The Rush song recorded the same day John Lennon died
The debate concerning the best album by Canadian prog-rock heroes Rush has been raging for decades. Is it their self-titled 1974 debut? Or 1976’s 2112, as many suggest? Perhaps even 1991’s Roll the Bones is their ultimate flourish? Whilst all of these records constantly crop up in the conversation regarding Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart’s finest, another lodges a solid claim, and one that many of their fans pledge allegiance to, 1981’s Moving Pictures.
Continuing the period of creative brilliance that 1980’s Permanent Waves kicked off, the album features a host of their best-loved pieces, including ‘Tom Sawyer’, ‘Limelight’, ‘Vital Signs’ and the Grammy-nominated instrumental ‘YYZ’. An instant hit, the album reached number one in the band’s home country and peaked at number three in the US and UK. It is the now-defunct group’s best-selling record in the US, shipping 5million copies.
When speaking to John Soeder for Cleveland’s Plain Dealer in April 2011, Rush frontman and bassist Geddy Lee provided a track-by-track breakdown of Moving Pictures. He also offered a brief account of its importance to their broader trajectory. Lee said Moving Pictures was “an interesting establishment of a particular kind of songwriting and a particular way we went about recording”.
He continued: “It was the whole idea that we had moved away from the longer concept pieces and were experimenting with whether or not we could establish a sound of Rush that could take place in 6 minutes, as opposed to 20 minutes.”
“That was the first album where we felt we were moving toward that. The quality of our songwriting had matured by then. It really did show, for me, another level of songwriting that we were capable of,” Lee explained. “As much as 2112 cemented our sound, Moving Pictures was showing that we were growing up a little bit.”
As expected, the track-by-track breakdown of Moving Pictures was compelling, yet the most fascinating part was when Lee arrived at the penultimate track, ‘Witch Hunt’. Here, he outlined its significance to him and the rest of the band, as it reminds them of one of the most tragic days in modern popular culture. Lee revealed that the song was recorded the day former Beatles leader John Lennon was murdered in New York. The frontman maintained that the piece remains relevant today due to its political themes.
Lee said: “A classic. I remember the day it was recorded. Sadly, it was the same night that John Lennon was shot in New York. We were right in the middle of recording it when that all went down. It’s one of those songs that means as much today, if not more, considering what’s gone on in the world with racial profiling and all these different issues. The sentiment of that song is as appropriate as ever.”
