Time Stand Still

I'm in my early forties now, and "children growing up, old friends growing older" means even more to me than it did when the Hold Your Fire LP came out in '87, when I was 21.

Neil Peart wrote this song about his desire to start living his life in the MOMENT, thru his transformation into a Conscious being...someone who knew and embraced ultimate Truth...that we are all INFINITE beings of Consciousness merely experiencing ourselves, temporarily, in a 3-D, Holographic illusive reality, thru our senses, controlled by our thoughts.

Linear Time is merely an ILLUSION that cannot possibly exist as all Matter "pops" in and out of existence based solely upon whether we are observing it or not. If you understand the Double Slit Experiment (which Peart does), then you understand the truth of our reality within the Maya. ALL Matter is merely EMPTY SPACE that appears to be solid ONLY when we focus our thoughts upon it. What matter truly is, within the true fabric of the Unified Field, is infinite waves of possibilities simply eternally waiting for us to collapse the wave function and turn it into our reality in the moment.

As human beings we CONCEIVE of nothing...our brains merely RECEIVE these electrical signals of zeros and ones and decodes them into "language"/images that we can understand. The ONLY job that we humans have is to PERCEIVE these "downloaded and decoded" signals into our reality based upon our core beliefs. Thus, what any of us truly is...is merely what we BELIEVE to be true. And where do 99.9% of our Beliefs come from??? Parents, Schools, Governments, Religion, Books, TV, Movies, and worst of all, ADVERTISING (propaganda).

Thus, we believe what we are told to believe by people who are LYING to us...either purposefully or through ignorance...either way it doesn't matter. Thus, when we AWAKEN to a higher Consciousness, we are learning to abandon the lies we grew up with, as we embrace the truths that we discover...the rock band Rush is part of our fabric of truth...just as reading Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe or JRR Tolkien is. Within these songs, within those books, we come to realize that what we have been raised with was merely designed to CONTROL US, even most Parents operate this way.

Peart was describing his surrender to the moment, to the NOW. He symbolically turned to the sun (Light) and let down all his defences so that he could let go of all his darkness. And where does darkness reside for most of us? Within our memories, or the Illusion of the past.

Understand, that if Linear time is a myth, then the past or the future cannot possibly exist, only the now. Only the sensation of the past is real...and this is what society has focused their powers upon...constantly presenting us with systems of LIMITATION, designed to promote FEAR. Because when we believe that "bad" things are real and can hurt us, then the PAST and the FUTURE become much, much more prevalent in our reality than the now. This is when "they" own us...when they control us, as we begin to act liked trapped animals, instead of eternal beings of light capable of anything.

Neil Peart knew that the NOW is all that can possibly exist; thus, by living in it, our vision clears, and we begin to notice all the wonderful things that surround our true reality...Fear falls away b/c it's NOT REAL, only a perception that can't exist when we are focused within the now. Thus, he no longer cares what others think, he is simply focused upon HIS world, HIS experiences. And since "time stands still" while living in the moment, there's no need to "hurry along" or worry about missed opportunities. He can now patiently wait upon his grounded vessel, awaiting the tide to change. This is the beginning of patience and wisdom...when we block out all the "white noise" bullshit of society from our minds by going within, we are gifted with the Peace, calm, wisdom and harmony that flows through the vibration of Love!

This song. Is my absolute favourite song. Rush or any other band. Aside from being a BASS! song, the vocals and all instruments seem to blend perfectly for a sound that just takes me to another place. I fell in love with it about 11 years ago, an older friend played part of the bass for me, and it's been my favourite ever since. I believe, as others have said, that it's about holding on to what you have, and how you can't stop the passing of time. How sometimes, you just wish that things would slow the hell down and you could look a little deeper at it.

I also see it, as something very deep to me, as being about realizing you're falling in love with someone. How you never want that moment to end, and how time really seems to stand still, or how you wish it was. How you wish so desperately that you could escape to somewhere where the craziness and change of everyday life doesn't exist, where you can concentrate on pure sensation and nothing else exists. Of course, that's a personal spin and I know it wasn't the intended meaning. Just my two cents.

I just recently got into rush, got their Chronicles album and this song is one of my favorite. Amazing, amazing song.

"I turn my back to the wind" makes you think of your best friend? Wow... how deep.

I accidentally discovered this song last year, and I am sooo glad I did. It is a beautiful song, Definitely about having life rush by you and wanting to slow it down, to enjoy it more fully. Love it so much!

It's all about relishing the time you have...

Wow. There is a big difference listening to this when you were in your early twenties to when you are in your mid 50's. I now have two young sons, and it is true how they say they grow up fast. It really almost brings me to tears- when you are a father just thinking of the time your kids will be grown and away from you- or if something tragic could happen - you can't think of ANYTHING worse.

If Peart wasn't one of the greatest contemporary drummers, he'd be one of the greast contemporary poets.

In my view, these are the best lyrics Neil Peart ever wrote. For a while, I thought that Rush's lyrics were a bit to clever for their own good. I couldn't relate to the literature and mythology they often referenced. But I can easily relate to these lyrics.

It's about wanting to make the most of what you've got, in the present. "I'm not looking back / But I want to look around me now". It's a bit of a lament about how time can pass so quickly. "Children growing up - old friends growing older" - that's happening to me, right now.

Deals with the nature of our society - Things move to quickly, kids want to grow up too fast, and people are too busy to pause and enjoy the present.