Bravado

Of all of rush's songs, I think this's probably my favorite. Same with the roll the bones album. Every song on it was good, and touching in their own way.

The wings burning from flying to close to the sun is definate tribute to the myth of icarus, no denying that one.

The rest... well the rest just states just how badly the failure was. In the end, we all stumble and fall, and the farther up yeu are, the farther there is to fall. To attempt greatness is to put it all on the line. How many fallen would-be heroes are listed as nothing more than a statistic? Sure we hear about the "hero" who saved someone from a burning building... and how often do we hear about "3 died in a fire" when two people ran in to try to save someone and they were all lost?

There's always a price to pay, and sometimes it's steeper than we're willing to pay. Risk vs reward, people measure it differently. We need to though for the species as a whole to survive... if one person's in a burning building and 10 stand outside... if all 10 ran in there to help, chances are yeu'd just end up with 11 dead people instead of 1. Self preservation's a pretty high goal because of that. But at the same time, sending 1 person in to help out... the risk is double or nothing; acceptable odds in some cases.

The sacrifices made can be worth it though, sure the dream may not come true, perhaps we'll crash and burn in the attempt, but we have to at least try. If we can't push the risks out of our minds, we can never become more than we are. Then again, to quote Despair.com... "Until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore, you will not know the terror of being forever lost at sea".

Without risk, there is no gain, but the gain isn't a guarantee. It's a fitting tribute song though to those who took the risks for greatness, and lost the bet. The difference between courage and foolishness is knowing the risks. The difference between greatness and a statistic is a roll of the dice. Of course, with my luck, I know which way the dice are going to roll so probably better to play it safe in my case, but I'm all for those who are willing to take the chance. Someone has to after all...