He's a rebel and a runner
He's a signal turning green
He's a restless young romantic
Wants to run the big machine

He's got a problem with his poisons
But you know he'll find a cure
He's cleaning up the systems
To keep his nature pure

Learning to match the beat of the old-world man
Learning to catch the heat of the third-world man

He's got to make his own mistakes
And learn to mend the mess he makes
He's old enough to know what's right
And young enough not to choose it
He's noble enough to win the world
But weak enough to lose it

He's a new-world man

He's a radio receiver
Tuned to factories and farms
He's a writer and ranger and a young boy bearing arms
He's got a problem with his powers
His weapons on patrol
He's got to walk a fine line
And keep his self-control

Trying to save the day for the old-world man
Trying to pave the way for the third-world man

He's not concerned with yesterday
He knows constant change is here today
He's noble enough to know what's right
But weak enough not to choose it
He's wise enough to win the world
But fool enough to lose it

He's a new-world man

Learning to match the beat of the old-world man
He's learning to catch the heat of the third-world man

He's a new world man
He's a new world man


Lyrics submitted by crackermcnacca

New World Man Lyrics as written by Gary Lee Weinrib Neil Elwood Peart

Lyrics © Anthem Entertainment

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

New World Man song meanings
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33 Comments

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  • +7
    My Interpretation

    To me, this song speaks of the challenges of being the USA. "He" is America, born of rebellion and just running/pushing into the future with no red light to stop him and full of romantic idealism married with ambition to become the pre-eminent power. Understanding he'll have problems, he also knows/believes he can overcome anything.

    The "old world man" are the old European powers of yesteryear that resent the new kid on the block but expect that new kid to behave with deference and be their saviour when needed. Obviously, the "third world man" are emerging countries - their resentment of what America possesses underlying the need and expectation that America will assist them too.

    Peart sees the good and bad in America - wisdom and foolishness, nobility and weakness, intellecualism and bellicosity, the desire to do the right thing but the reality of sometimes just not choosing the right path. The lyric "a radio receiver tuned to factories and farms, he's a writer" refers to a nation of great diversity and broad understanding capable of scripting its future but the line "ranger and a young boy bearing arms" infers an impulsive and inexperienced nation that sometimes just charges ahead without thought. This nation is great enough to win the world but just might lose it all through foolish decisions.

    Speaking as a Canadian observing, appreciating and sometimes deriding America from north of the 49th parallel, I thing Neil pretty much nailed this one straight on. America is great and full of promise, worthy of admiration ... but somehow, it just never seems to realize all it could be.

    I'm not sure if the rest of the world sees America with the same affection and concern for where it might end up in the long run, so my interpretation might be coloured by my nationality. Then again, this IS a Canadian band ...

    GWNMusingon March 09, 2013   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    This is a song about America. (America = the new world man). It's about how we are perceived by other nations (third world and old world), and how a nation so young can handle being a world power.

    I especially like the line "He's old enough to know what's right and young enough not to choose it."

    -Dhaval

    dhavalon August 19, 2002   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    One of the best sets of lyrics ever!

    It's about America as a rising world leader the events surrounding a rise to power.

    Alice_in_Soundweezeron September 05, 2016   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    This song is just about America in general. How we have emerged so quickly as a world leader, while only being three hundred years old. America sometimes doesn't seem readt for that postion, other times it shines. It has its ups and down, just as the song suggests.

    DasBear017on October 07, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    To me, "New World Man" is a metaphor for the United States, particularly in 1982, when the song was written. In the 1980s, with its revived Cold War tensions, the USA was trying to save the day for the Old World Men (Western Europe), and trying to pave the way (other than the Soviet Way) for developing nations.

    cali104141on December 16, 2019   Link
  • +2
    Song Meaning

    This song is clearly about the USA. Consider the time it was written, 1982, when the Cold War was still raging.

    Terms like "Old World" and "Third World" definitely refer to other countries. "Third World" had an especially potent meaning in 1982. It was the developing and often unstable part of the world that the USA and the USSR were fighting over.

    America as the "New World Man", full of power "with weapons on patrol", admired and yet resented by other nations, trying to save the day (from Soviet aggression) for the Old World (Western European) Man, and trying to pave the way (a way other than, and away from, Communism) for the Third World Man. Culturally he (it?) often was (and still is) seen as primitive by the Old World Man, and imperious by the Third World Man.

    Is the song pro-USA? In the sense that it is upbeat, yes. However, the lyrics also contain admonitions and warnings of how the USA, with all its power, could blunder terribly, and even do evil. The New World Man, for all his nobility, still has problems with his power and poisons. Neil Peart, a Canadian, viewed the USA quite positively, while still acknowledging its flaws.

    nickb1967on September 28, 2016   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    He is the one pushing forward into the future... the one who rides the wake and feels the ebb and flow. Lost in his fractal boundary, neither here nor there and torn between the push from the old and the pull towards the new, and trying to find himself amidst those tidal forces which surround him.

    He is independent and free thinking, but keeps an open ear and mind to the noise which is around him. He is the artist and the philosopher. He is the one who deals with the present as it shows itself, and gives his insight back to those around him. The New World Man is the most important in any society because he is the one who pushes everyone else forward, even if begrudgingly or unwittingly.

    I think this entire album is about the individual, the intellectual and the new world man coming to grips with himself and his wold in the middle of this seemingly chaotic maelstrom of progress.

    mfratton September 08, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    more great lyrics from Neil. one of the more mellow rush songs

    shed27on June 23, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    the best song that rush ever did.

    poohblueskyon June 30, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is my mother's favorite Rush song, and with good reason: It is a wonderful song. I could care less aobut wha it means (well not really, songs with a deeper meaning rule all) just because it sounds so beautiful.

    MasterDuncan03on July 06, 2003   Link

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