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Lock And Key Lyrics
I don't want to face the killer instinct --
Face it in your or me
We carry a sensitive cargo
Below the waterline --
Ticking like a time bomb
With a primitive design
Behind the finer feelings --
This civilized veneer --
The heart of a lonely hunter
Guards a dangerous frontier
The balance can sometimes fail --
Strong emotions can tip the scale --
Don't want to silence a desperate voice
For the sake of security
No one wants to make a terrible choice
On the price of being free
I don't want to face the killer instinct -- face it in you or me
So we keep it under lock and key...
It's not a matter of mercy
It's not a matter of laws
Plenty of people will kill you for some fanatical cause
It's not a matter of conscience --
A search for probable cause
It's just a matter of instinct -- a matter of fatal flaws
No reward for resistance
No assistance -- no applause...
we don't want to be victims
on that we all agree, so we lock up the killer instinct --
and throw away the key...
Face it in your or me
Below the waterline --
Ticking like a time bomb
With a primitive design
This civilized veneer --
The heart of a lonely hunter
Guards a dangerous frontier
Strong emotions can tip the scale --
For the sake of security
No one wants to make a terrible choice
On the price of being free
I don't want to face the killer instinct -- face it in you or me
So we keep it under lock and key...
It's not a matter of laws
Plenty of people will kill you for some fanatical cause
A search for probable cause
It's just a matter of instinct -- a matter of fatal flaws
No assistance -- no applause...
on that we all agree, so we lock up the killer instinct --
and throw away the key...
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Many songs on "Hold Your Fire" are written around a central theme of instinct, inner feelings and primal urges. In particular, some of the songs (this one included) seem to address how people let things slide for the sake of a quiet life or a clear conscience. Check out "Second Nature", "Turn The Page" and "Open Secrets"
Great song, cool video too. I agree with lerxstgk fully on this one.
I find this tune a little puzzling. It almost seems like they are saying that keeping our primal urges to kill under control is a BAD thing.
Perhaps it's just a reminder that those impulses are there, and we need to be on the look-out for them surfacing. That seems lame, (especially for Rush), so it's got to be something else. That's why I came to this page, hoping someone had some insight on it. Oh well!
Still a great tune. Hold Your Fire is, in my opinion, Rush's greatest album.
It's not saying about how our own primal urges are good or bad, but because of others' we face the difficult (although sometimes all too easy) option of locking them away