Howard Roark With Drumsticks

[PDS]

Forgive me if something like this has been posted before, but Neil Peart is a badass.

Most Objectivists are aware that Rush is an "Objectivish" rock band, but I hadn't appreciated the Neil Peart influence over this. MTV Classic is now playing a 150 minute retrospective on Rush, and it is well worth the time. Peart is clearly the Prime Mover for the band, and its primary lyricist. Also interesting is his classically introvert aversion to strangers, and his willingness to retool his drumming style--after having already been considered one of the world's top drummers.

The dude is a true Roarkian Badass--building rock and roll Fallingwaters... I would definitely buy him a beer.

When I first read The Fountainhead as a teenager, I thought I would meet all kinds of people like this in "real life."

What happened to them?

Edited January 19, 2011 by PDS

[pippi]

When I first read The Fountainhead as a teenager, I thought I would meet all kinds of people like this in "real life."

What happened to them?

I feel your pain.

I like Peart's lyrics but some seem self-indulgent, I am probably wrong I don't know much about Rush, I never liked them because I don't like Geddy Lee's voice.

Pippi

[Kimmler]

My favourite Rush song* Pretentious or profound? You decide. It's easy to see what sort of tree I am and which one you are!

The Trees

There is unrest in the forest,

There is trouble with the trees,

For the maples want more sunlight

And the oaks ignore their please.

The trouble with the maples,

(And they're quite convinced they're right)

They say the oaks are just too lofty

And they grab up all the light.

But the oaks can't help their feelings

If they like the way they're made.

And they wonder why the maples

Can't be happy in their shade.

There is trouble in the forest,

And the creatures all have fled,

As the maples scream "Oppression!"

And the oaks just shake their heads

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.

*Not really.

[Jon Letendre]

Neil died today, aged 67, from brain cancer. I’m not surprised no one knew he was ill, he prized his privacy, seemed to hate being famous, hated being idolized. “Geddy and Alex spend hours talking to every fan who waits in line, why do you refuse to ever meet any fans?” Peart: paraphrased from multiple interviews: They idolize me. It is so wrong. And it makes me terribly embarrassed. Admired is nice. Respect is great. I can’t do it.”

His last song:

 

The Garden

Neil Peart

LONG AGO I READ A STORY FROM ANOTHER TIMELINE about a character named Candide. He also survived a harrowing series of misadventures and tragedies, then settled on a farm near Constantinople. Listening to a philosophical rant, Candide replied, “That is all very well, but now we must tend our garden.”

I have now arrived at that point in my own story. There is a metaphorical garden in the acts and attitudes of a person’s life, and the treasures of that garden are love and respect. I have come to realize that the gathering of love and respect – from others and for myself – has been the real quest of my life.

“Now we must tend our garden.”

In this one of many possible worlds, all for the best, or some bizarre test?
It is what it is – and whatever
Time is still the infinite jest

The arrow flies when you dream, the hours tick away – the cells tick away
The Watchmaker keeps to his schemes
The hours tick away – they tick away

The measure of a life is a measure of love and respect
So hard to earn, so easily burned
In the fullness of time
A garden to nurture and protect

In the rise and the set of the sun
‘Til the stars go spinning – spinning ’round the night
It is what it is – and forever
Each moment a memory in flight

The arrow flies while you breathe, the hours tick away – the cells tick away
The Watchmaker has time up his sleeve
The hours tick away – they tick away

The treasure of a life is a measure of love and respect
The way you live, the gifts that you give
In the fullness of time
It’s the only return that you expect

The future disappears into memory
With only a moment between
Forever dwells in that moment
Hope is what remains to be seen

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

I need to become more familiar with Rush to comment on the music. For some reason, what I have heard up to now did not resonate with me.

But I do know that Neil Peart deserved his achievements and fame, and that he wore his Rand influence openly.

It's a real bummer he passed away so young. 

Michael

 

[anthony]

Ah man, very sad. Apparently a fine man and a great lyricist, you can see some philosophy and his sense of life, there. For all that he went off O'ism later on for libertarianism.

"It is what it is..." Yes.