There are exhilarating rock intros out there, like The Faces' Stay With Me, Iggy Pop's Lust For Life, and Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run. But I think Rush's The Spirit of Radio is the best of the bunch. The guitar riff is like my dog suddenly jumping on me in the morning, wake up and play and be happy! A big slobbery kiss at 0:04, I try to roll over but she just jumps over to that side as well, bounding all about. Finally at 0:17 I have surrendered to her will and I am up. Look out the window, turn on the coffee, eat some breakfast, get dressed, grab the leash and treats and baggies, and then at 0:42 we hit the open road for a walkie.
Begin the day with a friendly voice, a companion unobtrusive...well, I can't continue with the dog analogy because at 5 in the morning her voice is loud and obnoxious, and when we are out walking in the neighborhood she can occasionally be quite obtrusive. However, she is a very friendly companion.
The Spirit of Radio is about...drum roll...radio! The joy and beauty of music coming through the speakers, dancing around you on the airwaves, undemanding contact in your happy solitude. At 1:24, bass drum pounds and the first guitar riff returns, and another lyrical section about...the radio! Isn't it amazing! A gift beyond price. We can't see the airwaves, but we pick up on the sounds entering our ears, our bright antennae bristle with the energy, and the translation through our minds produces emotional feedback.
Of course, although one likes to believe in the freedom of music, radio is a business, and there are glittering prizes and endless compromises going on behind the scenes that shatter the illusion of integrity, yeah.
Check out that tumbling down moment at 3:36, it's the exasperation of dealing with the radio executive, the schmoozing DJ, the Biz. But Rush pick themselves up for an introspective moment: For the words of the profits were written on the studio wall. They record the music and radio helps sell their albums, and the band members makes their livings this way, so buck up and deal with it. Did they think adding a reggae groove would help? Well, it didn't. This whole discussion of radio has made them bitter and reflective, so they decide to release their emotions with a sizzling guitar solo that extends out into their listeners' brains and by the end everyone is happy. And now, a thousand words from our sponsors, followed by a 90 minute classic rock music marathon, and we will only play songs you've already heard a zillion times because if you hear anything unfamiliar it might be considered obtrusive and we'd get in trouble with the FCC.
Begin the day with a friendly voice, a companion unobtrusive...well, I can't continue with the dog analogy because at 5 in the morning her voice is loud and obnoxious, and when we are out walking in the neighborhood she can occasionally be quite obtrusive. However, she is a very friendly companion.
The Spirit of Radio is about...drum roll...radio! The joy and beauty of music coming through the speakers, dancing around you on the airwaves, undemanding contact in your happy solitude. At 1:24, bass drum pounds and the first guitar riff returns, and another lyrical section about...the radio! Isn't it amazing! A gift beyond price. We can't see the airwaves, but we pick up on the sounds entering our ears, our bright antennae bristle with the energy, and the translation through our minds produces emotional feedback.
Of course, although one likes to believe in the freedom of music, radio is a business, and there are glittering prizes and endless compromises going on behind the scenes that shatter the illusion of integrity, yeah.
Check out that tumbling down moment at 3:36, it's the exasperation of dealing with the radio executive, the schmoozing DJ, the Biz. But Rush pick themselves up for an introspective moment: For the words of the profits were written on the studio wall. They record the music and radio helps sell their albums, and the band members makes their livings this way, so buck up and deal with it. Did they think adding a reggae groove would help? Well, it didn't. This whole discussion of radio has made them bitter and reflective, so they decide to release their emotions with a sizzling guitar solo that extends out into their listeners' brains and by the end everyone is happy. And now, a thousand words from our sponsors, followed by a 90 minute classic rock music marathon, and we will only play songs you've already heard a zillion times because if you hear anything unfamiliar it might be considered obtrusive and we'd get in trouble with the FCC.
Good Geddy yeahs in this one: "yeah! your honesty" and "...integrity, yeah."
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