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The Pass Lyrics

Proud swagger out of the schoolyard
Waiting for the world's applause
Rebel without a conscience
Martyr without a cause

Static on your frequency
Electrical storm in your veins
Raging at unreachable glory
Straining at invisible chains

And now you're trembling on a rocky ledge
Staring down into a heartless sea
Can't face life on a razor's edge
Nothing's what you thought it would be

All of us get lost in the darkness
Dreamers learn to steer by the stars
All of us do time in the gutter
Dreamers turn to look at the cars
Turn around and turn around and turn around
Turn around and walk the razor's edge
Don't turn your back
And slam the door on me

It's not as if this barricade
Blocks the only road
It's not as if you're all alone
In wanting to explode

Someone set a bad example
Made surrender seem all right
The act of a noble warrior
Who lost the will to fight

And now you're trembling on a rocky ledge
Staring down into a heartless sea
Done with life on a razor's edge
Nothing's what you thought it would be

No hero in your tragedy
No daring in your escape
No salutes for your surrender
Nothing noble in your fate
Christ, what have you done?
Song Info
Submitted by
shed27 On Aug 20, 2002
32 Meanings

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Cover art for The Pass lyrics by Rush

This whole song is to do with teen suicide, but what I find from it too is that Neil is saying that life is really tough and there is alot of hurt and rejections in life thats what I get when he says "all of us get lost in the darkness" and "It's not as if this barricade blcoks the only road". Meaning that yeah life is tough and there will be a lot of tough incidents that you face, but life is worth living, don't give up on life because it is worth fighting for. This song helped me threw a breakup with my girlfriend after four years, I was really down in the dumps.

Cover art for The Pass lyrics by Rush

this song has a powerfull positive message and has saved my life on more than one ocasion for me it speaks to myADHD ""static on my frequency electrical storm in my heart". and the feelings of anxious insecurity "standing on a rocky ledge stareing out at a heartless sea" a DEbt of gratitude to Rush and there insight (i am not a teen am in my late fourties livin on the land in a small town that noone can pronounce. i have a fabulous garden

Cover art for The Pass lyrics by Rush

Great song and a great album. Saw Rush in concert when they were touring for this album. My thoughts turn to my dad when I hear this one. It really hits home. A very proud and headstrong man, he was struggling with some inner demons and the results from some poor choices in life. I left for school one day, never believing for a moment that the next time I'd see him, he'd be laying in a casket. My thoughts at the time mirror the song lyrics: "Christ, what have you done?" He was only 42. I was 11. I'm now on the edge of turning 60, and the tears still well up when I listen to this tune. I swore I would not go by suicide after struggling through the aftermath of my dad's death. Temporary troubles never require a permanent solution.

Positive
Subjective
Sadness
Loss
Grief
Legacy
Struggle
Resilience
Cover art for The Pass lyrics by Rush

incredible song. rush likes to announce this as one of their favorites in concert. it sounds like its about someone who, coming out of high school, thought the world would be handed to him, then realized it wouldnt and is now contemplating suicide, maybe jumping off a building or something, and the speaker is telling them to turn around and come back.

Cover art for The Pass lyrics by Rush

"some reason this sounds like its about neil pearts daughter who died in a car crash when she was only 19. it might have been written before that though. im not positive. but that seems to fit"

no, it was written so long before they both died. But this song seems more against suicide rather than literally being about it. It seems to mostly say keep on pushing when times are at the worst

Cover art for The Pass lyrics by Rush

Possibly the most amazing rock song ever written. This song is about the journey that is life that we all face, the choices that we make, and dealing with the results of those decisions. While the final dark ending for the main character is obvious (Christ, What Have You Done), the lyrics are yet full of optimism & hope for those who choose to struggle on in life, despite the problems & setbacks we all experience. The main character in the song seems to almost have been sacrificed so that the rest of us might be inspired to keep the flame burning.

I get Effin goose bumps every time I hear it.

It's just the new year, now. Over the past few days, radio stations in my area have been runnin the usual "Top 100 Rock Songs". I hear " Gimme 3 steps" I hear "Satisfaction" Not a whisper of The Pass. It kinda made me sad on New Years Day.....

stairway to heaven..please...the pass is better than the top 1000 on any list...only rush fans get it...makes me sad when i hear this song...sadder when i dont

Cover art for The Pass lyrics by Rush

To me one of the interesting things about Rush is that when I listened to them in my early teens, I loved a number of songs.

As I grew older I discovered that Peart wrote some profound lyrics that I could often relate to. I also discovered how diverse and complex Lee and Lifeson's arrangements were. I appreciated Rush even more, and I discovered a whole new set of great Rush songs, this being one of them.

Cover art for The Pass lyrics by Rush

Rush's best song in my view. This is not to be taken literally, it is about emotional decisions and how the choices you make turn out. A work of genius.

Cover art for The Pass lyrics by Rush

definately suicide, kind of a wierd topic for neil peart to write about. but " someone set a bad example, made surrender seem alright" is pretty dead on.

Cover art for The Pass lyrics by Rush

The song is written about the epidemic of teenage suicide. As Neil peart says "It still brings a tear to my eye to play that song, I think that's one of our better crafted ones lyrically and musically".

very strong both musically and lyrically, both upbeat and melancholic, further proof, if it were ever needed that Rush are the best band ever.

@Razormasticator Is it "epidemic of teenage suicide" or is it an epidemic of abusive and selfish parenting? Kids get blamed for everything. And no one asks to be born in this mess.

 
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