14 thoughts on “Attention, All Planets of the Solar Federation”

  3. Rush is one of the very few conservative rock and roll acts. Check this out from “Freewill”

    >>>>
    There are those who think that life has nothing left to chance
    A host of holy horrors to direct our aimless dance

    A planet of play things
    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

    [Chorus:]
    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 freewill

    There are those who think
    That they were dealt a losing hand
    The cards were stacked against them
    They weren’t born in Lotusland

    All preordained
    A prisoner in chains
    A victim of venomous fate
    Kicked in the face
    You can’t pray for a place
    In heaven’s unearthly estate

    [Chorus]

    Each of us
    A cell of awareness
    Imperfect and incomplete
    Genetic blends
    With uncertain ends
    On a fortune hunt that’s far too fleet

    [Chorus]
    >>>>

    or this from Red Barchetta adapted from a science fiction short story

    >>>>
    My uncle has a country place
    That no one knows about
    He says it used to be a farm
    Before the Motor Law
    And on Sundays I elude the eyes
    And hop the Turbine Freight
    To far outside the Wire
    Where my white-haired uncle waits

    Jump to the ground
    As the Turbo slows to cross the borderline
    Run like the wind
    As excitement shivers up and down my spine
    Down in his barn
    My uncle preserved for me an old machine
    For fifty odd years
    To keep it as new has been his dearest dream

    I strip away the old debris
    That hides a shining car
    A brilliant red Barchetta
    From a better vanished time
    I fire up the willing engine
    Responding with a roar
    Tires spitting gravel
    I commit my weekly crime

    Wind
    In my hair
    Shifting and drifting
    Mechanical music
    Adrenaline surge…

    Well-weathered leather
    Hot metal and oil
    The scented country air
    Sunlight on chrome
    The blur of the landscape
    Every nerve aware

    Suddenly ahead of me
    Across the mountainside
    A gleaming alloy air car
    Shoots towards me, two lanes wide
    I spin around with shrieking tires
    To run the deadly race
    Go screaming through the valley
    As another joins the chase

    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
    >>>>

    They kick ass.

    Jim English
    Chicago

  4. I can see how somebody might get that idea, but “conservative” is hardly the word for
    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
    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 impossible dreams
    Experience to extremes, experience to extremes
    — The Enemy Within
    Not to mention
    When they turn the pages of history,
    When these days have passed long ago —
    Will they read of us with sadness
    For the seeds that we let grow?
    We turned our gaze
    From the castles in the distance,
    Eyes cast down
    On the path of least resistance!/dir>
    — A Farewell To Kings
    Or, as The Onion reported:
    Congress Debates Coolness Of Rush
    WASHINGTON, DC–Continuing its long-running debate on the subject Monday, members of Congress argued the merits of Canadian power trio Rush. “‘The philosopher and the plowman, each must play his part’?” asked House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX). “C’mon. Neil Peart must be the most pretentious lyricist in arena-rock history. Gentlemen, forget these bloated, overrated ’70s dinosaurs.” Countered longtime Rush loyalist Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR): “Keep talking, man, the tunes say it all: ‘Passage To Bangkok’? ‘By-Tor And The Snow Dog’? That part in ‘Red Barchetta’ where [Rush bassist/vocalist] Geddy [Lee] sings about the gleaming alloy aircar shooting toward him two lanes wide? Look me in the eye and tell me that doesn’t rock, motherf—-r!” The deliberations are expected to continue throughout the week.
    I rest my case.

  6. Forget the politics, (Jay, I’m surprised you didn’t cite THESE words), how about Cygnus X-1:

    In the constellation of Cygnus, there lurks a mysterious, invisible force: the black hole
    of Cygnus X-1…

    Six Stars of the Northern Cross
    In mourning for their sister’s loss
    In a final flash of glory
    Nevermore to grace the night…

    Invisible to telescopic eye
    Infinity, the star that would not die

    All who dare to cross her course
    Are swallowed by her fearsome force

    Through the void
    To be destroyed
    Or is there something more?
    Atomized…at the core?
    Or through the Astral Door?
    To soar…

    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

    The x-ray is her siren song
    My ship cannot resist her long
    Nearer to my deadly goal
    Until the black hole
    Gains control…

    Spinning, whirling
    Still descending
    Like a spiral sea
    Unending…

    Sound and fury
    Drown my heart
    Every nerve
    Is torn apart…

    To be continued…

  8. I think the correct terminology for Rush’s lyrics, at least Neil Peart’s Ayn Rand phase would “libertarian”. I don’t recall any songs was about why gay marriage is imoral or singing the praises of the war on drugs.

    Rush was certainly my first exposure to libertarianism even though I didn’t know it at the time. Years later, the first time I ever heard Ayn Rand’s name in a political context I thought “2112”? I know her, she’s Neil Peart’s favorite author.

    I also remember while reading thej lyrics to Red Barchetta thinking “They outlawed cars? Who would do that?” At the time I had never heard of Al Gore.

    Viva la Rush!

  9. “I don’t recall any songs was about why gay marriage is imoral or singing the praises of the war on drugs.”

    I don’t recall Barry Goldwater speaking about why gay marriage is immoral. As I recall, he was a supporter. Does that mean that Barry Goldwater was not a conservative?

    This splitting of hairs regarding undefined and perhaps undefinable terms grows tired. I used “conservative” bacause I consider it to be the most general of terms to describe people who believe in a limited government. I don’t shy away from the term just because others want to re-define it for me to mean “social conservative”.

    Now Back to Rush….

    From 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
    >>>

    Jim English
    Chicago

  11. Barry Goldwater was a libertarian.

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m not disparaging conservatives, for most of my life I have considered myself one, and generally still agree with REAL (small-government strict Constitutional) conservativsm.

    But there is/was a difference between Goldwater and Nixon, Reagan and Bush (Sr.), Dick Armey and Dennis Hastert, Phil Gramm and Pat Buchanan……

    There have been many “conservatives” that had no use whatsoever for the Ayn Rand wing of libertarian conservatism (classical liberalism), of which Goldwater and Reagan were the standard bearers.

    I have no use for them either, but many of them parade under the conservative name.

  12. I wish I could like Rush. But, I could never get into their sound. Still, they are a good bunch of guys, no doubt about it.

  14. I am a HUGE Rush fan. I have just about all of their albums, and i know just about all of their songs. I dont understand what you guys mean by “libertarianism” (im 15) and i dont understand what Rush has to do with gay marriage!? All i know is that Rush is an awesome band with the most amaizing lyrics i have ever heard.

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