I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
If I could wave my magic wand
I am made from the dust of the stars
And the oceans flow in my veins
Here I hide in the heart of the city
Like a stranger coming out of the rain
The evening plane rises up from the runway
Over constellations of light
I look down into a million houses
And wonder what you're doing tonight
If I could wave my magic wand
I'd make everything all right
I'm not one to believe in magic
But I sometimes have a second-sight
I'm not one with a sense of proportion
When my heart still changes overnight
I had a dream of a winter garden
A midnight rendezvous
Silver, blue, and frozen silence
What a fool I was for you
I had a dream of the open water
I was swimming away out to sea
So deep I could never touch bottom
What a fool I used to be
If I could wave my magic wand
I'd set everybody free
I'm not one to believe in magic
Though my memory has a second-sight
I'm not one to go pointing my finger
When I radiate more heat than light
Don't ask me
I'm just improvising
My illusion of careless flight
Can't you see
My temperature's rising
I radiate more heat than light
Don't ask me
I'm just sympathizing
My illusions a harmless flight
Can't you see
My temperature's rising
I radiate more heat than light
I'm not one to believe in magic
But I sometimes have a second-sight
I'm not one with a sense of proportion
When my heart still changes overnight
I'm not one to believe in magic
If I could wave my magic wand
Though my memory has a second-sight
I'd make everything alright
I'm not one to go pointing my finger
If I could wave my magic wand
When I radiate more heat than light
I'd set everybody free
I'm not one to believe in magic
If I could wave my magic wand
I am made from the dust of the stars
And the oceans flow in my veins
Here I hide in the heart of the city
Like a stranger coming out of the rain
The evening plane rises up from the runway
Over constellations of light
I look down into a million houses
And wonder what you're doing tonight
If I could wave my magic wand
I'd make everything all right
I'm not one to believe in magic
But I sometimes have a second-sight
I'm not one with a sense of proportion
When my heart still changes overnight
I had a dream of a winter garden
A midnight rendezvous
Silver, blue, and frozen silence
What a fool I was for you
I had a dream of the open water
I was swimming away out to sea
So deep I could never touch bottom
What a fool I used to be
If I could wave my magic wand
I'd set everybody free
I'm not one to believe in magic
Though my memory has a second-sight
I'm not one to go pointing my finger
When I radiate more heat than light
Don't ask me
I'm just improvising
My illusion of careless flight
Can't you see
My temperature's rising
I radiate more heat than light
Don't ask me
I'm just sympathizing
My illusions a harmless flight
Can't you see
My temperature's rising
I radiate more heat than light
I'm not one to believe in magic
But I sometimes have a second-sight
I'm not one with a sense of proportion
When my heart still changes overnight
I'm not one to believe in magic
If I could wave my magic wand
Though my memory has a second-sight
I'd make everything alright
I'm not one to go pointing my finger
If I could wave my magic wand
When I radiate more heat than light
I'd set everybody free
I'm not one to believe in magic
If I could wave my magic wand
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I love the line "What a fool I used to be!" I think we all feel like that when we look back- we think we know everything, then something happens to make us realize what idiots we are, that we know nothing.
The lyrics (by drummer Neal Peart) expresses great empathy and sympathy for anyone who has faced some of life's greatest difficulties at one time or another.
If only there was a way - by magic even, if it existed, to lift the spell of uncertainty, disappointment, heartache, grief and pain for those who are suffering through it.
He feels this empathy as he recalls his own past mistakes - clearly seeing the fool he used to be and so tries not to judge...
Being only human of course, and still learning and growing himself, he can only empathize and sympathize with others' suffering as he does not have all the answers.
As Athiests may interpret it, the lyrics can be seen to have a subtle reference to "some immortal power" who presumably HAS all the answers as well as a "magic wand" ...
i dont think there is anyone here who wouldnt jump at the chance to simply wave a wand to make everything perfect
Amazing. The acoustic sections are very cool, with the drums backing them, and one of Geddy's best perfomances to date.
I think this song is about how everyone would like to go back and fix mistakes but can't.
I always felt like I understood some of the parts but not the song as a whole. The verse "The evening plane rises up from the runway Over constellations of light I look down into a million houses And wonder what you're doing tonight"
I felt was a reference to always being on the go and not able to enjoy a family or a more simple life. But when I look at the "you're" as an individual instead of a "millon" people and also the same individual that I use to be a "fool" for, the song made more sense. Seems to be about this, someone lost a romantic partner(girlfriend, wife, ect.) for whatever reason.(lost contact, break-up, divorce, ect.) The person thinks that they are "over" the lost partner until a vivid dream or even a full out return of the person brings back lost memories. And so "Presto" that person is back in their life. Kinda like losing a parent or wife beacause of death and then seeing them in a dream. Plus "I'm just improvising My illusion of careless flight" sounds like a dream.
I think he is simply thinking about what people in random houses below are doing. As he is looking down at the millions of houses, he is thinking about the millions of people living out there lives and wondering what they may be doing.
I have no idea what this song means - but I love it!!!
bensommer.com/blog/deep-music-criticism-10-rush-presto/
Dude just hopped on a plane and left his wife, even though it hurts and he still wonders about her. He was a fool for her charms when he was a younger man, but I guess he swallowed the red pill and figured her games out and bailed.
The metaphor of the frozen place of his feelings had him trapped when he was a fool for her, but it all melted away into a deep ocean as he swam away from her, realizing what a fool he used to be.
Frozen also being the true nature of a woman's ice cold heart.
i love this song so much! i agree Beemer...thats why the lyrics are so great b/c anyone can relate to it...every person would like to make "everything alright" with just one wave of a magic wand
Quite frankly, this song is saying that all the would-be world changers are fools...