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Subject: 03/22/91 - The National Midnight Star #198
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The National Midnight Star, Number 198
Friday, 22 March 1991
Today's Topics:
Broon's Bane, Neil's lyrics
Other music lists.
Re: DDD vs AAD vs ADD
Red barchetta and so on...
DEW interpretation (long)
Aphrodite vs. that other god nobody can spell
eggs...
digital recording
Cassette Poll Update
Textbooks and Rush
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From: Editor, The National Midnight Star <rush-mgr@syrinx.umd.edu>
Subject: Administrivia
Well, it's the time of year for many of you in the academic areas to
be thinking of your favorite warm spot to take a week or so off in...
That's right, Spring Break is close at hand for many of you on the list,
meaning you won't be around for a week or more to read mail. To make
thinks smooth in general, if you are anticipating not being around to
read mail for several days, you might send mail to be removed from the
list, then re-subscribe when you get back. Some systems have problems
with large unread mail files; yours might be one of them.
Thank you for your support.
rush-mgr
P.S. Things should be back to normal by the time you get this...
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Date: Thu, 21 Mar 91 23:29:21 hst
From: Hinano Akaka <bigtuna!hinano@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu>
Subject: Broon's Bane, Neil's lyrics
Hello, Good day, and Greetings --
Hey, how come I'm always last in the posts...?
Alright -- Well, surprise! surprise! I heard "Working Man" on the
radio Tuesday night!!! Let me see, that makes approx. 7 years since
I've heard it on the radio. One question: how often do the rest of
you hear "Working Man" when the stations (finally) decide to play
Rush songs? Hmmm, this conjurs up another story...(NO!!!). No, I
won't say it...
About the Broon's Bane thing, one way we could find out is to ask
Neil about it via the Backstage Club. I'm sure if Alex himself
doesn't answer, and he probably won't because Neil's usually the one
who answers the questions, Neil would probably ask him about it. Or
he could already know. Anyway, I would really be interested myself
in knowing what the story is behind that. It really is a beautiful
piece. I would volunteer in writing and asking, but I've already
sent in about 3 questions as it is! But if anyone does, let us know
if you've written in, and if Neil ever gets around to answering all
the questions we can all look for it in the next newsletter. Just an
idea.
Neil's lyrics: I've always liked Neil's lyrics. There are times he
gets a little too literal or whatever, but my feeling is that he's
exploring and feeling his way around as a lyricist ("so give it your
best shot, give it some thought, and put it in the mail slot" or
something to that effect...). I think, unlike his drumming, he hasn't
reached that plateau -- probably won't for some time. As a writer
myself, I know how hard it is to simply write something that's good;
even worse, something that _I_ think is good -- and that's a lot to
ask for!!! But as a lyricist, and as someone pointed out yesterday,
there are a lot of things to take into consideration when writing
lyrics (I'm not implying that I write lyrics, here). And I think Neil
does an excellent job.
There are other people whose lyrics I love as well -- Sting,
Peter Gabriel, Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Enya, the list goes on. But
each of them say what they mean in different ways, they each have their
own style. And Neil has his. For him, and for the level he's reached,
I think he's doing o.k. He has a reason for saying things the way he
does -- perhaps the point he's trying to make is so important to him
that he wants to make it obvious. To me, the lyrics are his and
whatever way he feels he needs to express himself is fine by me. I
don't mean to make it sound like he's god or something, but I sure as
hell couldn't do what he does -- I just like to sit back, let him grow
the way he wants, and see where it goes. It's kinda fun, that way.
When I was growing up, and subsequently falling head-over-heels
in love with "Tom Sawyer" (the song, not the character or the book...),
I thought the first line was "A Monday warrior..." I thought a Monday
warrior was this major literary symbol or something and I kept thinking
that it was such a profound line and everything. Then I realized
Geddy was singing, "A modern day warrior...". Oh well. What can I
say, I was only 11...?!
Puanani Akaka WORQ: "...I probably would've replied with
something witty and unprintable." -- Neil Peart
P.S. Brad, I wouldn't have the faintest idea if this was Spring, yet.
It has been raining here, non-stop, for 12 days straight! I have only
seen the sun (it still exists!!!) for the first time in eons just
yesterday. If it is Spring, let me know...
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Date: Fri, 22 Mar 91 09:53:15 -0500
From: dchao@ecn.purdue.edu (David H Chao)
Subject: Other music lists.
Hi everybody! Just thought I would pass on some more info about some of the
other music mailing lists posted a few issues back.
The Alan Parsons Project list is pretty small... the editor told me there
are usually only 5 submissions per week but I haven't gotten one in a while.
There was not too much interesting in the submissions I did get.
The Pink Floyd list is either a mail deflector or a digest (your choice).
It is pretty interesting and is similar to the NMS.
The Yes address is incorrect, has been changed, or was removed.
On the subject of the Backstage Club - does anybody know a ballpark figure
for any of the old tour books and the old tour shirts? Are they limited in
number? Thanks in advance.
-Dave
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Date: Fri, 22 Mar 91 09:12:12 EST
From: Ronnie Peugh <rocker@eve.WRIGHT.edu>
Subject: Re: DDD vs AAD vs ADD
> Also, if you like old(er) rock like Zep, Floyd
> such, you will have to have AAD or ADD for their older works as Digital
> recording is an environment of the late 80's.
Not true. Digital recording started to be widely used in the late 80's,
but was available as early as 1980. I thought it was an error, but
SAGA's first two or three albums have recently been released
domestically (YES! YES!!) and they are DDD.
I haven't got them, yet, I'm waiting to see if Noteworthy will have
them, if not I'll go thru Compact Disc Exchange.
rock hard
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Date: Fri, 22 Mar 91 13:01 EST
From: GEORGE PAPADOPOULOS <GU090GIP%ITHACA.BITNET@CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu>
Subject: Red barchetta and so on...
Hey fellow Rush Fans!
This is my first submittion to the digest, so it may be a bit long...
1) As far as the recent question as to the time space in which Red barchetta is
set, I think its in the present. As to the mention of the turbine freight, I
think he's referring to diesel locamotives (FREIGHT TRAIN) and further he makes
it clear when he "Jumps to the Ground...As the turbo's slow to cross the border
line" (as in border of another country, or county for that matter). Furthermore,
I think the 'Motor Law' refers to laws passed to organize highways across the
country... As for the "gleaming alloy air car... two lanes wide" I think this
is just a reference to the fact that newer cars would have a very wide body,
relative to say, a Ferrari barchetta. (Remember, new cars started to appear
with alloys, rather than just plain steel in the 70's). The one-lane bridge may
be like a small passenger bridge, that a small car might be able to roll over.
Thats what I think about this one....
2) I came across a couple of vinyl bootlegs in NYC when I was last at home in
NYC, and both of em had a song called 'Bad Boy', (I think). I was wondering if
anyone has heard this one...
[ You must have gotten "Stellar Dynamics", and/or "Electric Lady". Both of
these have the song "Bad Boy". It's a Beatles tune, as Geddy says on E.L.
S.D. also has a song called "Fancy Dancer". Does ANYbody know ANYthing
about "Fancy Dancer"? :rush-mgr ]
Also, I picked up Larry Gowan's CD for $3 (yes 3!)
and I was just wondering if anyone noticed that Alex's guitar tracks sound
rather glazed over and low-key (I guess since it was Gowan's record, they were
trying to feature him).
3) Can anyone describe Hugh Syme's relationship for the band (other than as the
album cover artist, and guest keyboardist). In RUSH_Profiled_ Geddy mentions
that they had a keyboardist at first...Is he referring to Jeff Jones (from the
original lineup, as I understand) or could it be Hugh? Just wonderin...
4) I just wnated to tell some of you guys out there to take a pill. What I'm
reffering to is Rush worship. Don't get me wrong...I'm a BIG fan, but I don't
worship these guys. I think if you really understand Rush's (Neil's) lyrics and
message you'll take them seriously, but don't be upset if other people don't
see things your way. I'm sure Neil wouldn't want you to take this all like a
religious message. Remember, Neil is not saying anything new, he's just echoing
his feelings based on philosophies drawn from people he's studied... So what
I'm really saying is, you musn't be so stiff about the whole idea of the band.
Its obvious that they just want to play their music and put out their message,
and they don't want to be worshipped. Read digest #5. Neil says "get a life".
If there's anything that Rush wants to do, its to get you to use their ideas
constructively...
ORQ: 'It takes a little more persistence to get up and go the distance'
George Papadopoulos
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Date: Fri, 22 Mar 91 10:03:36 PST
From: ronz@imager3.llnl.gov (Ron Zasadzinski)
Subject: DEW interpretation (long)
I have recently tried to understand the lyrics to Distant Early
Warning and have a few ideas... So this is partially in response
to Gregg Brown, and also to see what other people out there think
about the meaning of DEW.
As the title suggests, I think that overall the lyrics describe
several examples that can be interpreted as early warning signs
of problems with our society/way of life, or possibly even early
warning signs of the collapse of our way of life (the latter
interpretation is no doubt a result of my own slightly fatalistic
outlook on the future of our way of life). The title itself literally
comes from (as far as I know) the DEW-line, which is a string of
Distant Early Warning radars near the 70th parallel in North America
that watch for incoming missiles/aircraft from the direction of
the USSR. With that in mind I think the song is saying that
we should be interpreting the situations described by the lyrics as
warning signs.
An Ill wind comes arising
Across the cities of the plain
There's no swimming in the heavy water-
No singing in the acid rain
Red Alert
I interpret that verse as a warning about the state of our environment.
An "Ill wind" may refer to polluted air, "Heavy water" is water
in which some of the Hydrogen atoms have been replaced by radioactive
duterium and/or tritium (as least I think that is right), and "acid
rain" is not something to be happy about either.
It's so hard to stay together
Passing through revolving doors
We need someone to talk to
And someone to sweep the floors-
Incomplete
I interpret this verse as describing how easlily people get mentally
and emotionally messed up in our world. Our way of life is fast
paced, and we are always on the go ("Passing through revolving doors").
Living that way we become emotionally and mentally unbalanced,
perhaps even losing some sanity; we start falling apart "It's so
hard to stay together". As a result we feel a need to talk about our
problems with others, many going to therapists, etc. "We need someone
to talk to". The line "And someone to sweep the floors" may refer
to the therapist, or whoever, just someone to clean up our mental and
emotional mess. All this is indicating that as individuals and as a
society we are "Incomplete".
The world wieghs on my shoulders
But what am I to do?
You sometimes dive me crazy-
But I worry about you
I know it makes no difference
To what you're going through
But I see the tip of the iceberg-
And I worry about you...
The first part of the chorus seems to summarize the first to verses:
There are problems in the world and I have personal problems too
(emotional imbalance?: you drive me crazy and yet I still worry about
you). It's not clear to me if the second half of the chorus has any
additional meaning beyond that.
Cruising under your radar
Watching from satellites
Take a page from the red book-
Keep them in your sights
Red Alert
Besides relating to the DEW-line as related directly to the title of the
song, I think this could be pointing out that all of our military
spying on one another and being almost paranoid about an enemy attack
is unhealthy and unbalanced. We are worried about an enemy sending
in missiles and planes that would "cruise under our radar" so we
"watch from satellites". (I don't know what the "red book" refers to.)
We do what we can to "Keep them (the potential enemy) in our sights".
Left and rights of passage
Black and whites of youth
Who can face the knowledge
That the truth is not the truth
Obsolete
Absolute
I'm not as certain about interpreting this verse, but I think it is
generally speaking about problems with youth. "Left and rights of passage"
is talking about rights of passage, things that we all go through when
growing up, that some of the things that happen to us are pretty screwed
up. "left and rights" indicating opposites, i.e., "wrongs and rights"
but "rights" is part of "rights of passage", so one meaning could be
"The wrongs of rights_of_passage"; we aren't growing up in a whole or
balanced way. "Black and whites of youth" could again be emphasizing
opposites experienced when growing up - the lack of a stable and
coherent model to follow, it could be emphasizing just the different
extremes experienced while growing up, and it most certainly is hinting
at racial differences (another unfortunate problem in our world which
really doesn't need to be a problem, IMHO).
I interpret the lines "Who can face the knowledge that the truth
is not the truth" to mean that the surface veneer of our of
world- the way that we were *taught* that it is, all the situations
described in the preceeding verses -is not really the truth. There
is another reality beneath the ugly and probematic veneer. "Obsolete"
could refer to the present way of life, the veneer of it anyway, as
being obsolete. It doesn't work anymore. "Absolute" has many relevent
meanings: An indication of the urgency (absoluteness) that we change
the way we operate, An indication that our way is absolutely obsolete,
a plea that we "absolve" ourselves by changing our way of life.
The final words in the song are
Absalom
Absalom.
I remember reading/hearing in some interview that Neil always liked
the way the word "Absalom" felt, even before he knew what it meant, and
just put it in because of it's sound. In the interview I think it was
also said that Neil felt that the meaning of the word fit in also.
Unfortunately I don't remember where/when I read that, but I think it
was in the NMS within the last 4 or 6 months. Anyone remember this?
My dictionary says that in hebrew the word literally means "the father
is peace". It also says that Absalom was a biblical figure: "David's
favorite son who was killed after rebelling against his father." I'm
no hebrew or biblical scholar, so I can't comment further other than
that I do feel a calming effect when the words are sung in the song.
I do like the song quite a bit.
The above is all my own opinion and interpretation. I would love to
hear how others have interpreted the song too.
-Ron
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 21 Mar 91 22:31:04 EST
From: vanth!jms@amix.commodore.com (Jim Shaffer)
Subject: Aphrodite vs. that other god nobody can spell
linus@ritcsh.rit.edu (Linus VanPelt) writes:
>ALSO.. does anyone know why in _Hemispheres_ that Dyonisis was used for
>the argument for the heart and not Aphrodite? I thought Dyonisis was the
>Bringer of wine? maybe my mythology is going bad..
No, your mythology isn't going bad. Bacchus (I can't spell the D-word
either right now!) is indeed the god of wine, and revelry. Aphrodite/Venus
is the goddess of love and is associated with the heart. But it's the
title that's wrong, not the lyrics, IMHO. I interpret the second god to
show up as Bacchus/D. The song as I interpret it is meant to show the need
for balance between intellectual and sensual pursuits. Love is obviously a
sensual rather than an intellectual thing, so that's probably why the title
of the section was "D., Bringer of Love." But it's not *just* love, it's
everything they were abstaining from in their quest for wisdom. Thus
Bacchus/D. rather than Aphrodite/Venus.
(Somebody please e-mail me and tell me who the equivalent of Apollo is in
the other pantheon. Now *my* mind is going, I can't even remember which
pantheon is which!)
* From the disk of: | jms@vanth.uucp | "You know I never knew
Jim Shaffer, Jr. | amix.commodore.com!vanth!jms | that it could be so
37 Brook Street | uunet!cbmvax!amix!vanth!jms | strange..."
Montgomery, PA 17752 | 72750.2335@compuserve.com | (R.E.M.)
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 21 Mar 91 09:15:39 EST
From: cameron_bd@lrc.edu
Subject: eggs...
My second posting in two days....
I am not sure about the symbolic meaning of the egg. But if
you take an egg an hold it between youre palms in the exact
fashion illustrated on the slip cover of P/G, no matter how
hard you squeeze, you can't braek the egg. Hard boiled or not.
If you try this trick at home though remember two things
first pick an uncracked egg (of course) and hold as close
to perpendicular to your palms as possible, otherwise it might
break. Second, don't try this in moms kitchen.
I learned about this a long while ago in Mr. Wizard.
You can kind of see how the egg represents a natural sort
of grace and the C-clamp is possibly the pressure of the
human world.
any way Id like to say hi to a certain girl from the big
isla in the pacific before i graduate... so Hi hope you
are doing well... touch the sun...
Brad Cameron
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Robert B Simmon <presto@rpi.edu>
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 91 13:33:44 EST
Subject: digital recording
Firsty[D (oops)
let's try this again -
first I'd like to apologize for discuusing (at length) somethign that's only
marginally rush - related.
Just to put eveything in perspective I'll give eveyone a technical
ovewrview of digital recording technolody. It was developed in the late
70's by sony & phillips to avoid the siganal degredation found in Analog
recordings. The amplitude of a waveform (sound) is recorded a a number of
discreet values (numbers) the current standard uses 16 bits of information per
sample (a little over 64,000) CD's (and most other digital stuff) sampled
44,100 times a seciond. To acurrately rpepresent a sound you have to sample
at at least twice the frequency being recorded, otherwise somethign called
aliasing occurs, therefore a filter is applied to any signal to be recorded
digitally, at 22,000 Hz in the case of CD's. I think this is what Marino
was referring to when he mentioned that DDD recordings take the edge off the
highs. Unfortunatley for that thoeory, 22,000 hz is above both hearing &
the capability of your stereo. also, the same filters apply to any recording
that was EVER transferred into the digital domain. DDD recordings allow the
sound to be processed entirely in digital, never suffering the trauma of being
converted to ANalog, bounced from one track to anbtother or anything.
Thereofore, no distortion. (or so the theory goes.)
The primary complaint about digital recording is that there's no noise floor
(minimum level of noise on the recording) to hide errors and ambient noises.
Some people even claim that harmonics and stuff get screwed up, but they're
probably wrong.
Hopefully that was pretty clear, if you have any questions you can write to
presto@rpi.edu
"when we lift the covers from our feelings ..."
-rob simmon
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Date: Fri, 22 Mar 91 11:23:45 -0500
From: "Douglas G Schwabe" <cschwabe@unix.cis.pitt.edu>
Subject: Cassette Poll Update
Hi folks,
Just want to let you know that the cassette poll is doing quite nicely,
thank you. The responses have been quite interesting up to this point,
lets get more of them, please. For those who came in late I am conduct
a poll of the all-time favorite Rush songs. I gave a list of themes
(See 3/19 TNMS for details) for each Rush fan to use and I gave each fan
the opportunity to suggest their own ideas.
EX: Neil Stories
Fountain of Lamemth (forgive my spelling, please)
2112
Cygnus X-1 (Both books)
The list should consist of your all-time favorite Rush songs
(10 min 20 max) with a particular theme (or not). This does include
live stuff. UPDATE: You can use live songs from videos (Through the
Camera Eye, Grace under Pressure Tour, etc). The results should be
posted around the begining of May. These results are based on the most
popular all-time favorites plus the themes of each tape. Have fun
making your list.
Here are the addresses to send your lists:
Vax: dgsst4@vms.cis.pitt.edu
Unix: dgsst4@unix.cis.pitt.edu
cschwabe@unix.cis.pitt.edu
The teams who be in the Stanley Cup will be playing tommorrow night:
Chicago vs Pittsburgh
"She wants to sell my Monkey" - Mike Lange (Voice of the Penguins)
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 91 12:31:23 CST
From: JEFF FAUNCE <S71239FJ%ETSUACAD.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
Subject: Textbooks and Rush
Today we were going over some problems in the accounting textbook.
Right now we are in chapter 21. Usually I don't bring my book to
class, but today I did. One of the assigned problems was E21-12.
The 2112 did not hit me right off...... first, I read through the
problem..... part seven states "cost of compact discs for newly recorded
releases of Rush......" This of course caught my attention..... then I
noticed the Problem number..... ORQ "You have entered the Twilight Zone"
Has anyone ever run into something similar to this?
"Coincidence......I think not" ---- The Todd
Jeff Faunce
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Copyright The Rush Fans Mailing List, 1991.
Editor, The National Midnight Star
(Rush Fans Mailing List)
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End of The National Midnight Star Number 198
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