The 1993 Rush song that became a “nightmare” for Geddy Lee
It begins with Alex Lifeson dragging his guitar pick up and down muted strings before bursting into a gut punch of a riff, and the title of the song is repeated over and over again. This is the intro to Rush’s ‘Cold Fire’, one of the band’s most ambitious songs in terms of both subject matter and instrumentation, which, for Rush, is really saying something.
Rush fans are some of the luckiest in music. With this band, you have a three-piece who are continuously committed to bringing fans something new, surprising them with their complex style and sound, and delivering the highest possible quality. This has led to a catalogue of albums that are all in a league of their own, as well as a place in the history books as one of the best rock bands of all time.
Geddy Lee, Neil Peart, and Alex Lifeson were a power trio unlike anything the world had ever seen. Masters in both chaos and melody, they could continue to push one another creatively to make music that wasn’t like anything else on the market. This included punchy four-minute radio-friendly tracks and elongated prog-rock numbers that really took listeners on a journey.
However, when it came to their 1993 song ‘Cold Fire’, they had difficulty getting it to sound right. The first problem they had was the song structure in general. Producer Peter Collins ended up coming into the studio and helping the band work out which sections were good to go and which could be shelved.
“We rewrote that song quite a bit. And thankfully, I think Peter Collins presence really pulled that song together,” said Geddy Lee, talking about the track. “He came in and he pointed out certain strengths in the previous versions of the songs that we had, and he really helped us reorganise that song. It wasn’t until he got there, I think, that we finally locked in on a feel for those verses that enabled Alex to play those great kind of steel guitar lines.”
Lee also had trouble getting the tone right on the verses. There wasn’t a subject matter that Rush was afraid to tackle, and their songs deal with a plethora of different issues; however, when it came to writing about relationship trouble, knowing how often that topic is covered anyway, Lee didn’t want the song to fall into the trap of sounding like any old relationship number.
“I was having trouble with the verses, you know, it’s a tough song, when you’re dealing with this issue of male / female relationships, which is such a foreign subject for us to deal with, in a song,” he said, “You want to make sure it doesn’t sound trite or hackneyed or you’re not just doing yet another – who needs another song about relationships?”
That hesitation says a great deal about Rush’s identity as songwriters. While many rock bands built entire careers around romance and heartbreak, Rush more often turned their attention towards philosophy, science fiction, politics and the human condition. Stepping into more intimate emotional territory therefore required a different approach, one that preserved the band’s intelligence without sacrificing the honesty that a song about relationships demands.
Rather than relying on familiar clichés, ‘Cold Fire’ examines emotional conflict with the same curiosity that Rush applied to every other subject they explored. The lyrics feel analytical without becoming detached, allowing the band to discuss the complexities of communication and misunderstanding while maintaining the layered musical arrangements that had become their trademark. In doing so, they proved that even well-worn themes could sound fresh when filtered through Rush’s unique perspective.
The final product was a success, though. The verses came out well, and the overall tone is perfect for the track. It’s clear what the subject of the song is, but it still has the originality that Rush is famous for.
“It took us a while to get the right mood, and I was really happy with the mood we ended up with in the verses, and I think, oddly enough, as much as it was a nightmare, that song for me, when I hear the record now, I think the verses are one of the strongest parts of the album, in that song.”
