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Neil Peart, Champion of Individualism; The late drummer left behind a legacy of unparalleled musicianship and freedom-celebrating lyrics.
Reason ^ | January 13, 2020 | Christian Britschgi

Posted on 01/14/2020 3:13:58 PM PST by DoodleBob

Neil Peart, the longtime drummer for the Canadian band Rush, died last week of brain cancer, leaving behind a legacy as one of rock's most technically accomplished percussionists and perhaps its most articulate libertarian lyricist. The 67-year-old songwriter regularly championed individualism, choice, and freedom over soul-crushing conformity.

Early Rush songs are saturated with such messages. The song "Freewill," released on 1980's Permanent Waves album, puts self-determination at the root of the human experience: "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."

In "The Trees," released two years earlier, Peart tells a fable about a forest where the maple trees demand to be made equal with the taller oaks. It doesn't go well:

So the maples formed a union
and demanded equal rights.
"The oaks are just too greedy.
We will make them give us light."
Now there's no more oak oppression
for they passed a noble law.
And the trees are all kept equal
by hatchet, axe, and saw.

Sometimes Peart's individualism could be compressed into a single line, as in Rush's 1981 hit "Tom Sawyer": "No, his mind is not for rent/to any god or government."

Rush's 1976 album 2112, which Peart dedicated to the "genius of Ayn Rand," tells the story of a futuristic theocracy that outlaws individualism and creativity, including the electric guitar. Rand's novel The Fountainhead had a particularly heavy influence on Peart, who described the affinity he felt for the book's protagonist in a 1997 interview with Scott Bullock for Liberty magazine:

Howard Roark stood as a role model for me—as exactly the way I already was living. Even at that tender age [18] I already felt that.

(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...


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KEYWORDS: aynrand; neilpeart; rush
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To: dfwgator

Yes, Billy Joel’s drummer is really good.


61 posted on 01/14/2020 8:02:41 PM PST by Phillyred
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To: Manuel OKelley

One band I would have liked to see just once. Oh well.


62 posted on 01/14/2020 8:03:58 PM PST by Phillyred
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To: Phillyred

Philly, you posted exactly the song was in my head. One of their finest, IMHO. Not a rock anthem, just a song about growing older and living life. 1987, Hold Your Fire.

Way back in 1976, I remember hearing the “2112” album when it first came out; I was a teen. Had started guitar about two years prior, and when I heard that album I was instantly drawn in.

Moving Pictures, Grace Under Pressure, and Power Windows are some of the greatest albums ever, IMHO.

Been a fan ever since. The Professor will be missed, and fondly remembered by me.


63 posted on 01/15/2020 4:55:10 AM PST by NFHale (The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)
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