The Canadian trio Rush hit a commercial and artistic peak with the release of their 1981 album Moving Pictures. The thundering “Limelight” stood out as one of the songs from that record that helped the band reach new levels of exposure, which is ironic because it betrayed one band member’s issues with that situation.
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What is the song about? How did it represent lyricist Neil Peart’s demeanor? And why did the decision when to record the album including the song make a huge difference? Here are all the details about “Limelight,” one of Rush’s signature efforts.
Keep on Moving
The progression of Rush from cult band to mainstream rock heroes took a big step with their 1980 album Permanent Waves. In was a record where the band changed their tactics ever so slightly by adding some shorter, radio-friendly songs to the mix. In addition, drummer Neil Peart, who wrote the band’s lyrics, tackled topics that were a bit more relatable than some of Rush’s sci-fi diversions of yore.
The result was an album that broadened the band’s fan base immensely. Once they finished touring the record, their original plan was to compile a live album and wait a bit for another studio release. That would give them some time to devise new material.
But with all their creative pistons firing, the band, having unlocked a more accessible sound, decided to keep the ball rolling. They headed right back into their studio to make a new record, which would become Moving Pictures. One track, set apart by Alex Lifeson’s fiery guitar riff, showed serious potential. Once Neil Peart added his lyrics, it turned into “Limelight.”
Peart’s Problem
Rush devised a somewhat unique division of labor in the rock and roll world in that Neil Peart, the band’s drummer, wrote the lyrics but didn’t sing them, instead handing them over to bassist Geddy Lee to add his piercing vocals. That was just fine with Peart, who didn’t crave the attention aimed at a frontman. Those feelings spilled into “Limelight,” as he explained in an interview with the CBC:
“That was an attempt on my part to explain myself as an introvert, feeling totally alienated by the ‘gilded cage’ of it all, and it’s been remarkable over time how many young musicians have come up to me and told me what that song means to them when they faced the same transition in their life.”
Rush didn’t allow the song to wallow in those feelings, as Lee and Lifeson devised one of the band’s most aggressive musical foundations for the track. Lifeson gets to take center stage from an instrumental standpoint, both with his irrepressible riffing and a solo that sort of drags itself into existence before revving into some serious pyrotechnics.
What is the Meaning of “Limelight”?
“Limelight” speaks of the dilemma that arises when a private person is suddenly thrust into the fisheye lens. Peart lays out the issue right off the bat: Living in the limelight / Approaches the unreal / For those who think and feel. In other words, anyone who’s not completely insensate should experience some sort of disconnect.
It’s telling that the lyrics quote Shakespeare (All the world’s indeed a stage / And we are merely players), because Peart’s words carry some of the lilting quality of iambic pentameter: Cast in this unlikely role ill-equipped to act / With insufficient tact / One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact. Elsewhere, he touches on the awkwardness of being approached on the street: I can’t pretend a stranger is a long-awaited friend.
In the chorus, Lee sings about the universal dream. It feels like there’s a little bit of sarcasm in those words, since so much of the rest of the song hints at the discomfort of Living in the limelight. With wonderful songs like “Limelight,” Rush was ensuring that like it or not, they’d be getting a lot of practice in learning to live with fame and fan adoration.
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Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns
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