29:02,324 --> 00:29:04,826
We had a room rotation schedule
back then. It was kind of fun.
519
00:29:04,952 --> 00:29:09,206
Traveling around in a rental car,
it wasn't even a bus or a Van.
520
00:29:09,331 --> 00:29:10,707
Sleeping on your baggage.
521
00:29:10,832 --> 00:29:13,168
Now, you know,
you'd be in traction for a month
522
00:29:13,293 --> 00:29:16,672
if you did a week traveling
like we used to travel for months.
523
00:29:36,149 --> 00:29:40,237
The life of an opening act back then
was hooking up from circuit to circuit.
524
00:29:40,362 --> 00:29:42,162
Sometimes you didn't know
where you were going
525
00:29:42,281 --> 00:29:43,907
because sometimes
your gigs would run out
526
00:29:44,032 --> 00:29:46,952
and you'd be in the states waiting
to find out if you're on another tour.
527
00:29:47,077 --> 00:29:49,663
J“ rock 'n' roll! J“
528
00:29:56,086 --> 00:29:59,381
J“ baby gets tired, everybody knows j“
529
00:29:59,506 --> 00:30:01,842
As soon as we heard
that first rush record,
530
00:30:01,967 --> 00:30:05,012
we just were like, "what is this?
This is like Canadian zeppelin."
531
00:30:05,137 --> 00:30:08,390
"Yeah! Oh, yeah!"
"What the hell is that?"
532
00:30:08,515 --> 00:30:11,435
And we literally said,
"we want that band to open Canada."
533
00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:13,186
We then took them across america.
534
00:30:13,312 --> 00:30:18,483
With kiss we probably played 50, 60 shows
in the first couple of tours,
535
00:30:18,608 --> 00:30:21,695
where they were just
this weird band from New York,
536
00:30:21,820 --> 00:30:24,239
and we got very, very close.
537
00:30:24,364 --> 00:30:25,524
J“ baby, won't you tell me j“
538
00:30:25,574 --> 00:30:28,243
j“ baby, rock 'n' roll, yeah, yeah j“
539
00:30:28,368 --> 00:30:30,662
j“ do you wanna rock 'n' roll? J“
540
00:30:30,787 --> 00:30:33,915
Regardless of what
you want to say about kiss,
541
00:30:34,041 --> 00:30:35,250
musically or othennise,
542
00:30:35,375 --> 00:30:37,586
there was no harder-working band than kiss
543
00:30:37,711 --> 00:30:42,174
and there was no band more determined
to put on a spectacular show
544
00:30:42,299 --> 00:30:44,343
and give people
their money's worth than kiss.
545
00:30:44,468 --> 00:30:47,471
That was a great thing to see
as an opening act.
546
00:30:47,596 --> 00:30:50,098
We were so impressionable
and we were so green.
547
00:30:50,223 --> 00:30:51,475
They were very good to us.
548
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:54,478
Those guys liked to have a good time,
especially gene,
549
00:30:54,603 --> 00:30:58,023
and their hotels were always
fun to watch.
550
00:30:59,191 --> 00:31:01,693
Every night after the show,
the girls would line up.
551
00:31:01,818 --> 00:31:04,821
My god! You can even be an ugly bastard
like me and get laid
552
00:31:04,946 --> 00:31:06,573
and none of the rush guys ever did.
553
00:31:06,698 --> 00:31:10,077
I just never understood it.
I said, "they're not gay?" "No."
554
00:31:10,202 --> 00:31:12,579
"Farm animals?"
"No, that's not it."
555
00:31:12,704 --> 00:31:16,666
I... what the fuck did you do
when you went back to your hotel room?
556
00:31:16,792 --> 00:31:19,669
I even remember one night,
it was in Milwaukee I think,
557
00:31:19,795 --> 00:31:23,340
and there was a female bowling league
sharing the same floor
558
00:31:23,465 --> 00:31:25,759
and they were walking around
in their nightgowns
559
00:31:25,884 --> 00:31:28,553
and their hotel room doors are open
and they're drinking.
560
00:31:28,678 --> 00:31:32,099
All the guys in rush are in their rooms
just watching TV after a gig.
561
00:31:32,224 --> 00:31:34,393
They probably woke up the next day, going,
562
00:31:34,518 --> 00:31:36,436
"god, these Canadian bands
sure are boring."
563
00:31:46,363 --> 00:31:48,907
That was a "getting to know you"
period for us and Neil.
564
00:31:49,032 --> 00:31:51,159
He was one of the weirdest people
we'd ever met
565
00:31:51,284 --> 00:31:52,619
because we'd never met anyone
566
00:31:52,744 --> 00:31:54,871
that was so literate
and so opinionated before.
567
00:31:54,996 --> 00:31:56,123
And it was hard for him.
568
00:31:56,248 --> 00:32:00,669
He was always and still is the new guy
in some strange way.
569
00:32:00,794 --> 00:32:03,672
Alex and I were bonded, old friends
570
00:32:03,797 --> 00:32:06,842
and he had to kinda
make his way to be part of that.
571
00:32:06,967 --> 00:32:10,345
In some ways he was very serious
and we were totally goofy,
572
00:32:10,470 --> 00:32:14,516
certainly he had a bigger brain than us
and that was a target.
573
00:32:14,641 --> 00:32:16,435
What more perfect, portable education
574
00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:19,896
than having a lot of free time on your
hands and bookstores everywhere?
575
00:32:20,021 --> 00:32:21,523
So for the next few years I'd say,
576
00:32:21,648 --> 00:32:24,276
basically, I started filling those hours
with reading.
577
00:32:24,401 --> 00:32:26,736
And we'd say,
"look at how many books he reads.
578
00:32:26,862 --> 00:32:28,071
"Look at the words he uses,
579
00:32:28,196 --> 00:32:30,782
"this guy is probably capable
of writing lyrics!"
580
00:32:30,907 --> 00:32:32,576
J“ beneath the noble bird j“
581
00:32:32,701 --> 00:32:34,744
j“ between the proudest words j“
582
00:32:34,870 --> 00:32:38,206
j“ behind the beauty cracks appear j“
583
00:32:39,082 --> 00:32:40,917
j“ once with heads held high j“
584
00:32:41,042 --> 00:32:43,044
j“ they sang out to the sky j“
585
00:32:43,170 --> 00:32:46,548
j“ why do their shadows bow in fear? J“
586
00:32:47,132 --> 00:32:51,636
it was really stimulating,
but really a mouthful to sing
587
00:32:51,761 --> 00:32:55,891
in the kind of rocking style
that we were doing at that time.
588
00:32:56,016 --> 00:32:59,352
J“ anthem of the heart
and anthem of the mind j“
589
00:32:59,478 --> 00:33:02,314
j“ a funeral dirge for eyes gone blind j“
590
00:33:03,231 --> 00:33:05,567
j“ we marvel after those who sought j“
591
00:33:06,067 --> 00:33:09,404
j“ wonders in the world,
wonders in the world j“
592
00:33:09,529 --> 00:33:13,450
j“ wonders in the world they wrought j“
593
00:33:13,575 --> 00:33:15,452
We worked on songs as we traveled.
594
00:33:15,577 --> 00:33:17,787
On my little handwritten lyric sheets
for the time
595
00:33:17,913 --> 00:33:20,391
I think I wrote the cities
that all of those songs were written,
596
00:33:20,415 --> 00:33:21,958
they varied widely all over the map.
597
00:33:22,083 --> 00:33:23,543
It was like the monkees, you know.
598
00:33:23,668 --> 00:33:25,212
Alex would have an acoustic guitar
599
00:33:25,337 --> 00:33:28,715
and we'd be working on a song in a
rental car, in a hotel room after a show.
600
00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,051
That's how, pretty much,
fly by night was written.
601
00:33:31,176 --> 00:33:32,612
That's the way bands used to do it.
602
00:33:32,636 --> 00:33:34,804
They'd write the record
while they were on the road.
603
00:33:34,930 --> 00:33:36,770
They'd go home and cut it
in two or three weeks
604
00:33:36,890 --> 00:33:38,690
and a new album would appear
every six months.
605
00:33:38,767 --> 00:33:40,393
Pretty amazing to think of that today.
606
00:33:48,860 --> 00:33:51,988
J“ why try? I know why j“
607
00:33:52,113 --> 00:33:55,700
j“ this feeling inside me
says it's time I was gone j“
608
00:33:55,825 --> 00:33:59,079
j“ clear head, new life ahead j“
609
00:33:59,204 --> 00:34:02,832
j“ it's time I was king now,
not just one more pawn j“
610
00:34:02,958 --> 00:34:06,169
j“ fly by night away from here j“
611
00:34:06,294 --> 00:34:08,797
j“ change my life again j“
612
00:34:09,881 --> 00:34:12,759
j“ fly by night, goodbye, my dear j“
613
00:34:12,884 --> 00:34:16,388
j“ my ship isn't coming
and I just can't pretend j“
614
00:34:23,061 --> 00:34:25,855
Fly by night was a little different
from the first record
615
00:34:25,981 --> 00:34:27,607
so the record company wasn't sure
616
00:34:27,732 --> 00:34:30,694
if we were developing in the correct way.
617
00:34:30,819 --> 00:34:33,697
They wanted us
to be more like bad company
618
00:34:33,822 --> 00:34:36,825
and not so much like this weird thing
that we were becoming.
619
00:34:36,950 --> 00:34:39,536
By-Tor and the snow dog,
what the hell was that all about?
620
00:34:39,661 --> 00:34:41,246
With by-Tor and the snow dog,
621
00:34:41,371 --> 00:34:45,792
that was the start of writing
in more of a thematic, multi-piece idea.
622
00:34:45,917 --> 00:34:47,377
And then with caress of steel
623
00:34:47,502 --> 00:34:49,921
we did the whole side
of fountain of lamneth
624
00:34:50,046 --> 00:34:52,215
and the necromancer was kind of like that,
625
00:34:52,340 --> 00:34:53,901
it was the start of those longer pieces.
626
00:34:53,925 --> 00:34:55,969
Neil had come up
with this concept
627
00:34:56,094 --> 00:34:59,431
and we had to put it all together
and make it work.
628
00:34:59,556 --> 00:35:02,976
It seemed like an evolution
of where they were going.
629
00:35:03,101 --> 00:35:04,853
I thought it had amazing potential.
630
00:35:04,978 --> 00:35:06,479
It's a dark record,
631
00:35:06,605 --> 00:35:09,566
but it was certainly a good record,
I thought
632
00:35:09,691 --> 00:35:12,277
but that view wasn't shared by everybody.
633
00:35:12,402 --> 00:35:14,630
I know we played caress of steel
once for Paul Stanley.
634
00:35:14,654 --> 00:35:18,074
We'd just got it,
we played it in our Van for him one night
635
00:35:18,199 --> 00:35:21,828
and you could see that he just...
He didn't get it.
636
00:35:21,953 --> 00:35:25,373
A lot of people didn't get it,
we were wondering if even we got it.
637
00:35:25,498 --> 00:35:28,335
I think we were pretty high
when we made a lot of that record.
638
00:35:28,460 --> 00:35:29,878
It sounds like it to me.
639
00:35:30,003 --> 00:35:31,731
J“ my eyes have just been opened j“
640
00:35:31,755 --> 00:35:34,382
j“ and they're open very wide j“
641
00:35:34,507 --> 00:35:38,136
j“ images around me
don't identify inside j“
642
00:35:38,261 --> 00:35:42,307
j“ just one blur I recognize
the one that soothes and feeds j“
643
00:35:42,432 --> 00:35:46,519
j“ my way of life is easy
and as simple are my needs j“
644
00:35:49,356 --> 00:35:52,609
Caress of steel was not
well received by the record company.
645
00:35:52,734 --> 00:35:55,111
It was not well received by our agents.
646
00:35:55,236 --> 00:35:57,197
Everything took an awful downturn
647
00:35:57,322 --> 00:35:59,032
and it was off the crest of a wave too,
648
00:35:59,157 --> 00:36:01,785
because we were so in love
with what we'd done,
649
00:36:01,910 --> 00:36:03,620
we were so into it and so proud of it.
650
00:36:03,745 --> 00:36:08,124
When caress of steel pretty much
met a deaf ear, the ensuing tour,
651
00:36:08,249 --> 00:36:11,920
we were opening acts on smaller tours
and playing backwater clubs
652
00:36:12,045 --> 00:36:14,798
and we called it, at the time,
"the down the tubes tour".
653
00:36:14,923 --> 00:36:18,009
You would find yourself
in places like battle creek, Michigan,
654
00:36:18,134 --> 00:36:19,636
playing to twenty people
655
00:36:19,761 --> 00:36:21,971
wondering why you were still continuing.
656
00:36:22,097 --> 00:36:24,140
Everybody thought that it was over.
657
00:36:24,265 --> 00:36:26,643
Audiences were becoming
smaller and smaller
658
00:36:26,768 --> 00:36:28,978
so we thought the end was near.
659
00:36:29,104 --> 00:36:32,315
At that time, Ted nugent
was also not breaking,
660
00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:35,527
so the two of us
played a lot of small clubs together.
661
00:36:35,652 --> 00:36:38,446
It was a pretty depressing tour,
we were kinda lost,
662
00:36:38,571 --> 00:36:41,700
figured that we would probably
not survive to see another tour.
663
00:36:41,825 --> 00:36:45,078
And the record company
was really not happy with us
664
00:36:45,203 --> 00:36:47,455
and our management
was trying to defend us.
665
00:36:47,580 --> 00:36:50,834
I remember going to Chicago
and meeting with Mercury records
666
00:36:50,959 --> 00:36:53,670
to not give up on the band,
to not drop the band.
667
00:36:53,795 --> 00:36:55,714
I nodded to every request they had.
668
00:36:55,839 --> 00:36:58,007
They wanted singles, more commercial,
669
00:36:58,133 --> 00:37:00,468
"yeah, I'm sure
that's what they're going to do."
670
00:37:00,593 --> 00:37:01,904
That was a terrible winter.
671
00:37:01,928 --> 00:37:04,347
I had no money,
I was sleeping on a friend's couch.
672
00:37:04,472 --> 00:37:06,349
Things couldn't have been bleaker really.
673
00:37:06,474 --> 00:37:08,351
At the record company, everybody was,
674
00:37:08,476 --> 00:37:10,830
"we have to be more commercial here
and think about some singles,"
675
00:37:10,854 --> 00:37:13,273
and just leaning on us at our weakest.
676
00:37:13,398 --> 00:37:16,526
We talked about how we would
rather go down fighting
677
00:37:16,651 --> 00:37:19,863
than try to make the kind of record
they wanted us to make.
678
00:37:19,988 --> 00:37:22,574
We made 2112,
figuring everyone would hate it
679
00:37:22,699 --> 00:37:25,201
but we were going to go out
in a Blaze of glory.
680
00:37:25,326 --> 00:37:27,954
We all decided that we would rather
go back to our jobs,
681
00:37:28,079 --> 00:37:29,539
working on a farm
682
00:37:29,664 --> 00:37:32,333
or working as a plumber's mate
for my dad or whatever,
683
00:37:32,459 --> 00:37:34,377
than give in and just be something
684
00:37:34,502 --> 00:37:36,171
that everybody else wants us to be.
685
00:37:36,296 --> 00:37:39,883
We did summon that strength of character
to say, "no, we won't do that.
686
00:37:40,008 --> 00:37:43,052
"We're doing it our way
and if this is the last hurrah, fine."
687
00:37:43,178 --> 00:37:45,054
Back to the farm equipment
dealership for me.
688
00:37:45,180 --> 00:37:47,557
It was a big no -
"no, we're not doing any of that.
689
00:37:47,682 --> 00:37:50,351
"No, you can't tell us what to do
and no, we don't care."
690
00:38:03,615 --> 00:38:09,537
J“ whoa, oh, oh, oh j“
691
00:38:10,914 --> 00:38:14,459
j“ whoa, yeah, yeah, yeah j“
692
00:38:14,584 --> 00:38:16,211
j“ yeah, yeah j“
693
00:38:24,135 --> 00:38:29,724
When the record company heard a full
side concept like the first side of 2112,
694
00:38:29,849 --> 00:38:33,853
people panicked. They thought,
"wow, we're screwed."
695
00:38:33,978 --> 00:38:34,978
They didn't get it.
696
00:38:35,063 --> 00:38:36,564
This was, like, I ordered salmon
697
00:38:36,689 --> 00:38:39,192
and they brought me a steak -
what the hell is this?
698
00:38:39,317 --> 00:38:41,444
The nature of the story
that evolved in 2112
699
00:38:41,569 --> 00:38:43,446
was the individual against the mass,
700
00:38:43,571 --> 00:38:46,199
and that album did communicate
and reach people
701
00:38:46,324 --> 00:38:50,119
on a level that just blossomed outward
by the classic form of word of mouth.
702
00:38:50,245 --> 00:38:53,915
Obviously, the opening twenty-minute piece
did not get played on the radio.
703
00:38:54,541 --> 00:38:58,253
J“ I can't wait to share this new wonder j“
704
00:38:59,254 --> 00:39:03,091
j“ well, the people
will all see its light j“
705
00:39:05,260 --> 00:39:08,555
j“ let them all make their own music j“
706
00:39:09,931 --> 00:39:14,310
j“ the priests praise
my name on this night j“
707
00:39:14,435 --> 00:39:16,813
suddenly it was like,
you gotta to check this band out,
708
00:39:16,938 --> 00:39:18,982
and, you know, the
first thing that struck you
709
00:39:19,107 --> 00:39:22,610
was the level of musicianship
was just insane.
710
00:39:22,735 --> 00:39:25,496
I remember vividly,
I was in my bedroom with my neighbor
711
00:39:25,613 --> 00:39:27,198
and he'd brought over 2112.
712
00:39:27,323 --> 00:39:29,534
It was just something
I'd never heard before,
713
00:39:29,659 --> 00:39:32,596
just the fact it was a three-piece
ripping... they were pulling off this stuff
714
00:39:32,620 --> 00:39:35,206
that sounded like
a huge prog rock production.
715
00:39:35,331 --> 00:39:37,667
It took me on a journey instantly
716
00:39:37,792 --> 00:39:41,421
and I looked at the album cover
and saw that there were only three of them
717
00:39:41,546 --> 00:39:43,798
and they were wearing
some funky clothes.
718
00:39:43,923 --> 00:39:49,220
But I thought, how can three guys
make such a sound?
719
00:39:49,345 --> 00:39:51,973
I remember the keyboard sound...
720
00:39:52,098 --> 00:39:53,641
And all of a sudden it kicked in
721
00:39:53,766 --> 00:39:56,352
and it was just like
a whole new experience to music,
722
00:39:56,477 --> 00:39:58,438
something I'd never heard before.
723
00:39:58,563 --> 00:39:59,731
The drumming was incredible,
724
00:39:59,856 --> 00:40:03,026
the bass playing was incredible
and that was it.
725
00:40:03,151 --> 00:40:05,194
I was hooked on rush ever since then.
726
00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:08,406
There was a moment in my life,
and I willingly admit this,
727
00:40:08,531 --> 00:40:11,075
that I knew how to play the entire side.
728
00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:13,369
I knew how to play 2112 all the way down.
729
00:40:13,494 --> 00:40:15,246
I knew every note, every moment.
730
00:40:15,371 --> 00:40:18,875
And I think back now, "how long
did I have to fucking learn that?"
731
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:22,420
I must have sat in the bedroom for a year
to learn that fucking song.
732
00:40:22,545 --> 00:40:25,065
I was into the story.
You know, I read the back
733
00:40:25,173 --> 00:40:27,759
and it was dedicated
to the fountainhead, the book,
734
00:40:27,884 --> 00:40:30,637
and I went right out and bought
the fountainhead and read it.
735
00:40:30,762 --> 00:40:33,890
I mean, not too many bands
make a twelve-year-old go out
736
00:40:34,015 --> 00:40:36,059
and buy the fountainhead by ayn rand.
737
00:40:37,352 --> 00:40:41,397
Goddamn this rock band,
it's got me all fired up about literature.
738
00:40:43,358 --> 00:40:47,612
J“ well, yes, we know, it's nothing new j“
739
00:40:48,154 --> 00:40:50,865
j“ it's just a waste of time j“
740
00:40:52,700 --> 00:40:57,455
j“ we have no need for ancient ways j“
741
00:40:57,580 --> 00:41:00,959
j“ the world is doing fine j“
742
00:41:02,377 --> 00:41:05,088
as it turned out, the concept record
went through the roof.
743
00:41:05,213 --> 00:41:06,214
They were right.
744
00:41:06,339 --> 00:41:09,717
2112 really bought us
our independence.
745
00:41:09,842 --> 00:41:11,719
The record company has never been in
746
00:41:11,844 --> 00:41:13,484
on a single session that we've ever done.
747
00:41:13,554 --> 00:41:14,764
In fact, when we're done,
748
00:41:14,889 --> 00:41:17,433
it's all packaged
and they accept it the way it is.
749
00:41:17,558 --> 00:41:18,601
They have no choice.
750
00:41:18,726 --> 00:41:21,688
That somehow was
the plateau of untouchable.
751
00:41:21,813 --> 00:41:23,773
Nobody thought they had the right anymore.
752
00:41:23,898 --> 00:41:27,443
So, yeah, 2112 was absolutely
the passepartout, you know,
753
00:41:27,568 --> 00:41:31,072
the skeleton key that opened that door
that we could close behind us.
754
00:41:31,197 --> 00:41:33,116
Ok, from now on, we do what we want.
755
00:41:33,241 --> 00:41:37,245
Attention, all planets
of the solar federation.
756
00:41:37,370 --> 00:41:40,748
Attention, all planets
of the solar federation.
757
00:41:41,165 --> 00:41:44,293
Attention, all planets
of the solar federation.
758
00:41:44,419 --> 00:41:46,921
We have assumed control.
759
00:41:47,547 --> 00:41:49,590
We have assumed control.
760
00:41:50,049 --> 00:41:52,010
We have assumed control.
761
00:41:58,975 --> 00:42:04,147
Most critics ignored 2112 or treated
rush, I think, very, very negatively.
762
00:42:04,272 --> 00:42:06,399
I mean, what do critics hate generally?
763
00:42:06,524 --> 00:42:09,485
They hate heavy metal
and they hate progressive music.
764
00:42:09,610 --> 00:42:13,114
I would say probably
most of the reviews were bad.
765
00:42:13,239 --> 00:42:15,366
I don't know if it was discouraging
to read bad press.
766
00:42:15,491 --> 00:42:18,494
I mean, after a while it was like,
"oh yeah, yeah, whatever."
767
00:42:18,619 --> 00:42:20,347
Usually it's, critics
back then particularly,
768
00:42:20,371 --> 00:42:24,834
just trying to be cool,
so they would write all sorts of things.
769
00:42:24,959 --> 00:42:28,296
J“ what you own is your own kingdom j“
770
00:42:28,421 --> 00:42:31,674
j“ what you do is your own glory j“
771
00:42:31,799 --> 00:42:35,511
j“ what you love is your own power j“
772
00:42:35,636 --> 00:42:39,098
j“ what you live is your own story j“
773
00:42:39,223 --> 00:42:42,018
j“ in your head is the answer j“
774
00:42:42,143 --> 00:42:44,729
j“ let it guide you along j“
775
00:42:45,521 --> 00:42:48,816
j“ let your heart be the anchor j“
776
00:42:48,941 --> 00:42:52,278
j“ and the beat of your song j“
777
00:42:52,403 --> 00:42:55,823
geddy's soaring voice was described
in some rather unkind ways.
778
00:42:55,948 --> 00:42:57,200
"A hamster in overdrive."
779
00:42:57,325 --> 00:42:58,785
"The dead howling in Hades."
780
00:42:58,910 --> 00:43:00,286
"Mickey mouse on helium."
781
00:43:00,411 --> 00:43:01,412
"Strangling a hamster."
782
00:43:01,537 --> 00:43:04,207
"A cat being chased out the door
with a blowtorch up its ass."
783
00:43:04,332 --> 00:43:06,751
It was just constant
insults hurled that way.
784
00:43:06,876 --> 00:43:09,128
But it was never like
that with the audiences.
785
00:43:09,253 --> 00:43:11,297
We found that we had
a growing audience
786
00:43:11,422 --> 00:43:13,716
that didn't care about
any of that press stuff.
787
00:43:13,841 --> 00:43:16,201
They were into the band
and liked what we were trying to do.
788
00:43:16,302 --> 00:43:18,697
We were a little more thoughtful
about the way we wrote music
789
00:43:18,721 --> 00:43:21,390
and certainly how we wrote lyrics
and how we put it all together.
790
00:43:21,516 --> 00:43:23,101
I'd rather read fan reviews
791
00:43:23,226 --> 00:43:27,396
than some guy who always hated us
and didn't stay for half the show.
792
00:43:27,522 --> 00:43:30,233
Critically, we were designated
terminally unhip
793
00:43:30,358 --> 00:43:33,194
and that prevents you
from getting mainstream press.
794
00:43:33,319 --> 00:43:35,738
Our songs were too long
to go on mainstream radio,
795
00:43:35,863 --> 00:43:37,156
so what the hell are we?
796
00:43:37,281 --> 00:43:40,785
Every once in a while you
have an artist that is very sophisticated
797
00:43:40,910 --> 00:43:42,578
but somehow in their sophistication
798
00:43:42,703 --> 00:43:44,664
they don't alienate the common person.
799
00:43:44,789 --> 00:43:46,290
They're really a people's band
800
00:43:46,415 --> 00:43:48,501
and the great hole in their career
801
00:43:48,626 --> 00:43:51,313
has been that they've never been
truly accepted by the intelligentsia.
802
00:43:51,337 --> 00:43:53,089
But with a band like rush you can't say,
803
00:43:53,214 --> 00:43:54,775
"well, they can't play, they can't sing."
804
00:43:54,799 --> 00:43:59,095
So what was it? Well, they're nerdy
or they don't fit in a neat box.
805
00:43:59,220 --> 00:44:01,806
The one constant with rush
throughout the decades
806
00:44:01,931 --> 00:44:05,393
is that it's been difficult
to fit them into any kind of definition.
807
00:44:05,518 --> 00:44:08,604
Their music was hard rock
but at the same time it was orchestral.
808
00:44:08,729 --> 00:44:11,816
The melodies were simple
but at the same time complex.
809
00:44:11,941 --> 00:44:14,610
Nobody could ever put their finger
on exactly what they were.
810
00:44:14,735 --> 00:44:16,821
I think the fashion
that was associated with it
811
00:44:16,946 --> 00:44:18,114
defied definition as well.
812
00:44:18,239 --> 00:44:22,493
We were never very good
at the whole fashion image thing.
813
00:44:22,618 --> 00:44:24,620
Let's face it.
We didn't have a clue.
814
00:44:24,745 --> 00:44:27,540
We desperately just wanted
to wear jeans and t-shirts
815
00:44:27,665 --> 00:44:30,585
but we were raised in a period
that said that's not ok.
816
00:44:30,710 --> 00:44:34,130
So we looked for some way
of standing out in a crowd.
817
00:44:34,255 --> 00:44:35,923
I remember we were in San Francisco
818
00:44:36,048 --> 00:44:39,135
and we were staying
in the Japanese part of town,
819
00:44:39,260 --> 00:44:41,804
so we found
all these kind of kimonos and robes
820
00:44:41,929 --> 00:44:43,973
and we said, "hey, why don't we try these?"
821
00:44:44,098 --> 00:44:47,810
So that began the period
of the absurdly prophetic robes.
822
00:44:50,605 --> 00:44:54,317
J“ and the men who hold high places j“
823
00:44:54,442 --> 00:44:56,944
j“ must be the ones who start j“
824
00:44:57,945 --> 00:45:01,282
j“ to mould a new reality j“
825
00:45:01,407 --> 00:45:03,701
j“ closer to the heart j“
826
00:45:04,827 --> 00:45:07,288
j“ closer to the heart j“
827
00:45:08,539 --> 00:45:11,584
j“ the blacksmith and the artist j“
828
00:45:11,709 --> 00:45:14,545
j“ reflect it in their art j“
829
00:45:15,129 --> 00:45:18,466
j“ they forge their creativity j“
830
00:45:18,591 --> 00:45:21,052
j“ closer to the heart j“
831
00:45:21,177 --> 00:45:24,138
j“ yeah, it's closer to the heart j“
832
00:45:31,229 --> 00:45:32,730
These were the salad days
833
00:45:32,855 --> 00:45:36,025
because we were transitioning
and we could feel it.
834
00:45:36,150 --> 00:45:38,110
The world was expanding for us.
835
00:45:38,236 --> 00:45:41,948
We were starting to record in england,
starting to get success in england
836
00:45:42,073 --> 00:45:45,076
and to go over there
and to actually have a song in the charts
837
00:45:45,201 --> 00:45:48,120
and play hammersmith odeon
was really gratifying,
838
00:45:48,246 --> 00:45:50,581
because all of our heroes
were English rock musicians.
839
00:45:50,706 --> 00:45:53,334
So that gave us a tremendous
amount of confidence.
840
00:45:53,876 --> 00:45:57,505
J“ whoa, oh, you can be the captain j“
841
00:45:57,630 --> 00:46:00,299
j“ and I will draw the chart j“
842
00:46:01,175 --> 00:46:04,470
j“ sailing into destiny j“
843
00:46:04,595 --> 00:46:06,847
j“ closer to the heart j“
844
00:46:07,765 --> 00:46:10,059
j“ closer to the heart j“
845
00:46:10,184 --> 00:46:13,896
j“ well, closer to the heart j“
846
00:46:14,021 --> 00:46:17,066
j“ yeah, closer to the heart j“
847
00:46:17,191 --> 00:46:20,736
As the records progressed,
the palette got bigger and bigger.
848
00:46:20,861 --> 00:46:24,031
Neil was constantly changing
and adding to his drum kit
849
00:46:24,156 --> 00:46:27,285
and we had more choice of guitars
and acoustic guitars.
850
00:46:27,410 --> 00:46:31,080
Bass pedals. The keyboards developed
every time we went into the studio.
851
00:46:31,205 --> 00:46:32,707
Gedd was staying on top of that.
852
00:46:32,832 --> 00:46:35,668
The first time I worked with the band
it was a three piece.
853
00:46:35,793 --> 00:46:38,379
I think we may have had a cowbell.
854
00:46:42,383 --> 00:46:45,761
J“ held within the pleasure dome j“
855
00:46:45,886 --> 00:46:48,681
j“ decreed by kubla Khan j“
856
00:46:49,932 --> 00:46:53,019
j“ to taste my bitter triumph j“
857
00:46:53,144 --> 00:46:57,106
j“ as a mad immortal man j“
858
00:46:57,815 --> 00:47:01,235
j“ nevermore shall I return j“
859
00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:04,196
j“ escape these caves of ice j“
860
00:47:05,072 --> 00:47:09,035
j“ for I have dined on honeydew j“
861
00:47:09,160 --> 00:47:14,915
j“ and drunk the milk of paradise j“
862
00:47:15,333 --> 00:47:19,003
j“ oh, is it paradise? J“
863
00:47:22,923 --> 00:47:25,968
You know, what really helped us
get out of that robe period
864
00:47:26,093 --> 00:47:28,012
was touring with ufo.
865
00:47:28,137 --> 00:47:30,514
They made fun of us relentlessly
866
00:47:30,639 --> 00:47:33,934
and they would hold up signs
and make fun of our lyrics
867
00:47:34,060 --> 00:47:35,895
and I would go up to my microphone
868
00:47:36,020 --> 00:47:38,564
and there'd be a pair of furry slippers
869
00:47:38,689 --> 00:47:40,900
nailed to the stage beside my mic.
870
00:47:41,025 --> 00:47:44,070
They used to call me glee, and the guys
would be at the side telling me...
871
00:47:44,195 --> 00:47:47,198
"It goes perfect
with your robe, glee."
872
00:47:47,323 --> 00:47:49,241
It was good for us because, you know,
873
00:47:49,367 --> 00:47:52,828
you go on stage thinking that maybe
there has to be some other thing
874
00:47:52,953 --> 00:47:55,998
but in the end it is always
back to the music for us.
875
00:48:02,463 --> 00:48:05,633
J“ the trouble with the maples j“
876
00:48:05,758 --> 00:48:09,011
j“ and they're quite
convinced they're right j“
877
00:48:09,136 --> 00:48:12,556
j“ they say the oaks are just too lofty j“
878
00:48:12,681 --> 00:48:15,810
j“ and they grab up all the light j“
879
00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:19,730
j“ but the oaks can't
help their feelings j“
880
00:48:19,855 --> 00:48:23,234
j“ if they like the way they're made j“
881
00:48:23,359 --> 00:48:26,904
j“ and they wonder why the maples j“
882
00:48:27,029 --> 00:48:30,449
j“ can't be happy in their shade j“
883
00:48:31,826 --> 00:48:33,702
Hemispheres was the album
884
00:48:33,828 --> 00:48:37,998
that broke the camel's back
in terms of long songs.
885
00:48:38,124 --> 00:48:42,044
The hemispheres side of that album
was incredibly complex,
886
00:48:42,169 --> 00:48:44,547
both thematically and structurally.
887
00:48:44,672 --> 00:48:47,216
J“ when our weary world was young j“
888
00:48:47,341 --> 00:48:51,637
j“ the struggle of the
ancients first began j“
889
00:48:51,762 --> 00:48:54,223
j“ the gods of love and reason j“
890
00:48:54,974 --> 00:48:59,895
j“ sought alone to rule the fate of man j“
891
00:49:00,020 --> 00:49:02,231
We went to
a little farmhouse in wales
892
00:49:02,356 --> 00:49:05,276
and wrote all that music, arranged it,
learned how to play it.
893
00:49:05,401 --> 00:49:07,695
It was so ambitious and so demanding,
894
00:49:07,820 --> 00:49:09,697
so experimental, all of that.
895
00:49:09,822 --> 00:49:13,242
It was quite manic and our hours
became later and later and later,
896
00:49:13,367 --> 00:49:16,078
and it just went around
so that we were going to bed at noon,
897
00:49:16,203 --> 00:49:18,181
we were getting up at seven o'clock
and having breakfast then
898
00:49:18,205 --> 00:49:20,749
and then working through the night
until the morning,
899
00:49:20,875 --> 00:49:22,751
unending, with no time off.
900
00:49:22,877 --> 00:49:27,298
Even the shorter songs on that record,
like la villa strangiato, were really hard,
901
00:49:27,423 --> 00:49:29,842
and, of course,
we were bound and determined
902
00:49:29,967 --> 00:49:32,595
to record la villa strangiato
live in one take.
903
00:49:32,720 --> 00:49:33,971
It was so complicated
904
00:49:34,096 --> 00:49:37,558
and went through so many different mood
and time signature changes,
905
00:49:37,683 --> 00:49:39,727
it would have needed to be charted out
906
00:49:39,852 --> 00:49:42,229
in order to keep track of where you were
at any given point.
907
00:49:42,354 --> 00:49:46,775
I think we spent eleven days
trying to record the bed track only
908
00:49:46,901 --> 00:49:51,405
and we finally had to admit defeat.
We had to do it in three parts.
909
00:50:09,840 --> 00:50:14,428
That one, kind of slow,
open solo that Alex plays,
910
00:50:14,553 --> 00:50:19,350
the way he built that up
had a huge impression on me
911
00:50:19,475 --> 00:50:22,353
because he was creating a mood
912
00:50:22,478 --> 00:50:27,691
by playing very, very sparsely
and just slowly amping up the intensity.
913
00:50:27,816 --> 00:50:30,069
I just thought that was the greatest thing
914
00:50:30,194 --> 00:50:33,739
in terms of lead guitar
dynamics and phrasing.
915
00:50:33,864 --> 00:50:38,494
I see them as the high priests
of conceptual metal.
916
00:50:38,619 --> 00:50:41,038
A big influence. Huge.
917
00:50:50,464 --> 00:50:52,943
Probably the hardest song
I ever learned how to play
918
00:50:52,967 --> 00:50:54,385
was la villa strangiato.
919
00:50:54,510 --> 00:50:57,190
The drumming is... it takes
everything you've got to get through it.
920
00:50:57,263 --> 00:51:00,349
That was the benchmark of drumming
when I was a kid.
921
00:51:00,474 --> 00:51:03,227
I could play yyz
but can you play la villa strangiato?
922
00:51:22,955 --> 00:51:25,583
We'd written material
that was really a little beyond us,
923
00:51:25,708 --> 00:51:28,919
considering our level of musicianship
at the time.
924
00:51:29,044 --> 00:51:32,381
And that was the thing about rush,
we were always overreaching.
925
00:51:32,506 --> 00:51:36,218
When you listen to early rush,
it was like the riffs were simpler.
926
00:51:36,343 --> 00:51:38,721
It got more complex as they kept going.
927
00:51:38,846 --> 00:51:41,140
With the arrangements,
it would be so long,
928
00:51:41,265 --> 00:51:43,183
it would be like
the boys were up there going,
929
00:51:43,309 --> 00:51:47,146
"we did write this, didn't we?
What part of the song are we in?"
930
00:51:47,271 --> 00:51:48,511
If you could learn those songs,
931
00:51:48,606 --> 00:51:51,400
that was a stepping-stone to just
about everything you needed to know.
932
00:51:51,525 --> 00:51:54,111
If you could play those songs
with some proficiency,
933
00:51:54,236 --> 00:51:56,405
you could play pretty much anything else.
934
00:51:56,530 --> 00:51:58,198
Just eerily precise.
935
00:51:58,324 --> 00:52:00,409
Everything was just right on the nuggets.
936
00:52:00,534 --> 00:52:02,661
I bet, if you went in with a computer,
937
00:52:02,786 --> 00:52:07,916
Neil peart would probably be right
on the beat to, like, an atom.
938
00:52:08,042 --> 00:52:10,562
At least that's how it sounds
when you're listening with the headphones,
939
00:52:10,586 --> 00:52:13,130
you're like, "he's not even human."
940
00:52:13,255 --> 00:52:15,400
Geddy Lee
is still my favorite bass player.
941
00:52:15,424 --> 00:52:18,761
It would be like, "wow! That guy
who's shredding the bass is also singing
942
00:52:18,886 --> 00:52:21,055
"and playing the keyboards
with his feet and hands?"
943
00:52:21,180 --> 00:52:23,849
And he would move
his microphone a lot with his nose,
944
00:52:23,974 --> 00:52:25,893
he actually figured a way to use it.
945
00:52:26,018 --> 00:52:27,186
If it weren't for the nose,
946
00:52:27,311 --> 00:52:29,539
I don't think he could have done
the keyboards, bass and singing.
947
00:52:29,563 --> 00:52:32,107
I really don't. I think the nose
was what enabled him
948
00:52:32,232 --> 00:52:34,109
to get the microphone
where he needed it to be.
949
00:52:34,234 --> 00:52:37,071
He has a big nose.
Props to the nose!
950
00:53:04,598 --> 00:53:06,975
We knew at the time
we were overreaching ourselves
951
00:53:07,101 --> 00:53:09,978
and we agreed among ourselves in 1978
when we finished hemispheres,
952
00:53:10,104 --> 00:53:13,482
we're not doing this again,
we're not making this kind of record again.
953
00:53:13,607 --> 00:53:16,318
We knew that was the end of that era,
of the epics.
954
00:53:16,443 --> 00:53:18,278
You've been touring now
for how many years?
955
00:53:18,404 --> 00:53:19,613
Well, professionally,
956
00:53:19,738 --> 00:53:22,658
in the United States and around the world,
about five years.
957
00:53:22,783 --> 00:53:25,869
About five years. How many concerts
do you average a year?
958
00:53:25,994 --> 00:53:28,997
About 200, maybe more.
959
00:53:29,123 --> 00:53:30,874
200 concerts a year for five years.
960
00:53:30,999 --> 00:53:32,459
How long can you keep that up?
961
00:53:32,584 --> 00:53:35,462
As long as we can.
As long as we're still standing.
962
00:53:35,587 --> 00:53:37,715
We were working all the time.
963
00:53:37,840 --> 00:53:41,552
I remember at one point
we counted 17 one-nighters in a row.
964
00:53:41,677 --> 00:53:43,971
We were getting fried and getting stupid.
965
00:53:44,096 --> 00:53:49,226
Not taking care of ourselves,
just burning out.
966
00:53:49,351 --> 00:53:52,229
We didn't like
what we were becoming as people.
967
00:53:52,354 --> 00:53:55,816
In my personal life
I was getting alienated from my wife,
968
00:53:55,941 --> 00:53:57,568
we were just starting to have kids
969
00:53:57,693 --> 00:54:00,362
and once you start
introducing children into your life,
970
00:54:00,487 --> 00:54:03,240
you can't be so selfish. You just can't.
971
00:54:03,365 --> 00:54:06,702
I think we all Cherish the fact
that we're pretty normal guys.
972
00:54:06,827 --> 00:54:10,080
I got married when I was young.
I had a family early.
973
00:54:10,205 --> 00:54:13,542
I introduced geddy's wife to him
when we were teenagers.
974
00:54:13,667 --> 00:54:17,045
Family was the most important
thing to me in my life.
975
00:54:17,171 --> 00:54:18,630
We were trying to remember
976
00:54:18,756 --> 00:54:22,509
music is just one of the things
we had chosen to do with our lives.
977
00:54:22,634 --> 00:54:23,719
Not everything.
978
00:54:23,844 --> 00:54:26,555
If we'd kept going like that,
we would have crashed.
979
00:54:26,680 --> 00:54:28,223
Something started to break.
980
00:54:28,348 --> 00:54:30,726
I think the heaviness of hemispheres
981
00:54:30,851 --> 00:54:33,729
made us want to run away
from that kind of album
982
00:54:33,854 --> 00:54:36,982
so we ran from hemispheres
straight into spirit of radio.
983
00:55:04,259 --> 00:55:07,471
J“ begin the day with a friendly voice j“
984
00:55:07,596 --> 00:55:10,724
j“ a companion unobtrusive j“
985
00:55:11,391 --> 00:55:14,645
j“ plays that song that's so elusive j“
986
00:55:14,770 --> 00:55:18,357
j“ and the magic music
makes your morning mood j“
987
00:55:25,906 --> 00:55:27,991
Permanent waves was a joy to me.
988
00:55:28,116 --> 00:55:31,119
We were in Canada, you know,
our families were close,
989
00:55:31,245 --> 00:55:32,996
that's when we discovered le studio
990
00:55:33,121 --> 00:55:36,124
and the songs just came together.
Just boom, boom, boom.
991
00:55:36,250 --> 00:55:37,251
Ok, the new album.
992
00:55:37,376 --> 00:55:39,816
There are a number of new things,
new approaches to the album.
993
00:55:39,920 --> 00:55:41,040
Tell me what's new about it.
994
00:55:41,129 --> 00:55:42,214
You tell him.
995
00:55:42,339 --> 00:55:45,300
Basically, its newness derives
from experiments
996
00:55:45,425 --> 00:55:47,636
we've conducted
over the last couple of albums.
997
00:55:47,761 --> 00:55:49,680
Through hemispheres
and farewell to kings,
998
00:55:49,805 --> 00:55:52,266
we were experimenting
with a lot of new instruments and sounds
999
00:55:52,391 --> 00:55:54,810
and rhythmic approaches and so on.
This time we found ways
1000
00:55:54,935 --> 00:55:58,647
to put those directions into a single
stream and consequently, I think,
1001
00:55:58,772 --> 00:56:00,858
the album probably
has a more direct feel to it.
1002
00:56:00,983 --> 00:56:03,318
The whole music industry
is going primitive,
1003
00:56:03,443 --> 00:56:05,320
new wave, minimal, rock-'n'-roll.
Do you care?
1004
00:56:05,445 --> 00:56:08,323
There's gonna be some bands
that have gone back to basics,
1005
00:56:08,448 --> 00:56:11,368
but those bands can't do anything
but play basics.
1006
00:56:11,493 --> 00:56:13,453
But all the real interesting new-wave bands
1007
00:56:13,579 --> 00:56:15,205
seem to be developing and progressing
1008
00:56:15,330 --> 00:56:16,665
into more interesting styles.
1009
00:56:16,790 --> 00:56:19,102
- Who do you listen to at home?
- All kinds of people.
1010
00:56:19,126 --> 00:56:21,962
Recently been talking heads
on the turntable a lot.
1011
00:56:22,087 --> 00:56:23,088
The police.
1012
00:56:23,213 --> 00:56:27,175
I was a huge fan of the police,
ultravox and all these new English bands.
1013
00:56:27,301 --> 00:56:29,678
I loved them. It became
a part of our sensibility.
1014
00:56:29,803 --> 00:56:31,948
Permanent waves still had
a couple of longer songs on it
1015
00:56:31,972 --> 00:56:34,850
but the spirit of radio
was the emblematic song of that period.
1016
00:56:34,975 --> 00:56:38,020
The mix of sounds in it, the approach
to electronic music and reggae,
1017
00:56:38,145 --> 00:56:39,813
that's all the stuff I was listening to.
1018
00:56:42,482 --> 00:56:46,778
J“ for the words of the prophets
were written on the studio wall j“
1019
00:56:48,614 --> 00:56:50,324
j“ concert hall j“
1020
00:56:51,617 --> 00:56:53,368
they seemed to have that knack
1021
00:56:53,493 --> 00:56:56,580
of being able
to use time signatures at will
1022
00:56:56,705 --> 00:56:58,874
and yet make them feel seamless.
1023
00:56:58,999 --> 00:57:00,834
If you're changing time signatures
1024
00:57:00,959 --> 00:57:03,211
and your audience
aren't really aware of it,
1025
00:57:03,337 --> 00:57:05,172
then you've got something special.
1026
00:57:05,297 --> 00:57:06,577
Rush find a real interesting way
1027
00:57:06,632 --> 00:57:08,508
of drawing a straight
line through the song,
1028
00:57:08,634 --> 00:57:10,636
whether it's melodically or rhythmically.
1029
00:57:10,761 --> 00:57:14,514
And when you put together the sound
of the band being so recognized
1030
00:57:14,640 --> 00:57:18,393
and their ability to make sure
there's a lifeline for people out there
1031
00:57:18,518 --> 00:57:20,896
who can't quite tap their foot
to an odd time signature,
1032
00:57:21,021 --> 00:57:22,898
that makes what rush does genius
1033
00:57:23,023 --> 00:57:25,776
when it comes to still being able
to be played on the radio.
1034
00:57:29,196 --> 00:57:32,407
J“ we are secrets to each other j“
1035
00:57:33,367 --> 00:57:38,455
j“ each one's life a novel
no one else has read j“
1036
00:57:38,580 --> 00:57:41,667
j“ even joined in bonds of love j“
1037
00:57:42,584 --> 00:57:48,465
j“ we're linked to one another
by such slender threads j“
1038
00:57:50,550 --> 00:57:53,136
I think permanent waves was, in a way,
1039
00:57:53,261 --> 00:57:55,138
the most important stepping stone
1040
00:57:55,263 --> 00:57:58,141
because, just like
caress of steel is to 2112,
1041
00:57:58,266 --> 00:58:01,979
there would be no moving pictures
without permanent waves first.
1042
00:58:02,104 --> 00:58:03,814
As I define it, that's when we became us.
1043
00:58:03,939 --> 00:58:06,191
I think rush was born
with moving pictures really.
1044
00:58:11,738 --> 00:58:14,491
J“ a modern-day warrior,
mean, mean stride j“
1045
00:58:14,616 --> 00:58:17,369
j“ today's Tom Sawyer,
mean, mean pride j“
1046
00:58:19,162 --> 00:58:21,999
It represents so much
that we learned up to that time
1047
00:58:22,124 --> 00:58:24,126
about song writing, about arrangement.
1048
00:58:24,251 --> 00:58:26,795
That's when we brought
our band identity together too,
1049
00:58:26,920 --> 00:58:30,632
how we like to play individually
and as a band at the same time.
1050
00:58:30,757 --> 00:58:32,384
Now when I look back on those songs,
1051
00:58:32,509 --> 00:58:35,637
I'm glad to say to people that I will
never get tired of playing Tom Sawyer
1052
00:58:35,762 --> 00:58:39,266
because it's difficult to play right, and
any time I do play it right, I feel good.
1053
00:58:51,111 --> 00:58:53,321
J“ no, his mind is not for rent j“
1054
00:58:53,447 --> 00:58:55,449
j“ to any god or government j“
1055
00:58:56,408 --> 00:58:58,994
j“ always hopeful, yet discontent j“
1056
00:58:59,119 --> 00:59:01,288
j“ he knows changes aren't permanent j“
1057
00:59:02,456 --> 00:59:04,458
j“ but change is j“
1058
00:59:05,000 --> 00:59:07,627
Suddenly we were on the radio
everywhere that summer.
1059
00:59:07,753 --> 00:59:09,171
Our concert audiences doubled.
1060
00:59:09,296 --> 00:59:12,340
You could picture it in the high-school
halls, "are you gonna see rush?"
1061
00:59:12,466 --> 00:59:16,011
"Oh, yeah, man. I'm going."
We were that band that year.
1062
00:59:16,136 --> 00:59:19,222
We were playing 120,
130 cities in america.
1063
00:59:19,347 --> 00:59:21,600
We were going back to places where,
1064
00:59:21,725 --> 00:59:24,019
if we were a theatre act
at the start of that tour,
1065
00:59:24,144 --> 00:59:25,187
by the end of that cycle
1066
00:59:25,312 --> 00:59:28,231
we'd gone back to those places
and we were in the arena.
1067
00:59:28,356 --> 00:59:31,985
Their latest release, moving pictures,
is number one on Toronto's album charts
1068
00:59:32,110 --> 00:59:34,696
and they're close to selling out
an unprecedented three nights
1069
00:59:34,821 --> 00:59:36,364
at the full maple leaf gardens.
1070
00:59:36,490 --> 00:59:38,033
Here's a cut from moving pictures,
1071
00:59:38,158 --> 00:59:40,702
platinum after only four weeks of release.
1072
00:59:40,827 --> 00:59:44,039
J“ suddenly ahead of me j“
1073
00:59:44,164 --> 00:59:47,167
j“ across the mountainside j“
1074
00:59:47,292 --> 00:59:49,878
j“ a gleaming alloy air-car j“
1075
00:59:50,003 --> 00:59:53,548
j“ shoots towards me, two lanes wide j“
1076
00:59:54,216 --> 00:59:57,844
j“ I spin around with shrieking tires j“
1077
00:59:57,969 --> 00:59:59,679
j“ to run the deadly race j“
1078
01:00:00,972 --> 01:00:03,725
j“ go screaming through the valley j“
1079
01:00:03,850 --> 01:00:07,479
j“ as another joins the chase j“
1080
01:00:28,208 --> 01:00:29,918
J“ drive like the wind j“
1081
01:00:30,043 --> 01:00:33,547
j“ straining the limits
of machine and man j“
1082
01:00:34,965 --> 01:00:37,926
j“ laughing out loud with fear and hope j“
1083
01:00:38,051 --> 01:00:40,554
j“ I've got a desperate plan j“
1084
01:00:41,388 --> 01:00:42,889
j“ at the one-Lane bridge j“
1085
01:00:43,014 --> 01:00:46,726
j“ I leave the giants stranded
at the riverside j“
1086
01:00:47,936 --> 01:00:50,021
j“ race back to the farm j“
1087
01:00:50,147 --> 01:00:54,151
j“ to dream with my
uncle at the fireside j“
1088
01:01:17,257 --> 01:01:20,468
Moving pictures was a mixed blessing
to me, in retrospect,
1089
01:01:20,594 --> 01:01:22,596
for me, personally in my life.
1090
01:01:22,721 --> 01:01:25,140
A lot of strange people
came out of the woodwork.
1091
01:01:25,265 --> 01:01:28,977
There was so much attention on us
at that time, that was transitory.
1092
01:01:29,102 --> 01:01:30,729
Generally, we were pretty private
1093
01:01:30,854 --> 01:01:33,523
and I think moving pictures
was the turning point
1094
01:01:33,648 --> 01:01:36,276
when there was a lot of pressure
from fans wanting a piece of you
1095
01:01:36,401 --> 01:01:39,154
or believing they were connected to you
in some other way.
1096
01:01:39,279 --> 01:01:42,157
There was a time
when we first started getting recognized
1097
01:01:42,282 --> 01:01:43,992
that I got a little touchy about it
1098
01:01:44,117 --> 01:01:46,578
and I remember I started thinking
about this thing,
1099
01:01:46,703 --> 01:01:48,705
about fame and how you deal with it.
1100
01:01:48,830 --> 01:01:50,207
That was kind of an epiphany
1101
01:01:50,332 --> 01:01:52,918
and I said to myself,
"I'm gonna go where I want to go
1102
01:01:53,043 --> 01:01:56,296
"and if somebody comes up to me
and is nice and wants an autograph,
1103
01:01:56,421 --> 01:01:58,298
"I got time for them. It's no big deal."
1104
01:01:58,423 --> 01:01:59,841
Geddy, right?
1105
01:01:59,966 --> 01:02:01,343
That's right.
1106
01:02:01,468 --> 01:02:03,637
Oh my god, that's geddy?
1107
01:02:03,762 --> 01:02:04,762
Yeah!
1108
01:02:04,804 --> 01:02:07,140
- Just making a video of them.
- No problem.
1109
01:02:08,975 --> 01:02:11,019
- One is to...
- Sorry.
1110
01:02:12,020 --> 01:02:15,023
- One is to shawny.
- Didn't mean to get in your way. Sorry.
1111
01:02:15,148 --> 01:02:16,816
The first one is to shawny.
1112
01:02:18,276 --> 01:02:20,111
And the next one's to Troy.
1113
01:02:22,864 --> 01:02:25,659
Thank you. That's it, I promise.
I'm so sorry...
1114
01:02:25,784 --> 01:02:28,620
You want his too?
He's the leader of the group.
1115
01:02:31,623 --> 01:02:34,268
I can walk around the city
and get recognized from time to time,
1116
01:02:34,292 --> 01:02:36,573
geddy more so. He's got
a very distinctive look about him.
1117
01:02:36,670 --> 01:02:39,589
But generally people are very polite,
they don't want too much from you.
1118
01:02:39,714 --> 01:02:42,509
I understand that these are your fans
that just love what you do.
1119
01:02:42,634 --> 01:02:44,344
There's been a moment in their lives
1120
01:02:44,469 --> 01:02:46,471
where your music
has been so important to them
1121
01:02:46,596 --> 01:02:48,932
that to take a couple of minutes
and just chat,
1122
01:02:49,057 --> 01:02:51,518
shake a hand or hug or something,
it's not a big deal.
1123
01:02:51,643 --> 01:02:53,061
I remember when I met them,
1124
01:02:53,186 --> 01:02:56,273
I was just struck
by geddy Lee and lifeson's friendship,
1125
01:02:56,398 --> 01:02:58,608
it seemed like they had
a real deep bond.
1126
01:02:58,733 --> 01:03:00,735
Real playful and sort of goofy,
1127
01:03:00,860 --> 01:03:03,863
it just seemed like there was
a lot of joy there, a lot of genuine fun.
1128
01:03:03,989 --> 01:03:08,660
And then I turned the corner
and then I saw the master, Neil peart.
1129
01:03:08,785 --> 01:03:10,912
He had, sort of, a different vibe going,
1130
01:03:11,037 --> 01:03:13,915
just as focused
but a brewing intensity.
1131
01:03:14,040 --> 01:03:16,251
Little wisps of darkness.
1132
01:03:16,376 --> 01:03:20,755
Neil has a real struggle with fans
and it's not a personal thing.
1133
01:03:20,880 --> 01:03:22,215
It's a shyness thing.
1134
01:03:22,340 --> 01:03:26,594
He's not able to be as relaxed
around strangers as Alex or I am.
1135
01:03:26,720 --> 01:03:29,723
You know, he doesn't mean
to hurt anyone's feelings by it,
1136
01:03:29,848 --> 01:03:33,268
he's not trying to be rude,
he's just not comfortable.
1137
01:03:33,393 --> 01:03:35,562
Ok, I was the world's
biggest who fan as a kid.
1138
01:03:35,687 --> 01:03:38,982
I never dreamed of trying to find
their hotel and knocking on their doors
1139
01:03:39,107 --> 01:03:42,152
or interfering in their lives in any way,
that I don't understand.
1140
01:03:42,277 --> 01:03:43,737
I love being appreciated,
1141
01:03:43,862 --> 01:03:45,613
being respected is awfully good
1142
01:03:45,739 --> 01:03:48,783
but anything beyond that
just creeps me out, you know.
1143
01:03:48,908 --> 01:03:51,119
Any sense of adulation is just so wrong.
1144
01:03:51,244 --> 01:03:52,954
I got a chance to go meet Neil peart
1145
01:03:53,079 --> 01:03:57,208
and I got brought into a room and I started
to tell him, "hey, I'm the hugest fan ever,"
1146
01:03:57,334 --> 01:03:59,919
and I got, sort of,
"the Neil peart cold shoulder"
1147
01:04:00,045 --> 01:04:01,963
and the security guard
removed me from the room.
1148
01:04:02,088 --> 01:04:03,757
It was a weird uncomfortable situation.
1149
01:04:03,882 --> 01:04:06,968
I love Neil peart
even though he totally blacklisted me.
1150
01:04:07,093 --> 01:04:10,388
But I don't know, if I was Neil peart
and I walked in the room,
1151
01:04:10,513 --> 01:04:12,640
I would probably want to remove me too.
1152
01:04:13,808 --> 01:04:16,853
Neil was great. A very intense man
but very... you know.
1153
01:04:16,978 --> 01:04:21,358
His line, "I can't pretend a stranger
is a long-awaited friend," that's Neil.
1154
01:04:21,483 --> 01:04:24,319
When people have a fantasy,
I don't want to trample on it,
1155
01:04:24,444 --> 01:04:25,862
but I also don't want to live it
1156
01:04:25,987 --> 01:04:29,532
and people can think that I'm antisocial
or a sourpuss, it's really not.
1157
01:04:29,657 --> 01:04:31,701
It doesn't make me mad,
it embarrasses me.
1158
01:04:31,826 --> 01:04:34,037
The other guys
are obviously comfortable with it
1159
01:04:34,162 --> 01:04:35,997
and they do the meets and greets
every night
1160
01:04:36,122 --> 01:04:37,457
and that's fine, they can do it.
1161
01:04:40,460 --> 01:04:42,712
One, two, three...
1162
01:04:44,339 --> 01:04:45,632
One, two, three...
1163
01:04:46,007 --> 01:04:47,801
One, two, three...
1164
01:04:49,010 --> 01:04:51,137
Thank you. It's lovely meeting you.
1165
01:04:51,262 --> 01:04:53,348
I am so appreciative of our fans.
1166
01:04:53,473 --> 01:04:55,350
I bless their hearts every single day,
1167
01:04:55,475 --> 01:04:57,394
but they're hard to analyze as a group
1168
01:04:57,519 --> 01:04:59,229
because they're so different.
1169
01:04:59,354 --> 01:05:00,688
We have hard-core fans.
1170
01:05:00,814 --> 01:05:03,817
The old fans that have been there
from the beginning,
1171
01:05:03,942 --> 01:05:06,820
they're usually male
and they are really intense.
1172
01:05:14,702 --> 01:05:18,873
In the early stages it was
very young, almost 100% male.
1173
01:05:18,998 --> 01:05:20,583
And then, as the years went by,
1174
01:05:20,708 --> 01:05:23,503
it remained 100% male.
1175
01:05:23,628 --> 01:05:26,714
Chicks did not really dig it, you know.
1176
01:05:26,840 --> 01:05:31,636
I still don't put on caress of steel
that often with my wife around.
1177
01:05:32,846 --> 01:05:34,222
Whoo!
1178
01:05:37,350 --> 01:05:40,395
Tonight is my 113th rush show.
1179
01:05:40,520 --> 01:05:44,023
The last time I missed a show anywhere
in Europe was on the signals tour.
1180
01:05:44,149 --> 01:05:45,859
Tonight will be the seventh on this tour.
1181
01:05:45,984 --> 01:05:49,571
I've been to two in america, one in Canada,
did all six on the last UK tour.
1182
01:05:49,696 --> 01:05:51,739
My name's Pete,
I'm from Cleveland, Ohio.
1183
01:05:51,865 --> 01:05:54,409
I just had my 100th show in Stockholm.
1184
01:05:54,534 --> 01:05:57,454
J“ you can choose from phantom fears j“
1185
01:05:57,579 --> 01:06:00,790
j“ and kindness that can kill j“
1186
01:06:00,915 --> 01:06:04,002
j“ I will choose a path that's clear j“
1187
01:06:04,127 --> 01:06:06,713
j“ I will choose free will j“
1188
01:06:07,547 --> 01:06:10,151
Rush fans are like
Nascar fans. They ain't going anywhere.
1189
01:06:10,175 --> 01:06:12,594
They're brand loyalty.
They are a cult band.
1190
01:06:12,719 --> 01:06:14,012
When you go to a rush concert,
1191
01:06:14,137 --> 01:06:16,556
there ain't anybody leaving it
till the song is over.
1192
01:06:16,681 --> 01:06:19,201
They're waiting for their favorite part,
they're nudging their friend,
1193
01:06:19,225 --> 01:06:21,704
they're going, "look, he played it
perfect." They're riveted to the band.
1194
01:06:21,728 --> 01:06:25,106
The band have
that relationship with their audience,
1195
01:06:25,231 --> 01:06:29,444
where their audience really feel like
the rush lyrics communicate to them,
1196
01:06:29,569 --> 01:06:32,780
make them feel
like their experience is heard.
1197
01:06:32,906 --> 01:06:36,326
I have this memory of sitting
in the basement with my mother.
1198
01:06:36,451 --> 01:06:40,914
I actually said to her,
"I wanna play you a song."
1199
01:06:41,039 --> 01:06:43,639
And it was very hard to ever
get my parents' attention or anything
1200
01:06:43,666 --> 01:06:44,876
so it was, like, a big deal.
1201
01:06:45,001 --> 01:06:47,629
"Will you please sit here
and I wanna play you a song."
1202
01:06:47,754 --> 01:06:49,297
And I played entre nous
1203
01:06:49,422 --> 01:06:53,927
and I gave her the lyric sheet
because I wanted her to understand
1204
01:06:54,052 --> 01:06:57,805
that this song was connecting
with me on some level.
1205
01:06:57,931 --> 01:07:00,251
When I was sixteen years old,
I wasn't as emotionally open.
1206
01:07:00,350 --> 01:07:01,976
I was very withdrawn,
1207
01:07:02,101 --> 01:07:04,479
so something about that song
allowed me to say,
1208
01:07:04,604 --> 01:07:07,273
"somehow this song is almost
like it's written for me."
1209
01:07:07,398 --> 01:07:09,418
Music, when you're growing up,
is such a strong part of like...
1210
01:07:09,442 --> 01:07:11,444
"What do you like? What's your identity?"
1211
01:07:11,569 --> 01:07:13,696
Rush seemed to be
just a complete added dimension
1212
01:07:13,821 --> 01:07:16,950
of not being obsessed with girls
and hair and shit like that.
1213
01:07:17,075 --> 01:07:20,537
They seemed to be kind of smart
and, fancying myself as a really smart kid,
1214
01:07:20,662 --> 01:07:21,982
I was like, "oh, that's my deal."
1215
01:07:22,038 --> 01:07:26,793
J“ not so clearly charted, it's really
just a question of your honesty j“
1216
01:07:27,919 --> 01:07:29,796
j“ yeah, your honesty j“
1217
01:07:30,797 --> 01:07:34,551
j“ glittering prizes
and endless compromises j“
1218
01:07:34,676 --> 01:07:38,179
j“ shatter the illusion
of integrity, yeah j“
1219
01:07:38,304 --> 01:07:40,181
dum, tss, mm!
1220
01:07:40,306 --> 01:07:42,684
I mean, when you're
hearing lyrics like that
1221
01:07:42,809 --> 01:07:46,980
that are so earnest and sincere,
talking about honesty in art
1222
01:07:47,105 --> 01:07:50,233
and asking some
of the tougher intellectual questions,
1223
01:07:50,358 --> 01:07:52,277
with that great music behind it,
1224
01:07:52,402 --> 01:07:57,240
they really offered something in rock
that was in short supply.
1225
01:07:57,365 --> 01:08:00,952
And plus they sang in French
on circumstances.
1226
01:08:01,077 --> 01:08:04,831
"Plus c'est la méme,
plus c'est la méme chose."
1227
01:08:04,956 --> 01:08:07,516
That was pretty tricky, you didn't
hear that on any kiss records.
1228
01:08:07,625 --> 01:08:09,669
It's like, the dude is
singing in French now.
1229
01:08:09,794 --> 01:08:11,754
I can't even figure out his English!
1230
01:08:11,879 --> 01:08:15,258
It wasn't for everybody,
and it wasn't necessarily cool.
1231
01:08:15,383 --> 01:08:20,305
You were kind of like a rush geek,
a music nerd, a kind of nerd,
1232
01:08:20,430 --> 01:08:22,515
and it was sort of nerdy music I suppose.
1233
01:08:26,144 --> 01:08:29,522
J“ growing up, it all seems so one-sided j“
1234
01:08:29,647 --> 01:08:32,442
j“ opinions all provided j“
1235
01:08:32,567 --> 01:08:35,612
j“ the future predecided j“
1236
01:08:35,737 --> 01:08:38,406
j“ detached and subdivided j“
1237
01:08:38,531 --> 01:08:41,534
j“ in the mass-production zone j“
1238
01:08:42,660 --> 01:08:48,583
j“ nowhere is the dreamer
or the misfit so alone j“
1239
01:08:49,292 --> 01:08:52,629
you listen to subdivisions
and it just seemed like, exactly my life.
1240
01:08:52,754 --> 01:08:55,715
You know, I was that kid
who was watching the car
1241
01:08:55,840 --> 01:08:57,634
drive away with all the cool kids
1242
01:08:57,759 --> 01:08:59,927
going off to a party
that I wasn't invited to.
1243
01:09:00,053 --> 01:09:02,972
It was just nice to feel like
there was a rock song out there
1244
01:09:03,097 --> 01:09:05,767
that spoke to my experience
of trying to be cool
1245
01:09:05,892 --> 01:09:09,937
and worrying about being cast out
of a group of friends if you weren't cool.
1246
01:09:10,063 --> 01:09:11,063
I wasn't very cool,
1247
01:09:11,147 --> 01:09:14,233
but luckily I had a group of friends
that was equally not cool.
1248
01:09:14,359 --> 01:09:17,654
I lived in a housing development,
suburbia backyard barbecues,
1249
01:09:17,779 --> 01:09:21,240
a lot of the stuff that, I think,
most American kids can relate to.
1250
01:09:21,366 --> 01:09:22,825
I remember watching the video,
1251
01:09:22,950 --> 01:09:25,328
and I'm like, "damn, that represents me,
right there."
1252
01:09:25,453 --> 01:09:28,456
This one person walking around,
not really being in a group,
1253
01:09:28,581 --> 01:09:32,293
it seemed like it was this person
that nobody really could relate to.
1254
01:09:32,752 --> 01:09:36,339
- J“ subdivisions j“
- j“ in the high-school halls j“
1255
01:09:36,464 --> 01:09:38,633
j“ in the shopping malls j“
1256
01:09:38,758 --> 01:09:41,844
- j“ conform or be cast out j“
- j“ subdivisions j“
1257
01:09:41,969 --> 01:09:43,322
The thing I loved about Neil
1258
01:09:43,346 --> 01:09:46,265
was he took very complex,
metaphysical themes
1259
01:09:46,391 --> 01:09:49,310
and he was able to put them in a way
that everybody could understand.
1260
01:09:49,435 --> 01:09:51,354
And whether
he was ripping off Shakespeare
1261
01:09:51,479 --> 01:09:54,148
or he was quoting his own heart,
1262
01:09:54,273 --> 01:09:56,984
he was able to do it in a way
that never felt snobby.
1263
01:09:57,110 --> 01:09:59,862
It always felt like
he was in the room talking to you.
1264
01:09:59,987 --> 01:10:02,508
Words can carry different freight
for different people, of course.
1265
01:10:02,532 --> 01:10:04,492
But those who do have the sensitivity
1266
01:10:04,617 --> 01:10:07,995
to pay the kind of attention to lyrics
that I put into them,
1267
01:10:08,121 --> 01:10:09,664
it's wonderful to connect that way,
1268
01:10:09,789 --> 01:10:12,041
to feel that you're not
playing down to anyone.
1269
01:10:12,166 --> 01:10:15,586
We always had the impression
that people are just as smart as we are,
1270
01:10:15,712 --> 01:10:18,005
so if we can figure this stuff out,
they can too.
1271
01:10:18,131 --> 01:10:21,300
And we're not being that terrible,
damning word, pretentious.
1272
01:10:21,426 --> 01:10:22,969
We're not pretending anything.
1273
01:10:23,094 --> 01:10:25,012
This is really what turned us on this year.
1274
01:10:25,138 --> 01:10:29,475
Lyrically, it's always been a reflection
of my times and the times I observe.
1275
01:10:29,600 --> 01:10:31,310
But everyone is a reflection of me.
1276
01:10:43,197 --> 01:10:46,743
We could have gone in
and done moving pictures all over again
1277
01:10:46,868 --> 01:10:51,831
but we're too curious,
we're too dissatisfied with where we're at
1278
01:10:51,956 --> 01:10:54,876
and just because we got successful
doesn't mean we're going to stop.
1279
01:10:55,001 --> 01:10:58,463
And that's the motivation.
We have to find the better rush.
1280
01:10:58,588 --> 01:11:00,923
There was a big shift
happening on signals,
1281
01:11:01,048 --> 01:11:03,885
the keyboards were becoming
more and more important,
1282
01:11:04,010 --> 01:11:05,720
from geddy's standpoint that is.
1283
01:11:05,845 --> 01:11:08,598
And also, one of the biggest things
at that point for me
1284
01:11:08,723 --> 01:11:10,563
was Neil getting into
the electronic drum kit.
1285
01:11:10,683 --> 01:11:12,018
It didn't really appeal to me.
1286
01:11:12,143 --> 01:11:16,731
I wanted to still have that element
of the basic acoustic band.
1287
01:11:16,856 --> 01:11:19,692
We'd been working with Terry
for ten years at that point
1288
01:11:19,817 --> 01:11:21,569
and we really felt the need to expand
1289
01:11:21,694 --> 01:11:23,988
and see what it was like
to work with other people
1290
01:11:24,113 --> 01:11:27,033
and it was a very tough transition
because we were so close.
1291
01:11:27,158 --> 01:11:29,118
Terry was like
the fourth member of the band.
1292
01:11:29,243 --> 01:11:32,163
It was Neil who broke the news to me
on the bus and he said,
1293
01:11:32,288 --> 01:11:34,916
"just think of it
like a boyfriend and girlfriend,
1294
01:11:35,041 --> 01:11:38,377
"they want to split up for a while,
have a break from each other."
1295
01:11:38,503 --> 01:11:39,712
I was surprised
1296
01:11:39,837 --> 01:11:43,424
because I figured we would figure it out
and we'd move to the next level.
1297
01:11:43,549 --> 01:11:45,593
But it was time for a change
1298
01:11:45,718 --> 01:11:48,805
and I didn't really want
to do an electronic band,
1299
01:11:48,930 --> 01:11:51,140
which is where I thought it was going.
1300
01:12:03,444 --> 01:12:06,197
J“ an ill wind comes arising j“
1301
01:12:06,322 --> 01:12:08,533
j“ across the cities of the plain j“
1302
01:12:09,659 --> 01:12:12,245
j“ there's no swimming
in the heavy water j“
1303
01:12:12,370 --> 01:12:15,248
j“ no singing in the acid rain j“
1304
01:12:15,373 --> 01:12:17,124
j“ red alert, red alert j“
1305
01:12:17,250 --> 01:12:18,876
j“ red alert j“
1306
01:12:19,001 --> 01:12:21,963
to be honest with you,
I'd never really heard of rush in england.
1307
01:12:22,088 --> 01:12:23,548
I was a pop producer,
1308
01:12:23,673 --> 01:12:24,757
so I was kind of bemused
1309
01:12:24,882 --> 01:12:27,093
when I got the call
to come and produce them.
1310
01:12:27,218 --> 01:12:30,012
I was coming from that whole
British '80s music scene.
1311
01:12:30,137 --> 01:12:31,931
I was trying to bring them into line
1312
01:12:32,056 --> 01:12:35,309
with what I perceived to be
the contemporary, modern pop music,
1313
01:12:35,434 --> 01:12:37,812
the new technology,
the new keyboard sounds.
1314
01:12:37,937 --> 01:12:39,480
We all loved the music of that time.
1315
01:12:39,605 --> 01:12:40,690
We were young enough too,
1316
01:12:40,815 --> 01:12:43,484
and we didn't have any protective nature
of what rush was
1317
01:12:43,609 --> 01:12:46,821
that they could never be allowed
to be influenced by new-wave music
1318
01:12:46,946 --> 01:12:48,426
or could never use an African rhythm.
1319
01:12:48,489 --> 01:12:50,783
There was no such thing
as "that doesn't suit rush."
1320
01:12:50,908 --> 01:12:52,618
Those words have never been uttered.
1321
01:12:58,583 --> 01:13:00,960
J“ ragged lines of ragged gray j“
1322
01:13:02,670 --> 01:13:06,507
j“ skeletons, they shuffle away j“
1323
01:13:06,632 --> 01:13:09,468
j“ shouting guards and smoking guns j“
1324
01:13:10,052 --> 01:13:12,680
j“ will cut down the unlucky ones j“
1325
01:13:15,016 --> 01:13:20,146
Synthesizers and technology
became a way of sparking your creativity.
1326
01:13:20,271 --> 01:13:23,024
I liked it because my
need to write melodies
1327
01:13:23,149 --> 01:13:25,484
is more satisfied writing on a keyboard.
1328
01:13:25,610 --> 01:13:27,862
As a songwriter,
you're always looking for an angle
1329
01:13:27,987 --> 01:13:29,196
to give you something fresh.
1330
01:13:29,322 --> 01:13:31,073
Coming from a trained
keyboard background,
1331
01:13:31,198 --> 01:13:34,744
you always felt kinda left out
in the rock world
1332
01:13:34,869 --> 01:13:37,371
because keyboards really weren't that cool.
1333
01:13:37,496 --> 01:13:38,831
Rush was one of those bands
1334
01:13:38,956 --> 01:13:41,208
that the way they
started integrating synths
1335
01:13:41,334 --> 01:13:42,835
seemed wildly exciting to me.
1336
01:13:42,960 --> 01:13:46,672
Wow, this can actually fill the role
of what a guitar player would have done,
1337
01:13:46,797 --> 01:13:49,133
eats up the mid-range
rhythm-section space.
1338
01:13:49,258 --> 01:13:51,010
I'd be hard pressed to think of another...
1339
01:13:51,135 --> 01:13:52,720
Someone else who's done it like that.
1340
01:13:52,845 --> 01:13:57,266
Once the keyboards and the shorter songs
became more of their sound,
1341
01:13:57,391 --> 01:14:00,186
that's when I kind of
moved on to other things.
1342
01:14:00,311 --> 01:14:02,730
I didn't like it
and I still really don't like it that much.
1343
01:14:02,855 --> 01:14:05,524
And geddy would spend
a lot of time on the keyboard
1344
01:14:05,650 --> 01:14:07,360
and, as a bass player, I love the bass,
1345
01:14:07,485 --> 01:14:10,613
and so when my favorite
bass player's playing the keyboards,
1346
01:14:10,738 --> 01:14:12,448
I'm not that psyched about it.
1347
01:14:12,573 --> 01:14:15,409
I loved the idea of the keyboards
when we first started.
1348
01:14:15,534 --> 01:14:18,287
I think as that part of
our sound developed,
1349
01:14:18,412 --> 01:14:23,918
there were times where
we just got on the wrong track.
1350
01:14:24,043 --> 01:14:26,754
Alex and I had
some real disagreements
1351
01:14:26,879 --> 01:14:29,966
about how profound
the keyboard should be.
1352
01:14:30,091 --> 01:14:32,969
But power windows
is a really important record
1353
01:14:33,094 --> 01:14:36,931
because it was
the final and essential blending
1354
01:14:37,056 --> 01:14:39,976
of keyboards and guitar to me, for rush.
1355
01:14:40,101 --> 01:14:43,145
With power windows,
I found it really, really difficult
1356
01:14:43,270 --> 01:14:46,190
to work around the way
the keyboards were developing.
1357
01:14:46,315 --> 01:14:49,026
Why am I looking for a different place?
1358
01:14:49,151 --> 01:14:50,879
I shouldn't be looking
for a different place.
1359
01:14:50,903 --> 01:14:53,447
What's going on with these keyboards?
1360
01:14:53,572 --> 01:14:56,742
You know, they're not even real.
It's not even a real instrument.
1361
01:14:56,867 --> 01:14:59,912
J“ the more we think we know about j“
1362
01:15:00,621 --> 01:15:03,499
j“ the greater the unknown j“
1363
01:15:05,042 --> 01:15:07,878
j“ we suspend our disbelief j“
1364
01:15:08,671 --> 01:15:11,799
j“ and we are not alone j“
1365
01:15:11,924 --> 01:15:14,760
j“ mystic rhythms j“
1366
01:15:16,929 --> 01:15:18,681
j“ capture my thoughts j“
1367
01:15:18,806 --> 01:15:21,976
j“ and carry them away j“
1368
01:15:22,852 --> 01:15:27,023
I love the synthesizers and I think it's
as important as any of their other work.
1369
01:15:27,148 --> 01:15:28,816
The ultimate thing
that people were saying
1370
01:15:28,941 --> 01:15:31,444
was they kind of moved
somewhat away from the rock
1371
01:15:31,569 --> 01:15:34,363
and they got a little bit more
in the middle of what they did.
1372
01:15:34,488 --> 01:15:38,034
To me, rush middle of the road
is still somebody else's left field.
1373
01:15:38,159 --> 01:15:41,704
Certain periods of rush
are more universal than other periods.
1374
01:15:41,829 --> 01:15:45,332
Now, you could say on the one hand
that maybe they're better records.
1375
01:15:45,458 --> 01:15:47,168
Maybe that's the best rush.
1376
01:15:47,293 --> 01:15:51,797
Moving pictures got us
into a much broader world of rock fans
1377
01:15:51,922 --> 01:15:55,051
and when there was a shift,
we lost some of those people.
1378
01:15:55,176 --> 01:15:59,055
But we realized after time
that there was a core of our fan base
1379
01:15:59,180 --> 01:16:03,642
that was as curious
as to where we were going as we were.
1380
01:16:03,768 --> 01:16:07,063
Those are the ones that have
sustained us through all these years.
1381
01:16:07,188 --> 01:16:08,188
I can't fault them
1382
01:16:08,230 --> 01:16:13,110
for not wanting to be a prog rock band
for another 15 years.
1383
01:16:13,235 --> 01:16:15,821
They had different periods,
that's what makes them interesting.
1384
01:16:22,745 --> 01:16:25,998
J“ time stand still j“
1385
01:16:26,123 --> 01:16:29,752
j“ I'm not looking back
but I want to look around me now j“
1386
01:16:29,877 --> 01:16:32,296
j“ time stand still j“
1387
01:16:33,089 --> 01:16:37,843
j“ see more of the people
and the places that surround me now j“
1388
01:16:38,928 --> 01:16:40,930
j“ time stand still j“
1389
01:16:42,848 --> 01:16:45,267
Hold your fire
was the record that told me
1390
01:16:45,392 --> 01:16:47,978
that there was a shift
in the way we were writing,
1391
01:16:48,104 --> 01:16:50,064
pushing us away from rock.
1392
01:16:50,189 --> 01:16:54,985
It was starting to move into a jazzier,
softer kind of tonal area.
1393
01:16:55,111 --> 01:16:59,740
Things can go too far in any one direction
and we correct ourselves and eventually go,
1394
01:16:59,865 --> 01:17:02,118
"we tried to go along this way
but it's too much."
1395
01:17:02,243 --> 01:17:04,323
That was the first thing I said
on the first meeting.
1396
01:17:04,370 --> 01:17:06,580
It seems absolutely crazy to me
1397
01:17:06,705 --> 01:17:09,792
that one of the few remaining power trios
on this planet,
1398
01:17:09,917 --> 01:17:11,460
guitar, bass and drums,
1399
01:17:11,585 --> 01:17:12,962
are smothered in keyboards.
1400
01:17:13,087 --> 01:17:17,716
And I said, "my interest is to get you back
to being a power trio, but a modern take.
1401
01:17:17,842 --> 01:17:23,139
"We'll just find out what that contemporary
definition of power trio really is."
1402
01:17:44,994 --> 01:17:47,288
Alex particularly
wanted to assert guitar more
1403
01:17:47,413 --> 01:17:50,124
as the dominant instrument
and push the keyboards aside
1404
01:17:50,249 --> 01:17:52,877
and geddy and I went,
"ok, we can do that."
1405
01:17:53,002 --> 01:17:54,211
Alex was pretty...
1406
01:17:56,839 --> 01:17:59,758
"Let's have a concept,
let's not have keyboards."
1407
01:17:59,884 --> 01:18:01,218
And I went along with it.
1408
01:18:01,343 --> 01:18:03,637
I was a little bit sad.
1409
01:18:03,762 --> 01:18:07,141
Presto and roll the bones for me
were very much indicative
1410
01:18:07,266 --> 01:18:09,310
of what was going on in the '80s.
1411
01:18:09,435 --> 01:18:12,688
They were thin-sounding records,
they didn't have any balls to them.
1412
01:18:12,813 --> 01:18:16,692
So when I got in there I was kind of
hell-bent on making a heavy record.
1413
01:18:16,817 --> 01:18:18,235
The caveman pushed us.
1414
01:18:18,360 --> 01:18:22,156
He wanted me to use my Fender bass,
go through old ampeg amps
1415
01:18:22,281 --> 01:18:25,075
and record it old school.
Everything was old school.
1416
01:18:25,201 --> 01:18:30,748
There were battles, because every engineer
wants Alex to play without his pedals
1417
01:18:30,873 --> 01:18:33,584
and all his own synthesizers
that he plugs into.
1418
01:18:33,709 --> 01:18:36,879
Alex would ask for his fridge of effects
and I would say, "no."
1419
01:18:37,004 --> 01:18:39,924
And he'd say, "I want reverb,"
and I would say, "no."
1420
01:18:40,049 --> 01:18:43,177
He'd say, "I fucking want reverb!
If I want reverb, then I want reverb."
1421
01:18:43,302 --> 01:18:47,223
I'm like, "no, you sound terrible
with reverb, you're not having any reverb."
1422
01:18:47,348 --> 01:18:51,518
So we ended up going to a bar
and drinking about five bottles of scotch,
1423
01:18:51,644 --> 01:18:54,063
had terrible hangovers the next day,
but we ironed it out.
1424
01:18:54,188 --> 01:18:56,106
We had a lot of "few drinks together"
1425
01:18:56,232 --> 01:18:58,234
and I know what Kevin was going for
and he's right.
1426
01:18:58,359 --> 01:18:59,902
Counterparts turned out to be
1427
01:19:00,027 --> 01:19:02,863
the record that we envisioned
when we first started working on it.
1428
01:19:02,988 --> 01:19:06,367
The songs were thicker
and more hair on them.
1429
01:19:06,492 --> 01:19:08,452
That record was a big turning point
1430
01:19:08,577 --> 01:19:11,997
in reconnecting with the kind
of rock-and-roll guts of rush.
1431
01:19:13,165 --> 01:19:15,125
J“ compensate me j“
1432
01:19:17,461 --> 01:19:19,588
j“ animate me j“
1433
01:19:21,507 --> 01:19:23,968
j“ complicate me j“
1434
01:19:24,093 --> 01:19:26,929
j“ elevate me j“
1435
01:19:29,181 --> 01:19:31,785
The opening song, animate,
I think is one of our all-time best.
1436
01:19:31,809 --> 01:19:33,894
I love the drive of it,
I love the arrangement.
1437
01:19:34,019 --> 01:19:36,706
But I was starting to get conflicted
about my own drumming at that point.
1438
01:19:36,730 --> 01:19:38,899
I'd been working so much with sequencers
1439
01:19:39,024 --> 01:19:40,943
and with click tracks for so many years,
1440
01:19:41,068 --> 01:19:43,612
and I had developed
really good precision of time,
1441
01:19:43,737 --> 01:19:46,782
but I felt a stiffness
because of that metronomic need.
1442
01:19:46,907 --> 01:19:49,326
I didn't have the looseness
that I wanted to hear
1443
01:19:49,451 --> 01:19:50,452
out of my own playing.
1444
01:19:50,577 --> 01:19:53,330
After so many years
of being an amazing player,
1445
01:19:53,455 --> 01:19:57,543
Neil could have clearly
just decided not to play drums
1446
01:19:57,668 --> 01:20:00,129
until it was time
to go play a rush show.
1447
01:20:00,254 --> 01:20:02,965
But instead, he cared enough
about what he did
1448
01:20:03,090 --> 01:20:05,634
to try and break down
his current technique
1449
01:20:05,759 --> 01:20:10,014
and work with Freddie gruber
and, sort of, reinvent his playing style.
1450
01:20:17,062 --> 01:20:19,648
I was in New York
doing a buddy rich tribute recording.
1451
01:20:19,773 --> 01:20:21,692
Over that recording session in New York,
1452
01:20:21,817 --> 01:20:24,445
I met Freddie and had dinner
and got curious...
1453
01:20:24,570 --> 01:20:26,548
What would it be like
to study with a guy like that?
1454
01:20:26,572 --> 01:20:29,450
And I had the time so I thought,
"yes, I'm gonna try this."
1455
01:20:29,575 --> 01:20:32,953
Not to make it sound easy, because
when I studied with Freddie I asked myself,
1456
01:20:33,078 --> 01:20:35,289
"can I really do this?
Will I have the discipline?"
1457
01:20:35,414 --> 01:20:37,166
It's a huge commitment.
1458
01:20:37,291 --> 01:20:40,627
Can you tell me about
when you met Neil? Your first impressions?
1459
01:20:40,753 --> 01:20:45,090
He was easy because he wasn't nuts.
1460
01:20:45,215 --> 01:20:48,886
And I was, you know,
and it was, like... it was fun.
1461
01:20:49,011 --> 01:20:51,472
Didn't have to go to some strange land.
1462
01:20:51,597 --> 01:20:53,432
We never played the drums.
1463
01:20:53,557 --> 01:20:55,476
We talked about motion
1464
01:20:55,601 --> 01:20:58,687
and told a lot of stories
and did some dancing...
1465
01:20:58,812 --> 01:21:00,647
We were behind a set of drums
1466
01:21:00,773 --> 01:21:06,153
because the approach to what you do
results in what you get. You understand?
1467
01:21:06,278 --> 01:21:07,780
Freddie is all about the motion
1468
01:21:07,905 --> 01:21:12,659
and it was all about the motion of the
hands and feet that contributed to a dance.
1469
01:21:12,785 --> 01:21:13,985
One of the first things he did
1470
01:21:14,078 --> 01:21:17,206
was stand up and do a little
soft-shoe dance for me and saying,
1471
01:21:17,331 --> 01:21:19,917
"when you're doing that,
is that dance happening on the floor?
1472
01:21:20,042 --> 01:21:21,335
"No, it's happening in the air."
1473
01:21:21,460 --> 01:21:23,003
So these were revelations to me
1474
01:21:23,128 --> 01:21:26,590
to start thinking about not just the hit
but the motions between.
1475
01:21:26,715 --> 01:21:29,802
- Time is linear, it's not...
- Dah! Pah!
1476
01:21:31,095 --> 01:21:33,222
It's like a pogo stick, you know.
1477
01:21:33,347 --> 01:21:35,265
A lot of pop music is played like that.
1478
01:21:35,391 --> 01:21:37,684
It's extremely vertical.
1479
01:21:37,810 --> 01:21:40,646
It's like people slapping water
when they swim.
1480
01:21:40,771 --> 01:21:42,940
- Mm. Yeah.
- It doesn't...
1481
01:21:43,065 --> 01:21:45,359
- Inefficient motion.
- ..Breathe.
1482
01:21:45,484 --> 01:21:49,196
Put it this way, you could have
a beautiful body and look marvelous...
1483
01:21:49,321 --> 01:21:51,198
Thank you.
1484
01:21:51,990 --> 01:21:56,829
But if you're not
breathing, it's not alive.
1485
01:21:58,664 --> 01:22:01,917
You know, so you got to at least
put the breath in there, huh?
1486
01:22:02,042 --> 01:22:04,378
I can play a simple beat now
completely different
1487
01:22:04,503 --> 01:22:07,506
from how I would have played
that simple beat 15 years ago.
1488
01:22:09,466 --> 01:22:10,843
Not that.
1489
01:22:15,222 --> 01:22:16,390
There you go.
1490
01:22:16,515 --> 01:22:20,060
It takes a lot of courage being a drummer
the stature that Neil peart is
1491
01:22:20,185 --> 01:22:22,563
to be able to say, "I can improve."
1492
01:22:22,688 --> 01:22:23,856
And when he came back out,
1493
01:22:23,981 --> 01:22:26,650
and made his appearances
after working with Freddie
1494
01:22:26,775 --> 01:22:28,815
and he turned his grip around,
his traditional grip,
1495
01:22:28,902 --> 01:22:31,238
he had a different approach,
was so much more relaxed.
1496
01:22:31,363 --> 01:22:34,074
That was the most refreshing thing
you could have seen,
1497
01:22:34,199 --> 01:22:36,410
is that your hero could also still learn,
1498
01:22:36,535 --> 01:22:38,078
that they weren't just done.
1499
01:22:38,203 --> 01:22:40,223
When I worked
with my band mates right after that,
1500
01:22:40,247 --> 01:22:43,500
on the test for echo songs, the other
guys would say, "it still sounds like you,"
1501
01:22:43,625 --> 01:22:46,753
at first I was disappointed,
but then I thought "of course it does."
1502
01:22:46,879 --> 01:22:48,589
They thought it sounded the same
1503
01:22:48,714 --> 01:22:52,718
but when they went to play with me,
there was a different clock at work now.
1504
01:22:52,843 --> 01:22:56,013
J“ driven day and night in circles j“
1505
01:22:57,139 --> 01:23:00,559
j“ spinning like a whirlwind of leaves j“
1506
01:23:01,602 --> 01:23:04,688
j“ stealing in and out of back alleys j“
1507
01:23:05,898 --> 01:23:10,110
j“ driven to another den of thieves j“
1508
01:23:10,235 --> 01:23:13,071
j“ it's my turn to drive j“
1509
01:23:13,739 --> 01:23:17,075
j“ but it's my turn to drive j“
1510
01:23:17,743 --> 01:23:20,496
j“ driven to the margin of error j“
1511
01:23:21,330 --> 01:23:24,208
j“ driven to the edge of control j“
1512
01:23:24,917 --> 01:23:27,961
j“ driven to the margin of terror j“
1513
01:23:28,086 --> 01:23:33,884
j“ driven to the edge
of a deep, dark hole j“
1514
01:23:40,974 --> 01:23:42,392
In mid-August of '97,
1515
01:23:42,518 --> 01:23:45,395
we'd finished the test for echo tour
earlier that summer
1516
01:23:45,521 --> 01:23:48,899
and there was a message to call the office
and it was urgent.
1517
01:23:49,024 --> 01:23:51,485
One of the girls told me what had happened.
1518
01:23:51,610 --> 01:23:54,988
Neil's daughter was in a terrible
car accident and lost her life.
1519
01:23:55,113 --> 01:23:58,659
I mean, it was just such a horrible shock.
1520
01:23:58,784 --> 01:24:00,827
It was, and I still feel it today,
1521
01:24:00,953 --> 01:24:05,374
it was the start of a whole lot of emotions
that we'd never felt before.
1522
01:24:05,499 --> 01:24:09,878
I had not had a friend
who'd gone through anything like this.
1523
01:24:10,003 --> 01:24:15,634
Ray called me
and told me about the accident
1524
01:24:15,759 --> 01:24:20,514
and I was just in shock as everyone was.
1525
01:24:20,639 --> 01:24:25,352
You're just so unprepared
for how devastating it is
1526
01:24:25,477 --> 01:24:30,857
and you just don't know what to do
or how to help or any of that.
1527
01:24:30,983 --> 01:24:33,527
He could be such a private guy
1528
01:24:33,652 --> 01:24:37,864
and when news like this hits,
you don't want to do the wrong thing.
1529
01:24:37,990 --> 01:24:40,617
You don't want to try to comfort them
1530
01:24:40,742 --> 01:24:43,579
and find out you're
only comforting yourself.
1531
01:24:43,704 --> 01:24:47,040
Everything to do with the band
ended at that moment.
1532
01:24:47,165 --> 01:24:49,126
It just didn't seem important.
1533
01:24:49,251 --> 01:24:53,213
It was not something you even
thought about thinking about.
1534
01:24:53,338 --> 01:24:55,591
They didn't know
what to do with themselves
1535
01:24:55,716 --> 01:24:59,261
so they left Toronto
and got away from all those reminders.
1536
01:25:00,679 --> 01:25:02,347
And then Jackie got sick.
1537
01:25:04,891 --> 01:25:10,397
After she passed away,
he was lost and so he ran.
1538
01:25:10,522 --> 01:25:12,941
He got on his motorcycle and ran.
1539
01:25:13,066 --> 01:25:16,612
When his wife died,
he had to do what he needed to do
1540
01:25:16,737 --> 01:25:19,323
to just find some kind of peace.
1541
01:25:19,448 --> 01:25:21,950
He embarked on a long,
very, very painful journey,
1542
01:25:22,075 --> 01:25:24,328
just going and going and going and going.
1543
01:25:31,251 --> 01:25:33,086
Everybody was so worried about me,
1544
01:25:33,211 --> 01:25:35,672
there was a network among my friends
and loved ones,
1545
01:25:35,797 --> 01:25:38,508
"I heard from him today,"
"I got a postcard" or "he called."
1546
01:25:38,634 --> 01:25:40,677
They would all reassure each other.
1547
01:25:40,802 --> 01:25:44,598
Anything could have happened to me
even by accident, let alone by design.
1548
01:25:44,723 --> 01:25:48,560
Fuck, we were so worried about him,
I just...
1549
01:25:49,186 --> 01:25:51,063
But he...
1550
01:25:51,188 --> 01:25:53,440
You know, he was at arm's length.
1551
01:25:53,565 --> 01:25:55,400
Neil needed time but,
to be honest,
1552
01:25:55,525 --> 01:26:00,405
I had no real interest in music
for about a year.
1553
01:26:00,530 --> 01:26:02,949
I hardly played...
I hardly listened to music.
1554
01:26:03,075 --> 01:26:06,703
We were on sabbatical.
We were shut down.
1555
01:26:11,500 --> 01:26:14,628
We're talking about a journey
that stretched 55,000 miles
1556
01:26:14,753 --> 01:26:17,422
starting from Quebec
and going up to the arctic
1557
01:26:17,547 --> 01:26:20,258
and around Alaska and onto Mexico,
across all of Mexico
1558
01:26:20,384 --> 01:26:23,303
from Baja across the whole
Mexican mainland down to Belize.
1559
01:26:23,428 --> 01:26:25,222
I'd go to small towns and the back roads,
1560
01:26:25,347 --> 01:26:27,974
generally stopping for the night
in hotels along the way
1561
01:26:28,100 --> 01:26:31,019
and I don't think
in that whole 55,000 miles,
1562
01:26:31,144 --> 01:26:33,522
I don't know if I was ever recognized once
1563
01:26:33,647 --> 01:26:36,733
in a little town, at a gas station
or a motel or a diner,
1564
01:26:36,858 --> 01:26:39,695
because I'm just a guy sitting there
with a hat on reading a book.
1565
01:26:39,820 --> 01:26:41,820
A lot of times I can just slip around
and be a guy.
1566
01:26:41,863 --> 01:26:43,532
That's all I want from traveling.
1567
01:26:43,657 --> 01:26:45,784
I just want to be a guy
and that's life enough for me.
1568
01:26:53,250 --> 01:26:56,503
J“ the way out is the way in j“
1569
01:26:57,170 --> 01:27:00,799
j“ the way out is the way-ay-ay in j“
1570
01:27:04,136 --> 01:27:08,098
travel has always been known
as a soothing balm, and even motion,
1571
01:27:08,223 --> 01:27:11,685
from the time we're little babies, we want
to be rocked and if the baby's crying,
1572
01:27:11,810 --> 01:27:14,438
you can take it for a drive in the car
and it calms down.
1573
01:27:14,563 --> 01:27:17,441
That's the way
I described it to myself at that time,
1574
01:27:17,566 --> 01:27:20,736
I was so stirred up, my little baby soul
would only be soothed by motion.
1575
01:27:20,861 --> 01:27:24,364
I traveled out of the darkest place
a human being can come from,
1576
01:27:24,489 --> 01:27:28,243
and it was landscapes, highways
and wildlife that revitalized me.
1577
01:27:28,368 --> 01:27:29,911
It was the timeless landscapes.
1578
01:27:30,036 --> 01:27:32,539
It gives your tiny existence
a new perspective
1579
01:27:32,664 --> 01:27:35,667
when you're among things
that are millions of years old.
1580
01:27:36,501 --> 01:27:40,547
J“ the way out is the way in j“
1581
01:27:40,672 --> 01:27:43,383
j“ the way out is the way-ay-ay in j“
1582
01:27:43,508 --> 01:27:47,053
I remember getting postcards
from him from wherever
1583
01:27:47,179 --> 01:27:49,055
and he was using different names.
1584
01:27:49,181 --> 01:27:52,768
We have, like, about 6,000 nicknames
for each other
1585
01:27:52,893 --> 01:27:56,271
and so I would get a postcard
with that nickname on it,
1586
01:27:56,396 --> 01:27:57,898
so I knew who it was from.
1587
01:27:58,023 --> 01:28:00,734
They were lifelines, those little contacts.
1588
01:28:00,859 --> 01:28:04,070
He knew we were there, somewhere,
1589
01:28:04,196 --> 01:28:09,159
and he knew that we would be there
if he wanted us to be there.
1590
01:28:09,284 --> 01:28:12,078
All he had to do was reach out.
1591
01:28:12,204 --> 01:28:15,040
As far as the band was concerned,
as things went on,
1592
01:28:15,165 --> 01:28:18,752
it seemed less and less of a possibility
that we would get back together
1593
01:28:18,877 --> 01:28:20,837
and it looked like the band was -
1594
01:28:20,962 --> 01:28:24,424
basically, it was four years -
..That the band was done.
1595
01:28:24,549 --> 01:28:27,761
Oh, I thought it was...
I thought it was over.
1596
01:28:30,055 --> 01:28:34,100
Alex and I would talk about it
once in a while but there was no point.
1597
01:28:34,226 --> 01:28:37,604
I don't want to play in rush
without those other two guys.
1598
01:28:37,729 --> 01:28:41,942
You know, there's no replacing
anybody in this band,
1599
01:28:42,067 --> 01:28:43,944
it's just not possible.
1600
01:28:44,069 --> 01:28:47,364
It is the band, the three of us, you know.
1601
01:28:47,489 --> 01:28:50,742
Even though he's the new guy,
he's just as important.
1602
01:28:50,867 --> 01:28:53,328
Those two guys
were the most stable thing I had.
1603
01:28:53,453 --> 01:28:57,123
My family and loved ones and those that
dared to stay around me through that time,
1604
01:28:57,249 --> 01:29:00,126
and so hard to...
I would have walked.
1605
01:29:01,419 --> 01:29:03,839
My concern was just that he would be ok
1606
01:29:03,964 --> 01:29:07,717
and I thought it was pointless
to think about it beyond that.
1607
01:29:07,843 --> 01:29:11,471
After a year and a half,
whatever, two years,
1608
01:29:11,596 --> 01:29:15,308
I sensed that he would do it again,
that he would be ok.
1609
01:29:15,433 --> 01:29:17,060
I don't think he worked that hard
1610
01:29:17,185 --> 01:29:20,272
to be what most people consider
as the best in the world at something
1611
01:29:20,397 --> 01:29:21,982
and not go and do it again one day.
1612
01:29:22,107 --> 01:29:26,278
I didn't know if it meant that
it would take five years or ten years
1613
01:29:26,403 --> 01:29:29,990
but I thought that one day
he'd have to do that again.
1614
01:29:55,056 --> 01:29:57,684
When I stopped riding...
..I was ready.
1615
01:29:57,809 --> 01:30:03,064
Traveling all that time, it was when
I came to rest and I came out to California
1616
01:30:03,189 --> 01:30:07,527
and met my wife-to-be
and I got some stability there
1617
01:30:07,652 --> 01:30:13,074
and, with Carrie's help, then realized
that I was wanting to work again.
1618
01:30:13,199 --> 01:30:17,704
That's basically what it took,
but I had to stop moving first.
1619
01:30:17,829 --> 01:30:22,292
He was a little apprehensive
and thought that perhaps maybe
1620
01:30:22,417 --> 01:30:28,214
we might try to talk about
perhaps trying to maybe think about
1621
01:30:28,340 --> 01:30:30,842
possibly getting back in the studio
to record a record.
1622
01:30:30,967 --> 01:30:34,971
It was really like that. It was
quite a fragile, delicate proposition.
1623
01:30:35,096 --> 01:30:37,015
I don't think he knew if he could do it.
1624
01:30:37,140 --> 01:30:39,309
He hadn't played his drums
in a hell of a long time.
1625
01:30:39,434 --> 01:30:43,605
He's such a perfectionist,
such a fucking monster musician.
1626
01:30:43,730 --> 01:30:46,900
I think he was afraid of not being
as good as he once was.
1627
01:30:47,025 --> 01:30:49,277
It was an unsureness.
"Can I do this?
1628
01:30:49,402 --> 01:30:52,322
"Can I write rock lyrics like it's the
most important thing in the world?
1629
01:30:52,447 --> 01:30:54,658
"Can I slave over and over on a drum part,
1630
01:30:54,783 --> 01:30:58,103
"refine every detail like it's the most
important thing in the world? I don't know."
1631
01:30:58,203 --> 01:31:02,582
We basically booked the studio,
7 days a week, for 14 or 15 months.
1632
01:31:02,707 --> 01:31:04,417
Everything had so much weight to it
1633
01:31:04,542 --> 01:31:09,130
and for him to get back his chops
was really a slow process.
1634
01:31:09,255 --> 01:31:11,466
I could hear my state of mind
in my drumming -
1635
01:31:11,591 --> 01:31:13,510
anger, obviously, but confusion.
1636
01:31:13,635 --> 01:31:16,346
The state I was in...
It's in the lyrics too, of course,
1637
01:31:16,471 --> 01:31:20,809
so many of them had to deal with...
I could not sidestep all of that stuff.
1638
01:31:20,934 --> 01:31:24,104
But there was something
that was so pure and truthful
1639
01:31:24,229 --> 01:31:26,231
about the energy on vapor trails.
1640
01:31:26,356 --> 01:31:30,777
It really is a representation of that time,
of the coming back of the band.
1641
01:31:30,902 --> 01:31:35,240
J“ horizon to horizon j“
1642
01:31:35,365 --> 01:31:38,410
j“ memory written on the wind j“
1643
01:31:39,911 --> 01:31:43,289
j“ fading away like an hourglass j“
1644
01:31:43,415 --> 01:31:45,583
j“ grain by grain j“
1645
01:31:48,545 --> 01:31:54,050
j“ swept away like voices in a hurricane j“
1646
01:31:55,969 --> 01:31:59,973
j“ in a vapor trail j“
1647
01:32:00,724 --> 01:32:04,769
j“ in a vapor trail j“
1648
01:32:05,812 --> 01:32:08,064
Coming back to the stage
is way more difficult
1649
01:32:08,189 --> 01:32:10,817
'cause the essential existence of a band
is on a stage.
1650
01:32:10,942 --> 01:32:13,987
One of the things that keeps me
from quitting touring all the time
1651
01:32:14,112 --> 01:32:15,655
is that's what a band does.
1652
01:32:15,780 --> 01:32:19,868
So coming back to the stage
was the biggest recovery possible.
1653
01:32:19,993 --> 01:32:22,328
Thank you.
1654
01:32:23,288 --> 01:32:29,669
And good evening, Hartford,
United States of America,
1655
01:32:29,794 --> 01:32:31,129
nice to be back here.
1656
01:32:32,756 --> 01:32:35,133
It's been quite long enough, I think.
1657
01:32:36,134 --> 01:32:39,471
That was in Hartford, Connecticut
on the vapor trails tour
1658
01:32:39,596 --> 01:32:43,433
and it was such a dramatic thing
after all this that we'd gone through
1659
01:32:43,558 --> 01:32:46,311
that here we were, at our first gig,
back on the road
1660
01:32:46,436 --> 01:32:48,980
and we never even thought
we would work again.
1661
01:32:49,105 --> 01:32:53,276
I think that was one of the few times
we've had a group hug before the show.
1662
01:32:57,030 --> 01:33:03,036
It wasn't lost on us that...
Getting to that point...
1663
01:33:04,120 --> 01:33:05,914
Was almost impossible.
1664
01:33:06,039 --> 01:33:10,251
So we looked at each other, gave each
other a hug and said, "ok, let's go."
1665
01:33:23,431 --> 01:33:27,769
J“ for the words of the prophets
were written on the studio wall j“
1666
01:33:28,937 --> 01:33:31,272
j“ concert hall j“
1667
01:33:36,569 --> 01:33:40,240
The crowd was amazing.
They welcomed us back, really warm.
1668
01:33:40,365 --> 01:33:42,283
And Neil was really nervous,
1669
01:33:42,408 --> 01:33:46,079
so I figured my job is to go over there
to make him not nervous
1670
01:33:46,204 --> 01:33:49,624
so I kept checking on him,
throwing him some shapes
1671
01:33:49,749 --> 01:33:52,252
to make sure
he was smiling or laughing.
1672
01:33:52,377 --> 01:33:56,548
That's what that night was like. I was
completely folded into the job of performing,
1673
01:33:56,673 --> 01:33:59,342
but there were moments
when the three of us connected visually
1674
01:33:59,467 --> 01:34:02,637
and we knew what we were doing
and I remember saying to ray aftennards,
1675
01:34:02,762 --> 01:34:05,348
"it would have been a shame
if that never happened again."
1676
01:34:05,473 --> 01:34:10,895
It was amazing. And it was amazing
to see how happy he was after the show.
1677
01:34:11,020 --> 01:34:13,314
Some demons were gone that night.
1678
01:34:13,439 --> 01:34:17,694
Part of the rebirth of the band was suddenly
a willingness to go where we hadn't gone
1679
01:34:17,819 --> 01:34:22,907
and to see these legions of fans
was such a positive effect on us.
1680
01:34:23,032 --> 01:34:27,912
It was like, "this is a second chance for
us to go back out and play some new places."
1681
01:34:49,434 --> 01:34:53,563
We had no idea, going to Brazil,
of any popularity that we might have
1682
01:34:53,688 --> 01:34:57,275
and then the 8510 Paulo show
was 60,000 people.
1683
01:34:57,400 --> 01:35:00,612
By far the largest audience
we singularly had ever played to.
1684
01:35:00,737 --> 01:35:04,115
There was a sense of wild
tumultuous impossible masses of people
1685
01:35:04,240 --> 01:35:07,952
but so locked in a unifying way
that it was just magical. We elevated.
1686
01:35:31,935 --> 01:35:33,655
Having gone through that whole tour,
1687
01:35:33,770 --> 01:35:37,023
being in this place
where we had people going totally mental,
1688
01:35:37,148 --> 01:35:38,524
playing one little victory,
1689
01:35:38,650 --> 01:35:42,403
it was a huge victory that we'd survived
the previous five years.
1690
01:35:42,528 --> 01:35:45,782
Finishing on such a high note
was quite a trip.
1691
01:35:45,907 --> 01:35:48,034
The newness of touring was over...
1692
01:35:48,868 --> 01:35:52,914
And I think we had successfully returned.
1693
01:36:14,185 --> 01:36:15,353
Oh yeah!
1694
01:36:17,522 --> 01:36:19,983
J“ modern-day warrior named Tom Sawyer j“
1695
01:36:20,108 --> 01:36:22,902
j“ he floated down a river
on a raft with a black guy j“
1696
01:36:23,027 --> 01:36:24,027
j“ doo-doo doo-doo j“
1697
01:36:24,112 --> 01:36:27,865
j“ doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo-doo... j“
1698
01:36:27,991 --> 01:36:29,325
hold on! Hold on!
1699
01:36:29,450 --> 01:36:32,412
Hold on! Stop! Stop!
Those aren't the right lyrics, fat ass!
1700
01:36:32,537 --> 01:36:35,748
I am geddy Lee and I will sing
whatever lyrics I want!
1701
01:36:35,873 --> 01:36:39,210
There's a lot of people
who were 18 in 1978,
1702
01:36:39,335 --> 01:36:41,337
guys who were crazy rush fans.
1703
01:36:41,462 --> 01:36:43,631
They're in positions of relative power now.
1704
01:36:43,756 --> 01:36:46,092
They're raising their hands and going,
1705
01:36:46,217 --> 01:36:49,721
"yeah, I want to be on this bandwagon now.
I always was there."
1706
01:36:49,846 --> 01:36:54,267
Now they had the ability to bring
it to more people than ever before.
1707
01:36:54,392 --> 01:36:58,980
My guests tonight
have 24 gold and 14 platinum records.
1708
01:36:59,105 --> 01:37:01,649
Please welcome rush!
1709
01:37:02,525 --> 01:37:06,696
Geddy, Neil, Alex,
thank you so much for joining us.
1710
01:37:09,741 --> 01:37:11,451
I just wanna remind everybody
1711
01:37:11,576 --> 01:37:15,455
that this is your first appearance
on American television in 33 years.
1712
01:37:15,580 --> 01:37:17,540
- Correct?
- Yeah.
1713
01:37:17,665 --> 01:37:21,544
I think one of the greatest things
to happen to the collective community
1714
01:37:21,669 --> 01:37:24,964
that has very much enjoyed rush
for many years,
1715
01:37:25,089 --> 01:37:27,592
was their appearance on the colbert report
1716
01:37:27,717 --> 01:37:30,011
because I've seen these guys
get beaten up
1717
01:37:30,136 --> 01:37:32,847
by the supposed cool
people for a long time.
1718
01:37:32,972 --> 01:37:34,932
And then, in one fell swoop,
1719
01:37:35,058 --> 01:37:38,978
Stephen colbert puts them on their show
and gives them the hand of coolness.
1720
01:37:39,103 --> 01:37:42,690
You're known for some, sort of, long songs.
1721
01:37:42,815 --> 01:37:46,694
Have you ever written a song so epic
that by the end of the song
1722
01:37:46,819 --> 01:37:50,573
you were actually being influenced
by yourself at the beginning of the song...
1723
01:37:52,200 --> 01:37:55,161
Because it happened
so much earlier in your career?
1724
01:37:56,537 --> 01:38:00,041
You are yet to be inducted
in the rock and roll hall of fame.
1725
01:38:00,166 --> 01:38:04,379
Is there any chance your next album
will be called that's bullsh...
1726
01:38:06,130 --> 01:38:09,550
You could get into
sociological and cultural reasons
1727
01:38:09,675 --> 01:38:13,179
why a band like rush
was publicly marginalized.
1728
01:38:13,304 --> 01:38:16,391
You can say, "what was it?
They were too weird? Geddy's voice?"
1729
01:38:16,516 --> 01:38:19,477
I like to think that, at the end
of the day, people will step back
1730
01:38:19,602 --> 01:38:22,980
and all those labels fall away
because the body of work is significant.
1731
01:38:23,106 --> 01:38:25,900
To me, they remain
one of the top bands in the world.
1732
01:38:26,025 --> 01:38:28,945
Whether some guy at rolling stone
decides they are or not,
1733
01:38:29,070 --> 01:38:33,491
is completely irrelevant because, at the
end of the day, rock is a people's game
1734
01:38:33,616 --> 01:38:37,078
and the people have generally
and consistently voted for this band.
1735
01:38:37,203 --> 01:38:40,523
A generation of rock critics
have kept them from being in rolling stone
1736
01:38:40,623 --> 01:38:42,309
and from being a part of that conversation.
1737
01:38:42,333 --> 01:38:44,919
They were on the other side of this divide
we're talking about,
1738
01:38:45,044 --> 01:38:47,644
back when they were held in corners
by rush fans at parties going,
1739
01:38:47,713 --> 01:38:49,048
"but you don't understand!"
1740
01:38:49,173 --> 01:38:53,344
They liked Elvis costello or David bowie
or something more critically accepted.
1741
01:38:53,469 --> 01:38:57,765
Now, it's like we're all so old that even
if you hated rush in the '80s and '70s,
1742
01:38:57,890 --> 01:39:01,894
you gotta give it up for them, you just got
to, or you're just being an old dickhead.
1743
01:39:02,019 --> 01:39:04,897
I think that, in many ways,
you're served better
1744
01:39:05,022 --> 01:39:07,275
if you're not quite as successful.
1745
01:39:07,400 --> 01:39:11,070
If you never become a pop star,
if you don't have top 40 hits.
1746
01:39:11,195 --> 01:39:14,615
Then what you have
is a pure memory for people.
1747
01:39:14,740 --> 01:39:16,534
They don't think you ever sold out.
1748
01:39:16,659 --> 01:39:19,829
Virtue is actually rewarded, I believe.
1749
01:39:39,557 --> 01:39:43,644
The thing with us is, we've always
walked along a shore of the mainstream
1750
01:39:43,769 --> 01:39:47,940
and we've been attached to it and
connected ourselves to it, time and again
1751
01:39:48,065 --> 01:39:50,234
but we've always been a bit outside of it.
1752
01:39:50,359 --> 01:39:53,988
We had our own stream
and it wasn't the main one
1753
01:39:54,113 --> 01:39:56,866
but it was not too far away
from the main one.
1754
01:39:56,991 --> 01:40:00,119
I always like to consider us
the world's most popular cult band.
1755
01:40:00,244 --> 01:40:05,458
The rush fan, while it's a stereotype
that it's mostly guys who like heavy metal,
1756
01:40:05,583 --> 01:40:09,545
there are many devoted female fans.
It's kind of like a giant club.
1757
01:40:09,670 --> 01:40:13,591
People turn on their kids to rush,
who turn on their kids to rush.
1758
01:40:13,716 --> 01:40:16,219
It's amazing
that the music's been able to go
1759
01:40:16,344 --> 01:40:19,889
from this generation to this generation
and even a younger generation.
1760
01:40:20,014 --> 01:40:22,558
Their fans
have stuck with them through all of it.
1761
01:40:22,683 --> 01:40:24,685
All their shows are sold out still.
1762
01:40:24,810 --> 01:40:26,729
When snakes and arrows
came out in 2007,
1763
01:40:26,854 --> 01:40:28,814
it charted really well for quite a while
1764
01:40:28,940 --> 01:40:31,692
and it was some of the biggest shows
they've ever played.
1765
01:40:31,817 --> 01:40:35,071
It's just amazing for them
to come back really strong like that.
1766
01:40:35,196 --> 01:40:38,157
It was just like it took off!
It took off again all of a sudden.
1767
01:40:38,282 --> 01:40:41,911
It seems like they're bigger now
than they've ever been, which is fantastic.
1768
01:40:42,036 --> 01:40:45,498
There's a comfort in knowing
those same three guys are out there.
1769
01:40:45,623 --> 01:40:50,336
It's also spectacular to see three guys that
could tolerate each other for all these years
1770
01:40:50,461 --> 01:40:52,421
and still make music,
make good music.
1771
01:40:52,547 --> 01:40:55,466
How many more times?
1772
01:40:55,591 --> 01:40:58,469
Here's that thing you ordered.
1773
01:40:58,594 --> 01:41:01,138
It arrived today, this thing you ordered.
1774
01:41:02,139 --> 01:41:04,767
Thank you, lurch.
1775
01:41:04,892 --> 01:41:09,188
- No sweat.
- It's that special thing!
1776
01:41:10,815 --> 01:41:13,484
Could you turn that off while I use it?
1777
01:41:13,609 --> 01:41:15,820
The three stooges all at once.
1778
01:41:15,945 --> 01:41:19,031
They're just such
a unique and weird concoction
1779
01:41:19,156 --> 01:41:21,701
and I get the sense,
and I always have from rush,
1780
01:41:21,826 --> 01:41:24,078
that they're on a righteous path.
1781
01:41:24,203 --> 01:41:27,164
There's something there
that's really pure, sincere and honest.
1782
01:41:27,290 --> 01:41:30,710
At the root of all of it,
it's also really good, you know.
1783
01:41:30,835 --> 01:41:33,629
That matters more than anything else.
1784
01:41:33,754 --> 01:41:36,966
There's a magic and a coolness
to them that continues to this day
1785
01:41:37,091 --> 01:41:39,510
and that's a testament
to the music's power.
1786
01:41:39,635 --> 01:41:42,221
That's how you know,
it's the only way you know.
1787
01:41:42,346 --> 01:41:46,017
You check in after 25 years.
"Is it still resonating?"
1788
01:41:46,142 --> 01:41:49,228
"Yeah." it's the only true test.
1789
01:41:49,353 --> 01:41:51,022
The test of time.
1790
01:41:51,147 --> 01:41:53,899
- Right, shall we?
- Now? What, now?
1791
01:41:54,025 --> 01:41:55,860
You mean now?
1792
01:41:55,985 --> 01:41:57,945
You mean right now? Now?
1793
01:41:58,070 --> 01:42:00,114
I can't go on now.
1794
01:42:00,239 --> 01:42:01,490
I've got things to do.
1795
01:42:25,306 --> 01:42:29,435
J“ pariah dogs and wandering madmen j“
1796
01:42:29,560 --> 01:42:33,314
j“ barking at strangers
and speaking in tongues j“
1797
01:42:33,439 --> 01:42:36,984
j“ the ebb and flow of tidal fortune j“
1798
01:42:37,109 --> 01:42:41,947
j“ electrical changes
are charging up the young j“
1799
01:42:44,867 --> 01:42:50,706
j“ it's a far cry from the world
we thought we'd inherit j“
1800
01:42:52,416 --> 01:42:58,005
j“ it's a far cry from the way
we thought we'd share it j“
1801
01:43:00,466 --> 01:43:03,969
j“ you can almost feel
the current flowing j“
1802
01:43:04,095 --> 01:43:08,015
j“ you can almost see
the circuits blowing j“
1803
01:43:08,140 --> 01:43:11,644
j“ one day I feel
I'm on top of the world j“
1804
01:43:11,811 --> 01:43:14,605
j“ and the next it's falling in on me j“
1805
01:43:15,231 --> 01:43:19,568
j“ I can get back on,
I can get back on j“
1806
01:43:19,694 --> 01:43:23,030
j“ one day I feel
I'm ahead of the wheel j“
1807
01:43:23,155 --> 01:43:26,409
j“ and the next it's rolling over me j“
1808
01:43:26,534 --> 01:43:31,330
j“ I can get back on,
I can get back on j“
1809
01:43:40,589 --> 01:43:44,176
J“ whirlwind life of faith and betrayal j“
1810
01:43:44,301 --> 01:43:48,097
j“ rise in anger, fall back and repeat j“
1811
01:43:48,222 --> 01:43:51,892
j“ slow degrees on the dark horizon j“
1812
01:43:52,017 --> 01:43:56,480
j“ full moon rising,
lays silver at your feet j“
1813
01:43:57,398 --> 01:44:00,359
Maybe you could tell us
where we're going tonight?
1814
01:44:00,484 --> 01:44:04,447
We're going to meet with Neil.
We're gonna talk about stuff, I guess,
1815
01:44:04,572 --> 01:44:06,490
drink some local wine.
1816
01:44:06,615 --> 01:44:09,577
Will there be any discussion
of the next steps for the band?
1817
01:44:09,702 --> 01:44:14,331
We don't really want to hang around with the
guy, so yeah, we'll talk about that stuff.
1818
01:44:14,457 --> 01:44:16,459
This is just a business meeting.
1819
01:44:17,710 --> 01:44:21,213
- Do we ever have business meetings?
- This is the first one.
1820
01:44:21,338 --> 01:44:23,215
This will be your 24th record.
1821
01:44:23,340 --> 01:44:25,843
What's the motivation to keep doing it?
1822
01:44:25,968 --> 01:44:27,094
Chicks.
1823
01:44:29,555 --> 01:44:31,849
Ok, I call this meeting to order.
1824
01:44:32,725 --> 01:44:35,936
- Do the thing.
- It's so great to drink wine.
1825
01:44:36,061 --> 01:44:37,813
It tastes fantastic
1826
01:44:37,938 --> 01:44:40,691
and it makes you feel funny.
1827
01:44:40,816 --> 01:44:44,528
- Didn't I ever tell you lurch was a genius?
- You never had to tell me.
1828
01:44:44,653 --> 01:44:47,990
- He's a genius.
- He manifests it every single day.
1829
01:44:48,115 --> 01:44:51,285
- Why don't we write some songs?
- Right now. Let's start.
1830
01:44:51,410 --> 01:44:53,829
- I got a notepad here.
- Are you gonna write lyrics?
1831
01:44:53,954 --> 01:44:56,081
- I can write things down.
- What I thought...
1832
01:44:56,207 --> 01:45:00,127
What if we do something on the
Frankenstein theme we were talking about?
1833
01:45:00,252 --> 01:45:01,837
Like, the life of Frankenstein.
1834
01:45:01,962 --> 01:45:04,423
- A concept album?
- I'm getting an inspiration.
1835
01:45:04,548 --> 01:45:08,594
- That's a bolt... perfect.
- Hey, yeah! You know something?
1836
01:45:10,054 --> 01:45:13,766
- You got a couple of bolts...
- That's what I'm thinking.
1837
01:45:15,226 --> 01:45:19,021
It's a miracle really
that we've ever had a conversation.
1838
01:45:19,146 --> 01:45:20,773
Let's not start now!
1839
01:45:20,898 --> 01:45:24,235
You know they say if you put 100 monkeys
in a room with typewriters
1840
01:45:24,360 --> 01:45:27,196
they'll eventually produce
the works of Shakespeare?
1841
01:45:27,321 --> 01:45:29,532
Who's going to clean those typewriters?
1842
01:45:29,657 --> 01:45:34,870
- We're getting into a weird area here...
- Monkeys, you know, defecation.
1843
01:45:34,995 --> 01:45:37,414
I don't know you anymore.
1844
01:45:37,540 --> 01:45:39,750
It's like working
with a whole new person.
1845
01:45:39,875 --> 01:45:42,753
- This relationship is...
- I'm so sick of you guys.
1846
01:45:42,878 --> 01:45:46,423
This is really helpful for me.
1847
01:45:46,549 --> 01:45:51,470
I'm working through something emotionally
and psychologically and this helped a lot.
1848
01:45:51,595 --> 01:45:55,891
Yeah, and I quit the fucking stupid band.
I'm out of here.
1849
01:45:56,016 --> 01:45:59,186
Ok, take your smokes and go then.
1850
01:45:59,311 --> 01:46:03,983
As soon as I can get over there, I'm gonna
rise to my knees and kick your ass.
1851
01:46:04,108 --> 01:46:07,486
Rise to your knees. That sounds
like the new rush album title.
1852
01:46:07,611 --> 01:46:09,196
That'll be the day.
1853
01:46:09,321 --> 01:46:11,198
Oh my god, we are geniuses.
1854
01:46:11,323 --> 01:46:14,535
- We're gonna do hockey nights in Canada...
- Hockey, hockey!
1855
01:46:14,660 --> 01:46:17,162
With the drum solo
with the latino stuff in it.
1856
01:46:17,288 --> 01:46:21,292
Boy, that's gonna be one great album.
That's the next album, guys.
1857
01:46:21,417 --> 01:46:22,710
We've got it sorted out.
1858
01:46:22,835 --> 01:46:27,089
I think we've been successful
in destroying these people's film.
1859
01:46:27,214 --> 01:46:31,010
I will remind them
that I said you would regret it.
1860
01:46:31,135 --> 01:46:32,761
I just wanted to say that.
1861
01:46:32,887 --> 01:46:37,641
I said, "don't be surprised when
you discover how boring we really are."
1862
01:46:39,351 --> 01:46:41,312
Cut!
1863
01:46:49,361 --> 01:46:51,363
Now I like rush.
1864
01:46:51,488 --> 01:46:54,325
The louder the better now.
156378
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