Slap the bass: Paul Rudd’s favourite Rush song
It’s said that people don’t go to the cinema to watch comedies anymore. From my point of view, I have to say it’s true; I misguidedly reserve my big screen outings for more grand epics that supposedly warrant the trip. But one of art’s most underrated experiences is being in a cinema, with a group of strangers and simultaneously laughing at something. The film I Love You, Man was one I made it to as a teenager, and it was through that I was introduced to Rush.
While it was a generally average film, some moments in it renewed my faith that comedies had a place in the cinema and that shared laughter was the antidote for anything. And as for Rush, well, I didn’t know the band, let alone the individual members, until Paul Rudd’s character asked his wife if she wanted some Neil Peart up in her – to paraphrase.
Despite the film’s meagre influence on pop culture, one moment cut through the noise and has subconsciously barged its way into millennial vernacular. In fact, people who haven’t even seen the film or know what it’s in reference to can still be found saying the line. It is, of course, Paul Rudd’s ‘Slap The Bass’ in an uncomfortably ironic Jamaican accent.
It was a suitably geeky moment for a die-hard Rush fan. Yet despite all of that, you lived and breathed the Rush obsession with Rudd and his fellow man-cave dweller in Jason Segel. While I couldn’t necessarily identify with the passionate ‘Tom Sawyer’ sing-along, I could undoubtedly relate to the breathless excitement that comes with being in the depths of a crowd, watching your favourite band.
In this instance, we all have our favourite moments. Particularly for those bursting with passion, the striking of a first chord brings with it the promise of it maybe being that off-beat B side you love more than anyone else, or the first album deep cut that reminds you of an important life chapter. And within that, there’s silent camaraderie, as one person gets thrust on their friends’ shoulders and we all agree, this is their moment.
In the film, ‘Tom Sawyer’ is understandably used as an anthem for Rudd’s character. A song that sees him loosen just one button at the top of his shirt, in a suitably tepid outburst of passion. But if we lived in a parallel universe where Rudd shared the same excitement for the band as his character, what would his unbuttoning soundtrack be?
‘Red Barchetta’ came up trumps for Rudd, who himself is a proficient bass player. And so, the selection makes sense for the song showcases how the skill of Geddy Lee, a bass-playing frontman who contorts his vocal melodies around a sprawling melody and finger-aching bass line with relative ease.
But it’s a favourite Rudd shares with Neil Peart, which brings a sense of poetic union to the entire story. Neil Peart said the track “was so cinematic for us, and we were learning to be concise, but also making soundtracks. It’s probably one of our best in that sense, being a short movie, and every section is a cinematic accompaniment to the lyrics”.
No wonder it speaks to the heart of a storyteller like Rudd, who has quietly become the geeky heartthrob of Hollywood in recent years. It’s only right that, in a bid to remain in that zone and not become too cool, he continues to rock out to a tune like ‘Red Barchetta’ in his spare time.
