We've got nothing to fear but fear itself?
Not pain, not failure, not fatal tragedy?
Not the faulty units in this mad machinery?
Not the broken contacts in emotional chemistry?
With an iron fist in a velvet glove
We are sheltered under the gun
In the glory game on the power train
Thy kingdom's will be done
And the things that we fear are a weapon to be held against us...
He's not afraid of your judgement
He knows of horrors worse than your Hell
He's a little bit afraid of dying
But he's a lot more afraid of your lying
And the things that he fears are a weapon to be held against him...
Can any part of life be larger than life?
Even love must be limited by time
And those who push us down that they might climb
Is any killer worth more than his crime?
Like a steely blade in a silken sheath
We don't see what they're made of
They shout about love, but when push comes to shove
They live for the things they're afraid of
And the knowledge that they fear is a weapon to be used against them...
Not pain, not failure, not fatal tragedy?
Not the faulty units in this mad machinery?
Not the broken contacts in emotional chemistry?
With an iron fist in a velvet glove
We are sheltered under the gun
In the glory game on the power train
Thy kingdom's will be done
And the things that we fear are a weapon to be held against us...
He's not afraid of your judgement
He knows of horrors worse than your Hell
He's a little bit afraid of dying
But he's a lot more afraid of your lying
And the things that he fears are a weapon to be held against him...
Can any part of life be larger than life?
Even love must be limited by time
And those who push us down that they might climb
Is any killer worth more than his crime?
Like a steely blade in a silken sheath
We don't see what they're made of
They shout about love, but when push comes to shove
They live for the things they're afraid of
And the knowledge that they fear is a weapon to be used against them...
envoyé par Bartleby - 5/3/2012 - 16:27
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Album “Signals”
Seconda di un ciclo di quattro canzoni intitolato “Fear Series”, sorto dalla cinica e pessimistica ma (almeno in parte) vera considerazione che la vita dell’uomo non è guidata dall’amore o dalla ragione, ma nemmeno dal denaro o dalla ricerca della felicità… L’uomo ed il mondo di cui egli è sovrano sono dominati soltanto dalla paura, la paura che è in lui, la paura che altri usano contro di lui, la paura che lo muove nei confronti degli altri.
I primi tre brani di “Fear Series” sono curiosamente intitolati con un progressivo a ritroso, dove “The Enemy Within” è del 1984, “The Weapon” del 1982 e “Witch Hunt” del 1981… Il quarto brano, quello conclusivo intitolato “Freeze”, è invece piuttosto recente, dall’album “Vapor Trails” del 2002, ma ha a che vedere piuttosto con una vicenda personale, quella del batterista Neil Peart che alla fine dei 90 improvvisamente perse la giovane figlia e la moglie in rapida successione e vide la sua vita ed il suo lavoro compromessi proprio dalla paura, salvo poi riprendersi umanamente ed artisticamente proprio nel 2002…
“The idea for the trilogy was suggested by an older man telling that he didn't think life was ruled by love, or reason, or money, or the pursuit of happiness -- but by fear. This smart-but-cynical guy's position was that most people's actions are motivated by fear of being hungry, fear of being hurt, fear of being alone, fear of being robbed, etc., and that people don't make choices based on hope that something good will happen, but in fear that something bad will happen.
I reacted to this the way all of us tend to react to generalities: 'Well, I'm not like that!' But then I started thinking about it more, watching the way people around me behaved, and I soon realised that there was something to this viewpoint, So I sketched out the three 'theaters of fear,' as I saw them: how fear works inside us ("The Enemy Within"), how fear is used against us ("The Weapon"), and how fear feeds the mob mentality ("Witch Hunt").
As it happened, the last theme was easiest to deal with, so it was written first, and consequently appeared first on record, and the other two followed in reverse order for the same reason.”
“‘The Weapon’ explains how everything that people fear can be used against them as a weapon.”
(Neil Peart su "Counterparts - Rush Backstage Club Newsletter”, gennaio 1994)