| U2 – Window in the Skies Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I'm fairly impressed with this song, as it has a nice Beatles-esque quality about its structure and seems to be a gentle landing after their stadium rock album HTDAAB. I just hope that their next studio album doesn't take on the same tone as this tune; it fits too well in the ATYCLB era. They need to branch out again and experiment a little, not stick with the same tried-and-true sound. | |
| Styx – Too Much Time On My Hands Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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Too Much Time on My Hands, off Styx's Paradise Theater, fits in with the theme they had for that album. Paradise Theater was about the recession, and this track delved a little into those effected by it. Here you have a jet-fuel genius, a fellow who is highly educated and skilled, but he can get no job because he had been laid off//fired. He is reduced to watching soap operas and aimlessly cruising about town. It's no wonder that he is amazed his sanity remains. |
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| Styx – The Grand Illusion Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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The Grand Illusion, like a few other Styx creations, was a concept album. The whole record was about a specific topic. In the case of TGI, it was advertising. In the title track, the listener is told not to be fooled by radio, the TV, or the magazines. The listener is warned that they will be shown how their life should be, but not to listen, because it's the fancies of another. If anything, this song is about the commercialization they faced back then and we face today. -K |
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| Rush – 2112 Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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The song was released in 1976 and the U.S.S.R. fell in the period of time between 1989 and 1991. That's why I said that it seems like a bit of hopeful foreseight on the part of Neil Peart. -K |
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| Rush – 2112 Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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2112 seems to be about Communism in Soviet Russia, and how it failed. "I lie awake, staring out at the bleakness of Megadon. City and sky become one, merging into a single plane, a vast sea of unbroken grey. The Twin Moons, just two pale orbs as they trace their way across the steely sky. I used to think I had a pretty good life here, just plugging into my machine for the day, then watching Templevision or reading a Temple Paper in the evening. "My friend Jon always said it was nicer here than under the atmospheric domes of the Outer Planets. We have had peace since 2062, when the surviving planets were banded together under the Red Star of the Solar Federation. The less fortunate gave us a few new moons. I believed what I was told. I thought it was a good life, I thought I was happy. Then I found something that changed it all..." This bit of text reveals that the main character of this rock epic, let us call him Boris for the sake of argument, lives in a highly industrial city where something dealing with a temple has quite a bit of influence. He is complacent because he does not know any better than what he has. This directly relates to the life of the average Soviet, because they were kept in the dark about how the rest of the world lived. Since they had nothing to compare their standard of living to, they could not have an outright complaint other than they lacked basic consumer goods the bulk of the time. Also, Soviets had a tendency to make large, industrial cities (e.g. Magnitogorsk) in order to bolster their economy (except, on the whole, these were horrid failures). And just as a bit of an easter egg for those who knew it, the Red Star was included in this text, an allusion to Communist (Red) Russia. I. Overture "And the meek shall inherit the earth..." This is taken from the Bible, right around the Beatitudes. Jesus says "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." The text here can be taken as just something Rush threw in for no reason other than to put it in, or as a bit of foreseight, saying that the meek (the common man of Russia) would one day take their land back from their Red dictator Stalin. II. The Temples of Syrinx The Temples of Syrinx is filled with all kinds of hints that this is indeed Communist Russia being spoken of in a metaphor. The preists of the Temples are the elite members of the Communist party who controlled Russia and all that occurred there. "It's one for all and all for one We work together, common sons Never need to wonder how or why. Look around at this world we've made Equality our stock in trade Come and join the Brotherhood of Man Oh, what a nice, contented world Let the banners be unfurled Hold the Red Star proudly high in hand." They had "taken care of everything," or provided the citizens of their nation with everything one needs to survive, as Russia attempted to do. The preists believed in equality, the good of the whole rather than the individual, as the Soviets did as well. The preists boast of their accomplishment, the nice, contented world that all was to be in awe of. The Soviets also bragged about their grand accomplishments, though those were usually an understatement or not even that grand. It can be safe to assume that the preists also lied about their accomplishments. Last, the Red Star is once again mentioned, this time as a rallying point. Perhaps they speak of the military, a duty fulfilled by the common man of the Soviet Union, or just as taking pride in one's nation. The Soviets encouraged pride in being Russian, whether one was Russian or not, because it unified them and stripped away even more individuality, making them easier to control. III. Discovery Boris finds a guitar, a creation of the Elder Race. He is overjoyed by it, and decides to bring it to the preists. The guitar, as you may have guessed it, symbolizes freedom and ideas. Progress on an economic and social standpoint was more or less at a stand-still in Soviet Russia, while their military bulked up and their missile systems were upgraded. Boris has found some new idea that comes from the West, the free world, and plans on telling his leaders about it. IV. Presentation "Yes, we know, it's nothing new It's just a waste of time We have no need for ancient ways The world is doing fine Another toy will help destroy The elder race of man Forget about your silly whim It doesn't fit the plan." The upper members of the Communist party were not ones who enjoyed much change. When too much change occurred under Mikhail Gorbachev, the Communist elite attempted to overthrow him in a coup. The preists are upset because this common man has found a guitar. This could directly translate into an average Communist discovering an idea from the West, telling a superior about it, and being looked down upon because it doesn't "fit the plan." The preists dismiss it as a "silly whim" and a "waste of time" because what they see is Change, and as Rush has said before "the changes aren't permanent, but Change is." Allowing one change to the plans of the preists/Communists could easily send it headlong to the death of their way of life. Both of these styles of life, which are in essense one and the same, require no change at all. V. Oracle: The Dream Boris has a vision that the world was once different, and has now "moved on" as Stephen King has put it. He sees that there is another way of life, a superior way of life, that was blotted out by the Federation when it came to power. Russia was a monarchy before it became pseudo-Communist, so this is probably not the superior way of life they speak of here. Rather, it is democracy that they turned away from, since it is the polar opposite of true Communism. Boris has seen evidence of another way of life, something from the West no doubt, and sees how it is superior to his own way of living. He also sees that the "Elder Race" (Capitalism is a much older form of economic governing than Communism) is strong, and they plan to tear down the Temples. This means that he sees the power of the Elder Race (possibly just the U.S. this time), how powerful they are, and how they plan on destroying Communism. VI. Soliloquy Boris has seen the other side. He knows how the West lives, and cannot bear to return to the humble, poor conditions he was once happy in. He thinks of how his life could have been if he was only born on the other side of the Iron Curtain and finds it too much to bear. He cannot bear to live this way any longer. "My lifeblood spills over" This either means that he kills himself because he can't endure his way of life, or that he tries to escape to freedom, and is killed in the process. VII. The Grand Finale "Attention all Planets of the Solar Federation Attention all Planets of the Solar Federation Attention all Planets of the Solar Federation We have assumed control. We have assumed control. We have assumed control." The United States has won. The Cold War is over. Mikhail Gorbachev has begun to dissolve the Soviet Union. "We" (democracy) has assumed control of the former U.S.S.R. -K 12/5/04 |
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