Soundtrack of My Youth

Up until my Freshman year of High School my musical tastes were limited to my mom's AM radio in the car, which was tuned to nothing but a Country channel; Conway Twitty, Emmylou Harris, Eddie Rabbit, and the Bee Gee's and Donna Summer as the result of the Disco craze. 

All of that changed when I heard the opening strains of Rush's 2112 - The Overture and Temple of Syrinx. The music was complex and the entire first side of the album told a story. I had never heard anything like it before. Ever.

Even more shocking was that the music was made by only three men: Geddy Lee on bass, Alex Lifeson on guitar, and Neil Peart on drums. I remember my frustration trying to share this new discovery with my parents who only heard banshee wails and screaming guitars. It dawned on me that this music, this was mine and belonged to my generation.  Just as I got turned on to Rush their biggest album (ever) dropped in stores, Moving Pictures, and I was hooked.  I owned it on vinyl and cassette. I went back and bought every previous Rush album ever produced. I poured over their lyrics and liner notes. The lyricist, Peart, was inspired by Ayn Rand so I read Atlas Shrugged. I saw Rush three or four times in concert. I cheered when they were (finally) inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

There were, and still are, two camps; those that love Rush and those who cannot stand them. I always thought that those haters hated them because they didn't want to have think and listen at the same time.  Rush was hard rock, but it was cerebral and enigmatic.  There weren't any songs about meeting girls or raising hell - as opposed to the also popular AC/DC. There songs were about dystopian futures, (in)equality, freewill, and how the modern-day kid just blends into the background. Stories a nerdy male teenager could identify with. The critics and record industry might not have embraced them, but those teenagers became a strong fanbase that matured into diehard fans.

In my 20s my tastes changed again. Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Grunge became my go to music. Rush changed their sound around that time, more keyboards and slightly more mainstream Rock. I bought less Rush music but still loved listening to the music that I associated with my youth. I remember sitting in someone’s car at Burke Catholic High School and seeing the back of the album cover for 2112 – the guys were in tight silk pajamas and kimonos (what was that about?), driving my mom’s car in New York City to go to Madison Square Garden to see them in concert, and getting the album, Subdivisions, on cassette from Jimmy Burns for my 17^th birthday. I hear those songs now and I am transported back to my room, sitting in front of my dual tape deck stereo system and I smile.

Neil Peart died last week at age 67 from brain cancer.  Neil Peart was, without question, the best drummer Rock music ever saw.  As proof you need to watch this drum solo that was filmed near the end of the band's last tour. Rush had been together for over 42 years at that point with the same line up of the same three men. And so, Rush ended last week. It is almost like a personal loss, like losing that weird, eccentric uncle who you only hear from every few years - but is so cool. Relatable - the way people reacted when Elvis or Prince died. It hurt last week and still does now.

Thank you, Neil from all of us former nerdy, socially awkward High Schoolers looking to identify with something. You put the words and music to our otherwise ordinary lives. In the movie of my life your music will always there in the background.