Manhattan Project Lyrics
In the dying days of a war
A weapon - that would settle the score
Whoever found it first
Would be sure to do their worst -
They always had before...
A scientist pacing the floor
In each nation - always eager to explore
To build the best big stick
To turn the winning trick -
But this was something more...
Shot down the rising sun
the end was begun - it would hit everyone
When the chain reaction was done
The big shots - try to hold it back
Fools try to wish it away
The hopeful depend on a world without end
Whatever the hopeless may say
They gathered from across the land
To work in the secrecy of the desert sand
All of the brightest boys
To play with the biggest toys -
More than they bargained for...
The pilot of "Enola Gay"
Flying out of the shockwave on that August day
All the powers that be, and the course of history,
Would be changed for evermore...
Neil read something around 10 books on the subject to make sure all the facts were correct, now thats dedication.
One of Rush's few entirely literal songs. There is nothing more here than Neil's retelling of the race to build the bomb. Anecdotally, this song got me to where I am today, studying nuclear engineering in college. It went from "I want to hear more about the manhattan project" to "wow this nuclear stuff is pretty amazing" to "I want to work in nuclear energy". So here I am, thank you Rush for helping me decide my career path.
my fave rush song.
Not really, if you listen to the lyrics, it is clearly about WWII. Big Bang took and shook the world, SHOT DOWN THE RISING SUN. An obvious reference to WWII Japan. Besides, they even said it was about WWII in the booklet that came with The Chronicles album.
When the first A-bomb was detonated, the scientists were unsure of what would happen. Some of them truly believed that the chain reaction would never stop and the planet would be destroyed. In a sense that is what did happen. With the advent of nuclear weapons, the world that changed, and the old world was gone forever.
Hey Frank - The video where the boy is riding the missle is the music video for "Distant Early Warning", not "The Manhattan Project".
Good song. This song helped me learn what my aunt experienced on August 6, 1945 in the city of Hiroshima. She was one klick south of the Peace Dome in Hiroshima-shi. It's also sad that the song Manhattan Project also had its downfall in the U.S. In New Jersey, while the bombs were being made, the corporaions who made these bombs dumped tons of fluoride into Jersey's harbor, thus making Jersey on of the most dirtiest states. Impossible? Look it up. Oh, BTW, the fluoride they used to make the bombs? There is no legal place to dump it, so they put it in our toothpaste and water. See? Just by listening to Rush, one learns
Asian Rush Fan-
Re: dumping fluoride, and putting in our toothpaste and water to get rid of it, I hope you're being sarcastic...
Kids, If he's not kidding, fluoride strengthens tooth enamel. It's put in our water because it's a necessary mineral that we don't get from our food.
This song is great. Doesn't glorify the A-bomb. Just tells the story.
a good political song about WWII, and not chicks, as my brother seemed to think it was.
It could be about 'chicks' symbolically (MAYBE), but in a literal sense it's totally about the atomic bombs, "fat man" and "little boy".