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Rush concert is coming up; expecting an emotional one

Baby Gordon belts out Temples of Syrinx.
Baby Gordon belts out Temples of Syrinx.
I haven't seen Rush in concert since the R30: 30th Anniversary Tour in 2004. I have tickets for the July 12th show at the Halifax Metro Centre, where they'll play the first of two nights in a city they haven't visited since 1987.

I'm sure it will be a highly emotional experience for me. The show is the night after Amanda's hysterectomy and cancer debulking surgery, and the night before a weekend of morning show shifts on the radio. I'll be low on sleep and high on stress.

I've been trying to familiarize myself with material from the latest Rush album, Clockwork Angels. Their material since Vapor Trails has been hard for me to like. I find most of it oversaturated, overcomplicated and unmelodic. It just sits on top of me like a heavy pile of noise. I hate saying that, but it just has not resonated with me.

But at least one song on the newest record moved me, especially in light of recent events at home. I can't get through it right now without tearing up.

Here is "The Garden" from Clockwork Angels: (Music video with lyrics on-screen.)



Lyrics:

In this one of many possible worlds, all for the best, or some bizarre test?
It is what it is - and whatever
Time is still the infinite jest

The arrow flies when you dream, the hours tick away - the cells tick away
The Watchmaker keeps to his schemes
The hours tick away - they tick away

The measure of a life is a measure of love and respect
So hard to earn, so easily burned
In the fullness of time
A garden to nurture and protect

In the rise and the set of the sun
'Til the stars go spinning - spinning 'round the night
It is what it is - and forever
Each moment a memory in flight

The arrow flies while you breathe, the hours tick away - the cells tick away
The Watchmaker has time up his sleeve
The hours tick away - they tick away

The treasure of a life is a measure of love and respect
The way you live, the gifts that you give
In the fullness of time
It's the only return that you expect

The future disappears into memory
With only a moment between
Forever dwells in that moment
Hope is what remains to be seen
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Comments

  1. sandraJuly 9, 2013 at 10:38 PM

    oh buggy, that Neil Peart sure is an awesome wordsmith, I haven't heard their new album at all, but I recall listening to Vapor Trails at great length...

    you'll be in good hands with the lads, I hope you can throw yourself into the evening and achieve some sort of catharsis though it.

    lots of hugs and good vibes being sent eastward at all of you...

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