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The Weapon (Part II of Fear) Lyrics
We've got nothing to fear -- but fear itself?
Not pain or failure, not fatal tragedy?
Not the faulty units in this mad machinery?
Not the broken contacts in emotional chemistry?
With an iron fist in a velvet glove
We are sheltered under the gun
In the glory game on the power train
Thy kingdom's will be done
And the things that we fear are a weapon to be held against us...
He's not afraid of your judgement
He knows of horrors worse than your Hell
He's a little bit afraid of dying --
But he's a lot more afraid of your lying
And the things that he fears are a weapon to be held against him...
Can any part of life -- be larger than life?
Even love must be limited by time
And those who push us down that they might climb --
Is any killer worth more than his crime?
Like a steely blade in a silken sheath
We don't see what they're made of
They shout about love, but when push comes to shove
They live for the things they're afraid of
And the knowledge that they fear is a weapon to be used against them...
Not pain or failure, not fatal tragedy?
Not the faulty units in this mad machinery?
Not the broken contacts in emotional chemistry?
We are sheltered under the gun
In the glory game on the power train
Thy kingdom's will be done
He knows of horrors worse than your Hell
He's a little bit afraid of dying --
But he's a lot more afraid of your lying
Even love must be limited by time
And those who push us down that they might climb --
Is any killer worth more than his crime?
We don't see what they're made of
They shout about love, but when push comes to shove
They live for the things they're afraid of
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The first verse is an attack on FDR's assertion that there is nothing to fear but fear itself. Neil Peart has some rhetorical answers.
It talks about how those who try to control us/ make demands of us come up with forms of "jut knowing" so that we have to surrender our minds to them, live in fear of the unknown, and just succumb:
"He's not afraid of your judgement He knows of horrors worse than your Hell He's a little bit afraid of dying -- But he's a lot more afraid of your lying"
When he says "Can any part of life be larger than life," he is specifically attacking God/faith/all forms of mysticism. This is clear if you are familiar with Peart's philosophy.
The final stanza is perhaps the most pregnant with meaning:
"Like a steely blade in a silken sheath We don't see what they're made of They shout about love, but when push comes to shove They live for the things they're afraid of"
The religious who offer us their philosophy come up with convoluted systems that amount to not much more than baseless claims (Kant's noumenal/phenomenal dichotemy, or the threat of hell, perhaps?)
They shout about love (preach goodwill, kindness, self-sacrifice/immolation, "taking up a cross," "dying to be born into eternal life"). But when push comes to shove, they literally live for the things they're afraid of, namely the groundless claim that you will burn in hell. This is the "weapon" with which others hold against you to sacrifice your own mind and judgement to their irrational control over you.
Finally, when Peart says "the knowledge that they fear is a weapon to be used against them," he is encouraging you to fight back with your own certainty and rational judgement and to hold them accountable for their unfounded assertions. True knowledge is what can be used against them, because behind the curtain, they are intellectually bankrupt.
Those familiar with Peart's philosophy know where I came from with this one, and it makes perfect sense. So, no, I don't think I took it too far. I believe this is exactly what the intended meaning was and is.
PapaSmurf is SPOT ON. I was a little disheartened when I read all the posts before it that so many did not get it. Notice too that all of the opening lines are questions -- rhetorical "answers" as Papa points out.
PapaSmurf is SPOT ON. I was a little disheartened when I read all the posts before it that so many did not get it. Notice too that all of the opening lines are questions -- rhetorical "answers" as Papa points out.
Neil is unloading a "sermon" of his own -- a pretty righteous and intellectually sound one too -- which can not be said for the subjects he is dealing with in this masterpiece. This theme can be found in quite a number of their songs.
Neil is unloading a "sermon" of his own -- a pretty righteous and intellectually sound one too -- which can not be said for the subjects he is dealing with in this masterpiece. This theme can be found in quite a number of their songs.
Anyway, thanks Papa for setting the record straight.
Anyway, thanks Papa for setting the record straight.
I hate to use the phrase (sort of) ... but ... AMEN! Spot on, my friend. +1
I hate to use the phrase (sort of) ... but ... AMEN! Spot on, my friend. +1
great song ! a fantastic rythem...electronic beat to a pulsating power riff. 'signals' is one hell of a cd.
One of the best Rush tracks ever.
Which CDs have parts of Fear on them?
Witch Hunt, Part 3: Moving Pictures The Weapon, Part 2: Signals Grace Under Pressure, Part 1: Grace Under Pressure Freeze, Part 4: Vapor Trails
Oops, copying mistake, change "Grace Under Pressure" to "The Enemy Within." Grace Under Pressure is the album, not the song.
Nope, the song has nothing to do with nuclear weaponry.
@nemt It may not have been, in particular by Peart, but if he's wanting us to use our brain and come to our own conclusions, the threat of nuclear weapons can be "a weapon to be used against us." Just the threat has people living in fear. Why do you think the powers that be don't want nuclear weapons to be developed by Iran? Definitely, that threat is being used against a lot of us. You can't deny that the US government has a track record of telling us who the bad guy is and that...
@nemt It may not have been, in particular by Peart, but if he's wanting us to use our brain and come to our own conclusions, the threat of nuclear weapons can be "a weapon to be used against us." Just the threat has people living in fear. Why do you think the powers that be don't want nuclear weapons to be developed by Iran? Definitely, that threat is being used against a lot of us. You can't deny that the US government has a track record of telling us who the bad guy is and that we need to go to war with them just to feed the military industrial complex.
I was listening to it one day, and I think I figured out what it means. The song is actually quite literal for Peart. It's basically saying that something a person fears, whether it be knowledge, weaponry, or something else, is a "Weapon to be held/used against them/him". (Which does include, but not limited to, nuclear weaponry.)
Honestly, just this song, sounds like a throwback to the zenith of the Papacy and The Roman Catholic Church.
My favorite "Fear" song.