The Rush song Geddy Lee found difficult to play live: “It was always hard”
Most artists look at songwriting as a challenge to themselves whenever they pick up an instrument. It’s one thing to have a set formula that you don’t want to stray from like AC/DC or Ramones did, but there’s a certain sense of adventure that comes from going into unchartered territory and not knowing what the hell is going to come out of it. While Rush were always known to look at their music in more ambitious terms, Geddy Lee remembered just how difficult it was trying to recreate songs like ‘The Spirit of Radio’ in a live setting.
Then again, writing a simple tune was never a part of Rush’s vocabulary. There had been extended jams on their first record that were descended from the blues tradition, but as soon as Neil Peart joined the group, their musical growth seemed to increase tenfold, especially when they started incorporating different time signatures on ‘Anthem’ or writing their first conceptual piece on ‘By-Tor and the Snow Dog’.
While the lengthy cuts were like the kiss of death for their label, that didn’t stop the Canadian icons from experimenting, even going out on a limb when the suits told them to think about writing some more singles on 2112. Nothing could stop them from doing whatever the hell they wanted, but they almost managed to become pop starlets by accident.
After Hemispheres saw them make the most challenging tunes they ever attempted, ‘The Spirit of Radio’ was their attempt at pairing down their sound. They could still play around in weird time signatures, but maybe that didn’t need to drone on with atmospheric sounds for the first two minutes or stretch everything out to over 20 minutes in length.
That didn’t mean they forgot how to make a complex piece, though, with Lee later telling Prog, “There are two or three songs we do every night when I hope that we’re all on the same time when we play them. ‘The Spirit Of Radio’ is one. It was always hard to play, and it’s still hard to play! I always hold my breath a little bit before we play it. And some nights, it goes completely haywire. It’s a toughie!”
For all of the chaos throughout the track, though, every instrument is playing a different hook. From the reggae breakdown to Alex Lifeson’s radio static electric guitar fills in the intro, Rush practically made a piece that sounded like stepping into the future with sound, all while echoing modern acts like The Police.
Then again, it’s not like the lyrics got dumbed down for the masses. Because for a song that’s so used to be played on the radio, it’s actually incredibly jaded about the corporate side of rock music, with Peart getting the line ‘echoes with the sound of salesmen’ from the countless rock acts they toured with who approached their stage act like they were selling a used car.
While Lee would continue to challenge himself as the years went on, a certain excitement comes with playing something that still challenges you. Whereas most people like to go on autopilot, having a tune with a certain tension whenever it’s played is far more interesting.
