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Rush - Permanent Waves Album Lyrics



Rush - Permanent Waves Lyrics






The Spirit Of Radio

Begin the day with a friendly voice
A companion unobtrusive
Plays that song that's so elusive
And the magic music makes your morning mood

Off on your way, hit the open road
There is magic at your fingers
For the Spirit ever lingers
Undemanding contact in your happy solitude

[Chorus:]
Invisible airwaves crackle with life
Bright antennae bristle with the energy
Emotional feedback on timeless wavelength
Bearing a gift beyond price, almost free

All this machinery making modern music
Can still be open hearted
Not so coldly charted
It's really just a question of your honesty, yeah
Your honesty
One likes to believe in the freedom of music
But glittering prizes and endless compromises
Shatter the illusion of integrity

[Chorus]

For the words of the prophets were written on the studio wall
Concert hall
And echoes with the sounds of salesmen
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: ALEX ZIVOJINOVICH, GARY LEE WEINRIB, NEIL ELWOOD PEART
Copyright: Lyrics © OLE MEDIA MANAGEMENT LP




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 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.
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
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: GEDDY LEE, ALEX LIFESON, NEIL PEART
Copyright: Lyrics © OLE MEDIA MANAGEMENT LP




Jacobs Ladder

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...
All at once, the clouds are parted.
Light streams down in bright unbroken beams...
Follow men's eyes as they look to the skies.
The shifting shafts of shining weave the fabric of their dreams...
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: GEDDY LEE, ALEX LIFESON, NEIL ELWOOD PEART
Copyright: Lyrics © OLE MEDIA MANAGEMENT LP




Entre Nous

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.
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.
Chorus
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.
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.
Chorus
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.
Chorus
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: NEIL ELWOOD PEART, GARY LEE WEINRIB, ALEX ZIVOJINOVICH
Copyright: Lyrics © OLE MEDIA MANAGEMENT LP




Different Strings

Who's come to slay the dragon?
Come to watch him fall?
Making arrows out of pointed words,
Giant killers at the call?
Too much fuss and bother,
Too much contradiction and confusion.
Peel away the mystery,
Here's a clue to some real motivation.
Chorus
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.
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.
Chorus
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: GEDDY LEE, ALEX LIFESON
Copyright: Lyrics © OLE MEDIA MANAGEMENT LP




Natural Science

When the ebbing tide retreats
Along the rocky shoreline
It leaves a trail of tidal pools
In a short-lived galaxy
Each microcosmic planet
A complete society

A simple kind mirror
To reflect upon our own
All the busy little creatures
Chasing out their destinies
Living in their pools
They soon forget about the sea

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

A quantum leap forward
In time and space
The universe learned to expand

The mess and the magic
Triumphant and tragic
A mechanized world, out of hand

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

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

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

Art as expression,
Not as market campaigns
Will still capture our imaginations
Given the same
State of integrity
It will surely help us along

The most endangered species
The honest man
Will still survive annihilation
Forming a world
State of integrity
Sensitive, open and strong

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
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Neil Elwood Peart, Gary Lee Weinrib, Alex Zivojinovich
Copyright: Lyrics © Anthem Entertainment




Back to: Rush


Permanent Waves is the seventh studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on January 14, 1980, through Anthem Records. After touring to support their previous album, Hemispheres (1978), the band began working on new material for a follow-up in July 1979. This material showed a shift in the group's sound towards more concise arrangements and radio-friendly songs (such as "The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill"), though their progressive rock blueprint is still evident on "Jacob's Ladder" and the nine-minute closer "Natural Science." Bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee also employed a more restrained vocal delivery compared to previous albums. Permanent Waves was the first of seven studio albums that the band recorded at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec with production handled by the group and Terry Brown.

Permanent Waves received a mostly positive reception from critics, and became the band's most successful album at the time of its release, reaching No. 3 in Canada and the UK and No. 4 in the United States. The album was certified platinum in the latter by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling one million copies. Rush released "The Spirit of Radio" as a single in February 1980 and toured in support of the album in 1980.
Performed By: Rush
Genre(s): Progressive rock, new wave
Producer(s): Rush, Terry Brown
Length: 36:05
Released: January 14th, 1980
Year: 1980

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