There is never love without pain
Life is the power that remains
-Rush (Secret Touch)

Sometimes I freeze -- until the light comes
Sometimes I fly -- into the night
Sometimes I fight -- against the darkness
Sometimes I'm wrong -- sometimes I'm right
-Rush (Freeze)

Did I have a dream?
Or did the dream have me?
-Rush (Nocturne)

I wasn't praying for magic
I was hiding in plain sight
Rising up from the surface
To fly into the light
-Rush (Sweet Miracle)

Reflected light
To another's sight
And the moon tells a lover's story

My borrowed face
And my third-hand grace
Only reflect your glory

You're still out of reach
For a dream to rise to
Earthshine
-Rush (Earthshine)

Surge of energy, spark of inspiration
The breath of love is electricity
Maybe Time is a bird in flight
Endlessly mocking
Here we come out of the cradle
Endlessly rocking
Endlessly rocking
-Rush (Out of the Cradle)

Horizon to horizon
memory written on the wind
Fading away, like an hourglass, grain by grain
Swept away like voices in a hurricane

In a vapor trail
-Rush (Vapor Trail)

Foot up the stair
Shoulder to the wheel
You can't tell yourself not to care
You can't tell yourself how to feel

That's how it is

Another cloudy day
-Rush (How It Is)

What is the meaning of this
And the stars look down
What are you trying to do?
And the stars look down
Was it something I said?
And the stars look down
Something you'd like me to do?
And the stars look down
-Rush (The Stars Look Down)

winding like an ancient river
the time is now again

hope is like an endless river
the time is now again
-Rush (Ceiling Unlimited)

Sunrise in the mirror
Lightens that invisible load
Riding on a nameless quest
Haunting that wilderness road
Like a ghost rider
-Rush (Ghost Rider)

Sunrise on the road behind
Sunset on the road ahead
There's nothing to stop you now
Nothing can stop you now
-Rush (Ghost Rider)

All this time we're talking and sharing our Rational View
A billion other voices are spreading other news
All this time we're living and trying to understand
Why a billion other choices are making their demands
-Rush (Peaceable Kingdom)

Talk of a Peaceable Kingdom
Talk of a time without fear
The ones we wish would listen
Are never going to hear
-Rush (Peaceable Kingdom)

All this time we're shuffling and laying out all our cards
While a billion other dealers are slipping past our guards
All this time we're hoping and praying we all might learn
While a billion other teachers are teaching them how to burn
-Rush (Peaceable Kingdom)

Dream of a Peaceable Kingdom
Dream of a time without war
The ones we wish would hear us
Have heard it all before
-Rush (Peaceable Kingdom)

All this time we're burning like bonfires in the dark
A billion other blazes are shooting off their sparks
Every spark a drifting ember of desire
To fall upon the earth and spark another fire

A homeward angel on the fly
A wave toward the clearing sky
-Rush (Peaceable Kingdom)

Celebrate the moment
As it turns into one more
Another chance at victory
Another chance to score
-Rush (One Little Victory)

The measure of the moment
Is a difference of degree
Just one little victory
A spirit breaking free
One little victory
The greatest act can be
One little victory
-Rush (One Little Victory)

Roll away the stone
(Sisyphus)
Roll away the stone
If you could just move yours
I could get working on my own
-Rush (Carve Away The Stone)

I can learn to resist
Anything but temptation
I can learn to co-exist
With anything but pain
-Rush (Resist)

I can learn to compromise
Anything but my desires
I can learn to get along
With all the things I can't explain
-Rush (Resist)

I can learn to resist
Anything but frustration
I can learn to persist
With anything but aiming low
-Rush (Resist)

I can learn to close my eyes
To anything but injustice
I can learn to get along
With all the things I don't know
-Rush (Resist)

You can surrender
Without a prayer
But never really pray
Without surrender

You can fight
Without ever winning
But never ever win
Without a fight
-Rush (Resist)

Astronauts in the weightlessness of pixellated space
Exchange graffiti with a disembodied race
I can save the universe in a grain of sand
I can hold the future in my virtual hand
-Rush (Virtuality)

It seems to me
While it's true that every dog will have his day
When all the bones are buried
There is barely time to go outside and play
-Rush (Dog Years)

I'd rather be a tortoise from Galapagos
Or a span of geological time
Than be living in these dog years
-Rush (Dog Years)

It seems to me
As well make our own few circles 'round the block
We've lost our senses
For the higher-level static of talk
-Rush (Dog Years)

I believe in what I see
I believe in what I hear
I believe that what I'm feeling
Changes how the world appears
-Rush (Totem)

Angels and demons inside of me
Saviors and Satans all around me

Sweet chariot, swing low, coming for me
-Rush (Totem)

The mighty ocean
Dances with the moon
The silent forest
Echoes with the loon
-Rush (Time And Motion)

Time and motion
Wind and sun and rain
Days connect like boxcars in a train

Fill them up with precious cargo
Squeeze in all that you can find
Spontaneous elation
And the long-enduring kind
-Rush (Time And Motion)

Time and motion
Flesh and blood and fire
Lives connect in webs of gold and razor wire

Spin a thread of precious contact
Squeeze in all that you can find
Spontaneous relations
And the long-enduring kind
-Rush (Time And Motion)

Time and motion
Live and love and dream
Eyes connect like interstellar beams

Superman in Supernature
Needs all the comfort he can find
Spontaneous emotion
And the long-enduring kind
-Rush (Time And Motion)

Take it easy on me now--
I'd be there if I could
I'm so full of what is right
I can't see what is good
-Rush (The Color Of Right)

Make it easy on yourself
There's nothing more you can do
You're so full of what is right
You can't see what is true
-Rush (The Color Of Right)

A quality of justice
A quantity of light
A particle of mercy
Makes the color of right

Gravity and distance
Change the passage of light
Gravity and distance
Change the color of right
-Rush (The Color Of Right)

Half the world hates
What half the world does every day
Half the world waits
While half gets on with it anyway
-Rush (Half The World)

Half the world lives
Half the world makes
Half the world gives
While the other half takes
-Rush (Half The World)

Half the world is
Half the world was
Half the world thinks
While the other half does
-Rush (Half The World)

Driven in-Driven to the edge
Driven out-On the thin end of the wedge
Driven off-By things I've never seen
Driven on-By the road to somewhere I've never been

BUT IT'S MY TURN TO DRIVE
-Rush (Driven)

The road unwinds toward me
What was there is gone
The road unwinds before me
And I go riding on
-Rush (Driven)

Here we go-in slow-mo
Video vertigo
Test for echo
-Rush (Test For Echo)

EVERYDAY PEOPLE
EVERYDAY SHAME
EVERYDAY PROMISE
SHOT DOWN IN FLAMES

EVERYDAY SUNRISE
ANOTHER EVERYDAY STORY
RISE FROM THE ASHES --
A BLAZE OF EVERYDAY GLORY
-Rush (Everyday Glory)

If the future's looking dark
We're the ones who have to shine
If there's no one in control
We're the ones who draw the line
Though we live in trying times -
We're the ones who have to try
Though we know that time has wings -
We're the ones who have to fly
-Rush (Everyday Glory)

DON'T GO TO FAR -
The phosphorescent wave on a tropical sea
Is a cold fire
DON'T CROSS THE LINE -
The pattern of moonlight on the bedroom floor
Is a cold fire
DON'T LET ME DOWN -
The flame at the heart of a pawnbroker's diamond
Is a cold fire
DON'T BREAK THE SPELL -
The look in your eyes as you head for the door
Is a cold fire

Love is blind if you are gentle
Love can turn to a long, cold burn
-Rush (Cold Fire)

Where would you rather be?
Anywhere but here
When will the time be right?
Anytime but now
-Rush (Double Agent)

Wilderness of mirrors
Streets of cold desire
My precious sense of honor
Just a shield of rusty wire
I hold against the chaos -
And the cross of holy fire

Wilderness of mirrors
So easy to deceive
My precious sense of rightness
Is sometimes so naïve
So that which I imagine
Is that which I believe
-Rush (Double Agent)

Love is born with lightning bolts
Electro-magnetic force
Burning skin and fireworks
A storm on a raging course
-Rush (The Speed Of Love)

Love is born with solar flares
From two magnetic poles
It moves toward a higher place
Where two halves make two wholes
-Rush (The Speed Of Love)

At the speed of love
A radiance that travels
At the speed of love
My heart goes out to you
-Rush (The Speed Of Love)

For you and me--We hold these truths to be self-evident
For you and me--We'd elect each other president
For you and me--We might agree
But that's just us

Reaching for the alien shore
-Rush (Alien Shore)

Some need to pray at the sun at high noon
Some need to howl and the midwinter moon
Reborn and baptized in a moment of grace
We just need a break -
From the headlong race

ahh yes to yes to ahh ahh to yes
why the sun why the sun
-Rush (Between Sun And Moon)

Hero - not the handsome actor
Who plays a hero's role
Hero - not the glamor girl
Who'd love to sell her soul
If anybody's buying
NOBODY'S HERO
-Rush (Nobody's Hero)

It is the fire that lights itself
But it burns with a restless flame
The arrow on a moving target
The archer must be sure of his aim
-Rush (Cut To The Chase)

It is the rocket that ignites itself
And launches its way to the stars
A driver on a busy freeway
Racing the oblivious cars
-Rush (Cut To The Chase)

Young enough not to care too much
About the way things used to be
I'm young enough to remember the future -
The past has no claim on me

I'm old enough not to care too much
About what you think of me
But I'm young enough to remember the future
And the way things ought to be
-Rush (Cut To The Chase)

Each time we bathe our reactions
In artificial light
Each time we alter the focus
To make the wrong move seem right

You get so used to deception
You make yourself a nervous wreck
You get so used to surrender
Running back to cover your neck
-Rush (Stick It Out)

My counterpart - my foolish heart
A man must learn to rule his tender part
A warming trend - a gentle friend
A man must build a fortress to defend

A secret face - a touch of grace
A man must learn to give a little space
A peaceful state - a submissive trait
A man must learn to gently dominate
-Rush (Animate)

THE ODDS GET EVEN - You name the game
THE ODDS GET EVEN - The stakes are the same
YOU BET YOUR LIFE
-Rush (You Bet Your Life)

Time is a spiral - Space is a curve
I know you get dizzy, but try not to lose your nerve
Life is a diamond you turn into dust
Waiting for rescue, and I know that you just
Don't get it
You just don't get it
-Rush (Neurotica)

So many different connections
Our separate paths might have made
With every door we opened
Every game we played

Somehow we find each other
Through all that masquerade
Somehow we found each other
Somehow we have stayed
In a state of grace
-Rush (Ghost Of A Chance)

Do we have to be forgiving at last?
What else can we do?
Do we have to say goodbye to the past?
Yes, I guess we do
-Rush (Heresy)

Wheel goes round, landing on a twist of faith
Taking your chances you'll have the right answers
When the final judgment begins

Wheel goes round, landing on a leap of fate
Life redirected in ways unexpected
Sometimes the odd number wins
The way the big wheel spins
-Rush (The Big Wheel)

You get all squeezed up inside
Like the days were carved in stone
You get all wired up inside
And it's bad to be alone

You can go out, you can take a ride
And when you get out on your own
You get all smoothed out inside
And it's good to be alone
Turn it up
-Rush (Face Up)

We go out in the world and take our chances
Fate is just the weight of circumstances
That's the way lady luck dances
Roll the bones
-Rush (Roll The Bones)

Why are we here?
Because we're here
Roll the bones
Why does it happen?
Because it happens
Roll the bones
-Rush (Roll The Bones)

If we burn our wings
Flying to close to the sun
If the moment of glory
Is over before it's begun
If the dream is won -
Though everything is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost
-Rush (Bravado)

When the dust has cleared
And victory denied
A summit too lofty
River a little too wide
If we keep our pride -
Though paradise is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost
-Rush (Bravado)

And if the music stops
There's only the sound of the rain
All the hope and glory
All the sacrifice in vain
If love remains
Though everything is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost
-Rush (Bravado)

Time is a gypsy caravan
Steals away in the night
To leave you stranded in Dreamland
Distance is a long-range filter
Memory a flickering light
Left behind in the heartland
-Rush (Dreamline)

WHEN WE ARE YOUNG
WANDERING THE FACE OF THE EARTH
WONDERING WHAT ARE DREAMS MIGHT BE WORTH
LEARNING THAT WE'RE ONLY IMMORTAL -
FOR A LIMITED TIME
-Rush (Dreamline)

play of light
a photograph
the way I used to be
some half-forgotten stranger
doesn't mean that much to me
-Rush (Available Light)

trick of light
moving picture
moments caught in flight
make the shadows darker
or the colors shine too bright
-Rush (Available Light)

All four winds together
Can't bring the world to me
Shadows hide the play of light
So much I want to see
Chase the light around the world
I want to look at life - In the available light

I'll go with the wind
I'll stand in the light
-Rush (Available Light)

I feel my spirit resist
But I open up my fist
Lay hand over hand over
Hand over fist
-Rush (Hand Over Fist)

Now's the time to turn the tide
Now's the time to fight
Let us not go gently
To the endless winter night
Now's the time to make the time
While hope is still in sight
Let us not go gently
To the endless winter night
-Rush (Red Tide)

There is no safe seat at the feast
Take your best stabs at the beast
The night is turning thin
The saint is turning to sin
-Rush (Anagram (for Mongo))

Rose is a rose of splendor
posed to respond in the end
lonely things like nights,
I find, end finer with a friend
-Rush (Anagram (for Mongo))

hit you in a soft place
a melody so sweet
a strong and simple beat
that you can dance to
-Rush (Superconductor)

hit you in a soft place
with sentimental ease
they know the fantasies
that you romance to
-Rush (Superconductor)

I'm not one to believe in magic
But I sometimes have a second-sight
I'm not one with a sense of proportion
When my heart still changes overnight
-Rush (Presto)

the evening plane rises up from the runway
over constellations of light
I look down into a million houses
and wonder what you're doing tonight
-Rush (Presto)

I had a dream of a winter garden
a midnight rendezvous
silver, blue, and frozen silence
what a fool I was for you
-Rush (Presto)

I'm not one to believe in magic
Though my memory has a second-sight
I'm not one to go pointing my finger
When I radiate more heat than light
-Rush (Presto)

don't ask me
I'm just improvising
my illusion of careless flight
can't you see
my temperature's rising
I radiate more heat than light

don't ask me
I'm just sympathizing
my illusion's a harmless flight
can't you see
my temperature's rising
I radiate more heat than light
-Rush (Presto)

I've stood upon my mountaintop
and shouted at the sky
walked above the pavement
with my senses amplified
- I get this feeling
-Rush (Scars)

all my nerves are naked wires
tender to the touch
sometimes super-sensitive
but who can care to much?
- I get this feeling
-Rush (Scars)

Scars of pleasure
Scars of pain
Atmospheric changes
Make them sensitive again
-Rush (Scars)

each emotional injury
leaves behind its mark
sometimes they come tumbling out
like shadows in the dark
- I get these feelings
-Rush (Scars)

snow falls deep around my house
and holds the winter light
I've heard the lions hunting
In the Serengeti night
- I get this feeling
-Rush (Scars)

Pleasure leaves a fingerprint
As surely as mortal pain
In memories they resonate
And echo back again
-Rush (Scars)

all puffed up with vanity
we see what we want to see
to the beautiful and the wise
the mirror always lies
-Rush (War Paint)

all puffed up with vanity
we see what we want to see
to the powerful and the wise
the mirror always lies
-Rush (War Paint)

boys and girls together
mistake conceit for pride
--ambition for illusion
--dreams for self-delusion
girls and boys together
see what it is we lack
boys and girls together
let's paint the mirror black
paint it black
-Rush (War Paint)

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 what you thought it would be
-Rush (The Pass)

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
-Rush (The Pass)

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
-Rush (The Pass)

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
-Rush (The Pass)

energy is contagious
enthusiasm spreads
tides respond to lunar gravitation
everything turns in synchronous relation
-Rush (Chain Lightning)

laughter is infectious
excitement goes to my head
winds are stirred by planets in rotation
sparks ignite and spread new information
-Rush (Chain Lightning)

dreams are sometimes catching
desire goes to go my head
love responds to your invitation
love responds to the imagination

respond, vibrate, feed back, resonate
-Rush (Chain Lightning)

sun dogs fire on the horizon
meteor rain stars across the night
this moment may be brief
but it can be so bright
reflected in another source of light
when the moment dies
the spark still flies
reflected in another pair of eyes
-Rush (Chain Lightning)

you can twist perceptions
reality won't budge
you can raise objections
I will be the judge
and the jury
-Rush (Show Don't Tell)

WHEN SOMETHING BROKE THE SURFACE
JUST TO SEE THE STARRY DOME -
WE STILL FEEL THAT RELATION
WHEN THE WATER TAKES US HOME
IN THE FLYING SPRAY OF THE OCEAN
THE WATER TAKES YOU HOME -
-Rush (High Water)

WHEN SOMETHING LEFT THE OCEAN
TO CRAWL HIGH ABOVE THE FOAM -
WE STILL FEEL THE ELATION
WHEN THE WATER TAKES US HOME
IN A DRIVING RAIN OF REDEMPTION
THE WATER TAKES ME HOME...
-Rush (High Water)

HIGH ON THE SACRED MOUNTAIN
UP THE SEVEN THOUSAND STAIRS
IN THE GOLDEN LIGHT OF AUTUMN
THERE WAS MAGIC IN THE AIR

CLOUDS SURROUNDED THE SUMMIT
THE WIND BLEW STRONG AND COLD
AMONG THE SILENT TEMPLES
AND THE WRITINGS CARVED IN GOLD
SOMEWHERE IN MY INSTINCTS
THE PRIMITIVE TOOK HOLD...
-Rush (Tai Shan)

To live between a rock
And a hard place.
In between time,
Cruising in prime time
Soaking up the cathode rays.
-Rush (Between The Wheels)

You know how that rabbit feels
Going under your speeding wheels.
Bright images flashing by
Like windshields towards a fly.
Frozen in that fatal climb
But the wheels of time
Just pass you by...
-Rush (Between The Wheels)

It's the colour of your heartbeat,
A rising summer sun.
The battle lost or won.
The flash to fashion
The pulse to passion
Feels red.
Inside my head.
And truth is often better
Left unsaid.
I said red, red.
I thinking about the overhead,
The underfed.
Couldn't we talk about something else instead?
-Rush (Red Lenses)

And the mercury is rising,
Barometer starts to fall.
You know it gets to us all.
The pain that is learning
And the rain that is burning
Feel red.
Still, go ahead.
You see black and white
And I see red,
Red...
(Not blue).
-Rush (Red Lenses)

Anger got bare knuckles,
Anger play the fool,
Anger wear a crown of thorns.
Reverse the golden rule
Then you learn the lesson
That it's tough to be so cool.
-Rush (Kid Gloves)

1-0-0-1-0-0-1
S.O.S
1-0-0-1-0-0-1
In distress
1-0-0-1-0-0
-Rush (The Body Electric)

To you, is it movement or is it action?
Is it contact or just reaction?
And you, revolution or just resistance?
Is it living, or just existence?
Yeah you, it takes a little more persistence
To get up and go the distance...
-Rush (The Enemy Within)

I'm not giving in
To security under pressure.
I'm not missing out
On the promise of adventure.
I'm not giving up
On implausible dreams.
Experience to extremes.
-Rush (The Enemy Within)

All that we can do is just survive.
All that we can do to help ourselves
Is stay alive.
-Rush (Red Sector A)

Ragged lines of ragged grey,
Skeletons, they shuffle away.
Shouting guards and smoking guns
Will cut down the unlucky ones.
-Rush (Red Sector A)

Are we the last ones left alive?
Are we the only human beings to survive?...
-Rush (Red Sector A)

Suddenly,
You were gone
From all the lives
You left your mark upon.
-Rush (Afterimage)

The world weighs on my shoulders,
But what am I to do?
You sometimes drive me crazy,
But I worry about you.

I know it makes no difference
To what you're going through.
But I see the tip of the iceberg,
And I worry about you.
-Rush (Distant Early Warning)

Scorching blast of golden fire
As it slowly leaves the ground
Tears away with a mighty force
The air is shattered by the awesome sound

Like a pillar of cloud, the smoke lingers
High in the air
In fascination -- with the eyes of the world
We stare...
-Rush (Countdown)

Some are born to move the world --
To live their fantasies
But most of us just dream about
The things we'd like to be

Sadder still to watch it die
Than never to have known it
For you -- the blind who once could see --
The bell tolls for thee...
-Rush (Losing It)

He's got to make his own mistakes
And learn to mend the mess he makes
He's old enough to know what's right
But young enough not to choose it
He's noble enough to win the world
But weak enough to lose it --
He's a New World man...
-Rush (New World Man)

He's not concerned with yesterday
He knows constant change is here today
He's noble enough to know what's right
But weak enough not to choose it
He's wise enough to win the world
But fool enough to lose it --
He's a New World man...
-Rush (New World Man)

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?
-Rush (The Weapon)

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...
-Rush (The Weapon)

He'd love to spend the night in Zion
He's been a long while in Babylon
He'd like a lover's wings to fly on
To a tropic isle of Avalon
-Rush (Digital Man)

He's got a force field and a flexible plan
He's got a date with fate in a black sedan
He plays fast forward for as long as he can
But he won't need a bed --
He's a digital man
-Rush (Digital Man)

Signals transmitted
Message received
Reaction making impact --
Invisibly

Elemental telepathy
Exchange of energy
Reaction making contact --
Mysteriously
-Rush (Chemistry)

Eye to I
Reaction burning hotter
Two to one
Reflection on the water
H to O
No flow without the other
Oh but how
Do they make contact
With one another?
-Rush (Chemistry)

Emotion transmitted
Emotion received
Music in the abstract --
Positively

Elemental empathy
A change of synergy
Music making contact --
Naturally
-Rush (Chemistry)

One, two, three --
Add without subtraction
Sound on sound
Multiplied reaction
H to O
No flow without the other
Oh but how
Do we make contact
With one another?
-Rush (Chemistry)

A hot and windy August afternoon
Has the trees in constant motion
With a flash of silver leaves
As they're rocking in the breeze
-Rush (The Analog Kid)

The boy lies in the grass with one blade
Stuck between his teeth
A vague sensation quickens
In his young and restless heart
And a bright and nameless vision
Has him longing to depart
-Rush (The Analog Kid)

You move me --
You move me --
With your buildings and your eyes
Autumn woods and winter skies
You move me --
You move me --
Open sea and city lights
-Rush (The Analog Kid)

The fawn-eyed girl with sun-browned legs
Dances on the edge of his dream
And her voice rings in his ears
Like the music of the spheres
-Rush (The Analog Kid)

The boy lies in the grass, unmoving
Staring at the sky
His mother starts to call him
As a hawk goes soaring by
The boy pulls down his baseball cap
And covers up his eyes
-Rush (The Analog Kid)

Too many hands on my time
Too many feelings --
Too many things on my mind
When I leave I don't know
What I'm hoping to find
When I leave I don't know
What I'm leaving behind...
-Rush (The Analog Kid)

Growing up it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and subdivided
In the mass production zone

Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone
-Rush (Subdivisions)

Subdivisions --
In the basement bars
In the backs of cars
Be cool or be cast out
Any escape might help to smooth
The unattractive truth
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe
The restless dreams of youth
-Rush (Subdivisions)

Some will sell their dreams for small desires
Or lose the race to rats
Get caught in ticking traps
And start to dream of somewhere
To relax their restless flight

Somewhere out of a memory of lighted streets on quiet nights...
-Rush (Subdivisions)

The impulse is pure;
Sometimes our circuits get shorted
By external interference.
Signals get crossed
And the balance distorted
By internal incoherence.
-Rush (Vital Signs)

A tired mind become a shape-shifter,
Everybody need a mood lifter,
Everybody need reverse polarity.
Everybody got mixed feelings
About the function and the form.
Everybody got to deviate from the norm.
-Rush (Vital Signs)

An ounce of perception,
A pound of obscure.
Process information at half speed.
Pause, rewind, replay,
Warm memory chip,
Random sample, hold the one you need.
-Rush (Vital Signs)

Leave out the fiction,
The fact is, this friction
Will only be worn by persistence.
Leave out conditions,
Courageous convictions
Will drag the dream into existence.
-Rush (Vital Signs)

Features distorted in the flickering light,
The faces are twisted and grotesque.
Silent and stern in the sweltering night,
The mob moves like demons possesed.
Quiet in conscience, calm in their right,
Confident their ways are best.
-Rush (Witch Hunt)

Quick to judge,
Quick to anger,
Slow to understand

Ignorance and prejudice
And fear
Walk hand in hand.
-Rush (Witch Hunt)

Are they oblivious
To this quality?
A quality
Of light unique to
Every city's streets.

Pavements may teem
With intense energy,
But the city is calm
In this violent sea.
-Rush (The Camera Eye)

Living on a lighted stage
Approaches the unreal
For those who think and feel
In touch with some reality
Beyond the gilded cage.
-Rush (Limelight)

Living in the Limelight,
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem.
Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation,
Get on with the fascination,
The real relation,
The underlying theme.
-Rush (Limelight)

All the world's indeed a stage,
And we are merely players,
Performers and portrayers,
Each another's audience
Outside the gilded cage.
-Rush (Limelight)

Wind-
In my hair-
Shifting and drifting-
Mechanical music-
Adrenalin surge...

Well-weathered leather,
Hot metal and oil,
The scented country air.
Sunlight on chrome,
The blur of the landscape,
Every nerve aware.
-Rush (Red Barchetta)

Drive like the wind,
Straining the limits of machine and man.
Laughing out loud
With fear and hope, I've got a desperate plan.
At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded at the riverside.
Race back to the farm, to dream with my uncle at the fireside.
-Rush (Red Barchetta)

What you say about his company
Is what you say about society.
Catch the mist, catch the myth
Catch the mystery, catch the drift.
-Rush (Tom Sawyer)

The world is, the world is,
Love and life are deep,
Maybe as his skies are wide.
-Rush (Tom Sawyer)

No, his mind is not for rent
To any god or government.
Always hopeful, yet discontent,
He knows changes aren't permanent,
But change is.
-Rush (Tom Sawyer)

Exit the warrior,
Today's Tom Sawyer,
He gets high on you,
And the energy you trade,
He gets right on to the friction of the day.
-Rush (Tom Sawyer)

A simple kind of mirror
To reflect upon our own.
-Rush (Natural Science)

Wheels within wheels in a spiral array,
A pattern so grand and complex,
Time after time we lose sight of the way,
Our causes can't see their effects.
-Rush (Natural Science)

Computerized clinic
For superior cynics
Who dance to a synthetic band.

In their own image,
Their world is fashioned.
No wonder they don't understand.
-Rush (Natural Science)

Science, like nature
Must also be tamed
With a view towards its preservation.
Given the same
State of integrity,
It will surely serve us well.
-Rush (Natural Science)

Art as expression,
Not as market campaigns
Will still capture our imaginations.
Given the same
State of integrity,
It will surely help us along.
-Rush (Natural Science)

The most endangered species,
The honest man,
Will still survive annihilation.
Forming a world
State of integrity,
Sensitive, open and strong.
-Rush (Natural Science)

Wave after wave
Will flow with the tide,
And bury the world as it does.
Tide after tide
Will flow and recede,
Leaving life to go on as it was.
-Rush (Natural Science)

What happened to our innocence,
Did it go out of style?
Along with our naïveté,
No longer a child.
Different eyes see different things,
Different hearts
Beat on different strings.
But there are times
For you and me,
When all such things agree.
-Rush (Different Strings)

All there really is,
The two of us,
And we both know why we've come along.
Nothing to explain,
It's a part of us
To be found within a song.
-Rush (Different Strings)

We are secrets to each other,
Each one's life a novel
No one else has read.
Even joined in bonds of love,
We're linked to one another
By such slender threads.
-Rush (Entre Nous)

We are planets to each other,
Drifting in our orbits
To a brief eclipse.
Each of us a world apart,
Alone and yet together,
Like two passing ships.
-Rush (Entre Nous)

We are strangers to each other,
Full of sliding panels,
An illusion show.
Acting well-rehearsed routines
Or playing from the heart?
It's hard for one to know.
-Rush (Entre Nous)

We are islands to each other,
Building hopeful bridges
On a troubled sea.
Some are burned or swept away,
Some we would not choose,
But we're not always free.
-Rush (Entre Nous)

Just between us,
I think it's time for us to recognize
The differences we sometimes fear to show.
Just between us,
I think it's time for us to realize,
The spaces in between,
Leave room for you and I to grow.
-Rush (Entre Nous)

The clouds prepare for battle
In the dark and brooding silence.
Bruised and sullen stormclouds
Have the light of day obscured.
Looming low and ominous
In twilight premature,
Thunderheads are rumbling
In a distant overture.
-Rush (Jacob's Ladder)

Follow men's eyes
As they look to the skies.
The shifting shafts of shining
Weave the fabric of their dreams...
-Rush (Jacob's Ladder)

A planet of playthings,
We dance on the strings
Of powers we cannot perceive.
The stars aren't aligned
Or the gods are malign.
Blame is better to give than receive.
-Rush (Freewill)

You can choose a ready guide
In some celestial voice.
If you choose not to decide,
You still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears
And kindness that can kill.
I will choose a path that's clear,
I will choose free will.
-Rush (Freewill)

Each of us,
A cell of awareness,
Imperfect and incomplete.
Genetic blends
With uncertain ends
On a fortune hunt that's far too fleet.
-Rush (Freewill)

Invisible airwaves crackle with life,
Bright antennae bristle with the energy.
Emotional feedback on timeless wavelength
Bearing a gift beyond price, almost free.
-Rush (The Spirit Of Radio)

For the words of the profits
Were written on the studio wall,
Concert hall,
And echoes with the sound of salesmen.
Of salesmen.
Of salesmen...
-Rush (The Spirit Of Radio)

Invisible
To telescopic eye,
Infinity -
The star that would not die.
-Rush (Cygnus X-1)

I set a course just east of Lyra
And northwest of Pegasus.
Flew into the light of Deneb,
Sailed across the Milky Way.

On my ship, the 'Rocinante'
Wheeling through the galaxies,
Headed for the heart of Cygnus,
Headlong into mystery.
-Rush (Cygnus X-1)

When life becomes as barren,
And as cold as winter skies,
There's a beacon in the darkness
In a distant pair of eyes.
In vain to search for order,
In vain to search for truth,
But these things can still be given
Your love has shown me proof.
-Rush (Madrigal)

Because he was human,
Because he had goodness.
Because he was moral,
They called him insane.

Cinderella Man,
Hang on to your plans.
Try as they might,
They cannot steal your dreams.
-Rush (Cinderella Man)

And the men who hold high places,
Must be the ones who start,
To mold a new reality
Closer to the Heart.
-Rush (Closer To The Heart)

The Blacksmith and the Artist,
Reflect it in their art,
They forge their creativity
Closer to the Heart.
-Rush (Closer To The Heart)

Philosophers and Ploughmen,
Each must know his part,
To sow a new mentality
Closer to the Heart.
-Rush (Closer To The Heart)

To seek the sacred river Alph,
To walk the caves of ice,
To break my fast on honey dew,
And drink the milk of Paradise...
-Rush (Xanadu)

Held within The Pleasure Dome
Decreed by Kubla Khan.
To taste my bitter triumph,
As a mad immortal man.
Nevermore shall I return,
Escape these caves of ice.
For I have dined on honey dew
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
Whoa, is it Paradise..?
-Rush (Xanadu)

Cities full of hatred,
Fear and lies,
Withered hearts
And cruel, tormented eyes,
Scheming demons
Dressed in kingly guise,
Beating down the multitude
And scoffing at the wise.
Whoa, can't we raise our eyes
And make a start?
Can't we find the minds
To lead us closer to the Heart?
-Rush (A Farewell To Kings)

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.
-Rush (The Trees)

Now I've gained some understanding
Of the only world that we see.
Things that I once dreamed of
Have become reality.

These walls that still surround me
Still contain the same old me,
Just one more who's searching for
A world that ought to be.
-Rush (Circumstances)

All the same
We take our chances,
Laughed at by Time,
Tricked by Circumstances.
Plus ça change,
Plus c'est la même chose,
The more that things change,
The more they stay the same.
-Rush (Circumstances)

Let the truth of love be lighted,
Let the love of truth shine clear.
Sensibility, armed with sense and liberty,
With the Heart and Mind united in a single perfect sphere.
-Rush (Cygnus X-1 Book II)

Well, you don't get something for nothing.
You can't have freedom for free.
You won't get wise
With the sleep still in your eyes,
No matter what your dream might be...
-Rush (Something For Nothing)

What you own is your own kingdom.
What you do is your own glory.
What you love is your own power.
What you live is your own story.
In your head is the answer
Let it guide you along.
Let your heart be the anchor
And the beat of your own song.
-Rush (Something For Nothing)

What would touch me deeper,
Tears that fall from eyes
That only cry?
Would it touch you deeper,
Than tears that fall from eyes
That know why?
-Rush (Tears)

Sweet memories,
I never thought it would be like this.
Reminding me,
Oh, just how close I came to missing.
I know that,
This is the way for me to go.
You'll be there,
When you know what I know,
And I know.
-Rush (Lessons)

You have entered the Twilight Zone,
Beyond this world strange things are known.
Use the key, unlock the door,
See what your fate might have in store.
Come explore your dreams' creation,
Enter this world of imagination.
-Rush (The Twilight Zone)

We're on the train to Bangkok
Aboard the Thailand Express.
We'll hit the stops along the way.
We only stop for the best.
-Rush (A Passage to Bangkok)

And the meek shall inherit the earth...
-Rush (2112)

We've taken care of everything.
The words you hear the songs you sing,
The pictures that give pleasure to your eyes.
It's one for all and all for one.
We work together common sons.
Never need to wonder how or why.
-Rush (2112)

I stand atop a spiral stair,
An oracle confronts me there.
He leads me on light years away,
Through astral nights, galactic days.
I see the works of gifted hands,
That grace this strange and wondrous land.
I see the hand of man arise,
With hungry mind and open eyes.
-Rush (2112)

I am born.
I am me.
I am new.
I am free.
Look at me,
I am young.
Sight unseen,
Life unsung.
-Rush (The Fountain of Lamneth)

Yet my eyes are drawn toward
The mountain in the east.
Fascinates and captivates,
Gives my heart no peace.
The mountain holds the sunrise
In the prison of the night.
Till bursting forth from rocky chains,
The valley...floods with light.
-Rush (The Fountain of Lamneth)

Living one long sunrise
For to me all things are new.
I've never watched the sky grow pale
Or strolled through fields of dew.
I do not know of dust to dust,
I live from breath to breath.
I live to climb that mountain to
The Fountain of Lamneth.
-Rush (The Fountain of Lamneth)

Remembering when first I held
The wheel in my own hands.
I took the helm so eagerly
And sailed for distant lands.
But now the sea's too heavy
And I just, I just don't understand.
Why must my crew desert me
When I need, I need a guiding hand.
-Rush (The Fountain of Lamneth)

Now, at last I fall before
The Fountain of Lamneth.
I thought I would be singing
But I'm tired, out of breath.
Many journeys end here
But the secret's told the same.
Life is just a candle
And a dream... must give it flame.
-Rush (The Fountain of Lamneth)

I'm in motion.
I am still.
I am crying.
I am still.
I'm together.
I'm apart.
I'm forever.
At the start.

Still... I am.
-Rush (The Fountain of Lamneth)

Enter the Champion.
Prince By-Tor appears to battle for freedom from chains of long years.
The spell has been broken, the Dark Lands are bright.
The Wraith of the Necromancer soars away in the night.
-Rush (The Necromancer)

Midway hawkers calling
Try your luck with me.
Merry-go-round wheezing
Same old melody.
A thousand ten cent wonders
Who could ask for more.
A pocketful of silver
The key to heaven's door.
-Rush (Lakeside Park)

Days of barefoot freedom
Racing with the waves.
Nights of starlit secrets,
Crackling driftwood flames.
Drinking by the lighthouse,
Smoking on the pier.
Still we saw the magic
Was fading every year.
-Rush (Lakeside Park)

Everyone would gather
On the twenty fourth of May.
Sitting in the sand
To watch the fireworks display.
Dancing fires on the beach,
Singing songs together.
Though it's just a memory
Some memories last forever.
-Rush (Lakeside Park)

It seems like only yesterday,
We would sit, and talk of dreams all night,
Dreams of youth,
And simple truths.
Now we're all so involved...
So involved with life.
-Rush (I Think I'm Going Bald)

Once we loved the flowers,
Now we ask the price of the land.
Once we would take water,
But now it must be wine.
Now we've been
And now we've seen
What price peace of mind.
Take a piece of my mind.
-Rush (I Think I'm Going Bald)

My life is slipping away.
I'm aging every day,
But even when I am grey,
I'll still be grey my way.
-Rush (I Think I'm Going Bald)

There's no bread, let them eat cake,
There's no end to what they'll take.
Flaunt the fruits of noble birth,
Wash the salt into the earth.
-Rush (Bastille Day)

Lessons taught but never learned,
All around us anger burns.
Guide the future by the past,
Long ago the mould was cast.
-Rush (Bastille Day)

Well, I can see what you mean
It just takes me longer
And I can feel what you feel
It just makes you stronger
-Rush (In The End)

Sunlight dances through the leaves
Soft winds stir the sighing trees
Lying in the warm grass
Feel the sun upon your face
Elfin songs and endless nights
Sweet wine and soft relaxing lights
Time will never touch you
Here in this enchanted place
-Rush (Rivendell)

Just keep smiling, move onward every day
And try to keep our thoughts away from home
We're traveling around, no time to settle down
And satisfy our wanderlust to roam.
-Rush (Making Memories)

Why try? I know why
The feeling inside me says it's time I was gone
Clear head, new life ahead
I want to be king now not just one more pawn
-Rush (Fly By Night)

Start a new chapter
Find what I'm after
It's changing every day
The change of a season
Is enough of a reason
To want to get away
-Rush (Fly By Night)

Quiet and pensive
My thoughts apprehensive
The hours drift away
Leaving my homeland
Playing a lone hand
My life begins today
-Rush (Fly By Night)

The battle's over and the dust is clearing
Disciples of the Snow Dog sound the knell
Rejoicing echoes as the dawn is nearing
By-Tor in defeat retreats to Hell
Snow Dog is victorious
The land of the Overworld is saved again.
-Rush (By-Tor and the Snowdog)

Beneath the noble bird
Between the proudest words
Behind the beauty, cracks appear
Once, with heads held high
They sang out to the sky
Why do their shadows bow in fear?
-Rush (Beneath, Between and Behind)

Got an itching to rock, a hate for small talk
I'm funny that way
Got my sights on the stars, won't get that far
But I'll try anyway
I just like to please, don't like to tease
I'm easy like that
Don't like long rests, I must confess
I'm an impatient cat
-Rush (Best I Can)

Live for yourself -- there's no one else
More worth living for
Begging hands and bleeding hearts will only cry out for more
-Rush (Anthem)

Know your place in life is where you want to be
Don't let them tell you that you owe it all to me
Keep on looking forward; no use in looking around
Hold your head above the crowd and they won't bring you down
-Rush (Anthem)

I get up at seven, yeah,
and I go to work at nine.
I got no time for livin'.
Yes, I'm workin' all the time.

It seems to me
I could live my life
a lot better than I think I am.
I guess that's why they call me,
they call me the working man.
-Rush (Working Man)

So many things I think about
When I look far away
Things I know -- things I wonder
Things I'd like to say
The more we think we know about
The greater the unknown
We suspend our disbelief
And we are not alone --
-Rush (Mystic Rhythms)

Mystic rhythms -- capture my thoughts
And carry them away
Mysteries of night escape the light of day
Mystic rhythms -- under northern lights
Primitive things stir
The hearts of everyone
-Rush (Mystic Rhythms)

We sometimes catch a window
A glimpse of what's beyond
Was it just imagination
Stringing us along?
More things than are dreamed about
Unseen and unexplained
We suspend our disbelief
And we are entertained
-Rush (Mystic Rhythms)

Mystic rhythms -- capture my thoughts
And carry them away
Nature seems to spin
A supernatural way
Mystic rhythms -- under city lights
Or a canopy of stars
We feel the powers and we wonder what they are
We feel the push and pull of restless rhythms from afar
-Rush (Mystic Rhythms)

When we lift the covers from our feelings
We expose our insecure spots
Trust is just as rare as devotion--
Forgive us our cynical thoughts
If we need too much attention--
Not content with being cool
We must throw ourselves wide open
And start acting like a fool
If we need too much approval
Then the cuts can seem too cruel
-Rush (Emotion Detector)

Right to the heart of the matter
Right to the beautiful part
Illusions are painfully shattered
Right where discovery starts
In the secret wells of emotion
Buried deep in our hearts
-Rush (Emotion Detector)

It's true that love can change us
But never quite enough
Sometimes we are too tender
Sometimes we're too tough
If we get too much attention
It gets hard to overrule
So often fragile power turns
To scorn and ridicule
Sometimes our big splashes
Are just ripples in the pool
-Rush (Emotion Detector)

Dreams flow across the heartland
Feeding on the fires
Dreams transport desires
Drive you when you're down --
Dreams transport the ones who need to get out of town
-Rush (Middletown Dreams)

The boy walks with his best friend
Through the fields of early May
They walk awhile in silence
One close -- one far away
But he'd be climbing on that bus
Just him and his guitar
To blaze across the heavens
Like a brilliant shooting star
-Rush (Middletown Dreams)

It's understood
By every single person
Who'd be elsewhere if they could
So far so good
And life's not unpleasant
In their little neighbourhood

They dream in Middletown...
-Rush (Middletown Dreams)

In every place with a name
They play the same territorial game
Hiding behind the lines
Sending up warning signs
-Rush (Territories)

In different circles, we keep holding our ground
Indifferent circles, we keep spinning round and round
-Rush (Territories)

They shoot without shame
In the name of a piece of dirt
For a change of accent
Or the colour of your shirt
Better the pride that resides
In a citizen of the world
Than the pride that divides
When a colourful rag is unfurled
-Rush (Territories)

From first to last
The peak is never passed
Something always fires the light that gets in your eyes
One moment's high, and glory rolls on by
Like a streak of lightening that flashes and fades
In the summer sky
-Rush (Marathon)

Your meters may overload
You can rest at the side of the road
You can miss a stride
But nobody gets a free ride
-Rush (Marathon)

You can do a lot in a lifetime
If you don't burn out too fast
You can make the most of the distance
First you need endurance --
First you've got to last...
-Rush (Marathon)

Flying out of the shockwave on that August day
All the powers that be, and the course of history,
Would be changed for evermore...
-Rush (Manhattan Project)

So much style without substance
So much stuff without style
It's hard to recognize the real thing
It comes along once in a while
-Rush (Grand Designs)

Like a righteous inspiration overlooked in haste
Like a teardrop in the ocean, a diamond in the waste
Some world-views are spacious -- and some are merely spaced
-Rush (Grand Designs)

Against the run of the mill
Static as it seems
We break the surface tension with our wild kinetic dreams
Curves and lines -- of grand designs...
-Rush (Grand Designs)

Sometimes pushing people around
Sometimes pulling out the rug
Sometimes pushing all the buttons
Sometimes pulling out the plug
It's the power and the glory
It's a war in paradise
It's a cinderella story
On a tumble of the dice
-Rush (The Big Money)

Sometimes building ivory towers
Sometimes knocking castles down
Sometimes building you a stairway --
Lock you underground
It's that old-time religion
it's the kingdom they would rule
It's the fool on television
Getting paid to play the fool
-Rush (The Big Money)