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Rush "Tom Sawyer" Lyrics

fustercluck

fustercluck

Diamond Member
I've been doing a lot of lyric browsing lately, mostly for songs where i can't understand much. A couple of minutes ago i was looking for lyrics of "Tom Sawyer" a song by Rush, i've never understood what the heck the lyrics were, now i know, but what the hell do they mean? (if anything). Just curious:

A modern-day warrior
Mean mean stride,
Today's Tom Sawyer
Mean mean pride.

Though his mind is not for rent
Don't put him down as arrogant
His reserve, a quiet defense
Riding out the day's events
The river

What you say about his company
Is what you say about society
Catch the mist, catch the myth
Catch the mystery, catch the drift

The world is, the world is
Love and life are deep
Maybe as his skies are wide

Today's Tom Sawyer
He gets high on you
And the space he invades
He gets by on you

No his mind is not for rent
To any god or government
Always hopeful, yet discontent
He knows changes aren't permanent
But change is

What you say about his company
Is what you say about society
Catch the witness, catch the wit
Catch the spirit, catch the spit

The world is, the world is
Love and life are deep
Maybe as his eyes are wide

Exit the warrior
Today's Tom Sawyer
He gets high on you
And the energy you trade
He gets right on to the friction of the day
Click to expand...

PS, this is the only song i know that Rush sings 😛
 
I get up at seven, yeah,
And I go to work at nine.
I got no time for livin',
Yes, I'm workin' all the time.

Chorus
It seems to me
I could live my life
A lot better than I think I am.
I guess that's why they call me,
They call me the working man.

They call me the working man.
I guess that's what I am.

I get home at five o'clock,
And I take myself out a nice, cold beer.
Always seem to be wonderin'
Why there's nothin' goin' down here.

Chorus

Well they call me the working man.
I guess that's what I am.
Click to expand...

you forgot working man.
 
Originally posted by: DainBramaged
Rush sucks.
Click to expand...

Perhaps they arn't your kind of music, but as far as talent & innovation go they have very
few rivals.

edit: One point I will concede is that song-lyric threads DO suck! 😛
 
Rush is awesome. Just very retro. I don't know what he's talking about exactly, I would say read Tom Sawyer and you'd probably have a good idea.
 
That is some awful poetry, and I can even hear those god awful lyrics being bored through my skull by that despicable high-pitched squeel the lead singer of Rush is so famous for. He, or should I say "it", claims to be a man, but I say that's up for debate.
 
Originally posted by: grrl
Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
Just standard 80s wannabe political crap.
Click to expand...

😕
Click to expand...

You're not the one who's confused, he is. By 1980 Rush had already been around for 12 years and had released 8 albums. Not to mention they were certainly not part of the standard political crap (Dylan, Lennon, Joan Baez, Barry Mcguire, Janice Joplin, etc) because they're Canadian! Back in those days they sung about fantasy worlds, love, and fast cars and only threw in the occasional commentary on their views of the world 😀 As a matter of fact, sampling the lyrics of every album, you will be hardpressed to find any songs at all about politics.

I do agree that everything past All The World's a Stage was mostly crap to me. That's the same with most every band though. They never quit while they're ahead.
 
Back when the song was written, Neil Pert was into role games like "Dunguen & Dragons" and the song is about one of his charaters.

In my opinion RUSH is the most talented group since the Beatles split. They have always had the best lyrics, and Amazing drum work.

Look at some of RUSH other songs like; Red Barchetta, Hero, CountDown, and Manhattan Project as songs with great lyrics. Not the normal boring "we kickass" or "lets party" lyrics that are offten peddled as music now-adays.
 
Originally posted by: Captante
Originally posted by: DainBramaged
Rush sucks.
Click to expand...
Perhaps they arn't your kind of music, but as far as talent & innovation go they have very few rivals.

edit: One point I will concede is that song-lyric threads DO suck! 😛
Click to expand...
VERY well said. :beer:
 
I sincerly belive most people don't understand Rush's lyrics and very few have the musical ear to appriciate thier talent. The bands only weat spot is Gety's vocals.
 
Originally posted by: LeadMagnet
I sincerly belive most people don't understand Rush's lyrics and very few have the musical ear to appriciate thier talent. The bands only weat spot is Gety's vocals.
Click to expand...

i like the music of rush
and led zeppelin

i dont give a damn about their lyrics, but the music is good 🙂
 
Originally posted by: 1sikbITCH
Originally posted by: grrl
Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
Just standard 80s wannabe political crap.
Click to expand...

😕
Click to expand...

You're not the one who's confused, he is. By 1980 Rush had already been around for 12 years and had released 8 albums. Not to mention they were certainly not part of the standard political crap (Dylan, Lennon, Joan Baez, Barry Mcguire, Janice Joplin, etc) because they're Canadian! Back in those days they sung about fantasy worlds, love, and fast cars and only threw in the occasional commentary on their views of the world 😀 As a matter of fact, sampling the lyrics of every album, you will be hardpressed to find any songs at all about politics.

I do agree that everything past All The World's a Stage was mostly crap to me. That's the same with most every band though. They never quit while they're ahead.
Click to expand...
http://www.canadianbands.com/Rush.html

Beyond a shadow of any doubt one of the greatest bands to ever walk our green planet, the origins of Rush trace back to 1968 when Gary Lee Weinrib & Alex Zivojinovich formed a garage band and jammed to the sounds of Hendrix, Cream & Led Zeppelin. After they changed their names to Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, and original drummer John Rutsey, they became an underground favourite and soon made enough to cut their first 45 on their own label "Moon Records". The songs featured were an original collaberation entitled "Can't Fight It" and Bobby & Sue Womack's "Not Fade Away", which was the band's only cover until 2004's FEEDBACK lp. This 45 is viewed as an extreme collectible, as neither of these tracks have ever appeared on another album.

The band released their self-titled debut lp in 1974 and was like the proverbial night and day from the sound they've evolved into today. Lifeson's searing guitar solos & meticulous rhythm layers along with Geddy Lee's distinct vocals solidified themselves as one of the most promising local groups of the time. With the heavy progressions in "In The Mood" - their first single, the scorching solos in "Finding My Way" and straight-forward 'grab you by the balls' "Never Before". This period is the most crucial in the band's history. It was during this time that the group was noticed by Phonogram Records in the US and Attic in Canada and also saw drummer John Rutsey replaced by a former mythology student named Neil Peart.

The reformed trio released FLY BY NIGHT in 1975 and featured "By-Tor & The Snowdog", the first of what would become trademark epics penned by Peart and his love for ancient mythology and science fiction. Also on the album were the title-track - which gained respectable airplay and "Beneath Between & Behind". Later that same year saw CARESS OF STEEL, which further made evident the group's natural blending of the ear-piercing chords of metal anthems like "Bastille Day" and the soothing melodies of "Lakeside Park" and complexities of "The Necromancer".

Rush released "2112" in 1976, and powered by such classics as "Passage To Bangkok", "Something For Nothing" and "Temples of Syrinx", 2112 is widely viewed as their breakthrough album, opening new avenues for the group's future to an audience that now stretched past North America. The group released "All The World's A Stage" that same year as a showcase of their live show and the record's raw edge captured their heavy but harmonious stage-presence, making it one of the premier live records ever cut.

1977 saw them leave Canada for recording for the first time. A FAREWELL TO KINGS featured the classics "Closer To The Heart" and "Cinderella Man". Recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales, both these tracks on both sides of the Atlantic helped earn Rush the title of bona-fide supergroup. Also on the album were "Cygnus X-1", "Madrigal" and the title-track. They returned to southern Wales a year later to record HEMISPHERES. The result was the classics "Circumstances" and "The Trees". The record also saw the title track, the last of 'The great Rush side one epics', and "La Villa Strangiato" - regarded as one of their best progressive instrumentals.

Sporting a more mature, radio-friendly attitude, Rush returned to the remote Quebec countryside of Morin Heights to cut PERMANENT WAVES in 1980 - for the most part leaving the multi-part epics at the door. The record featured one of radio's biggest hits of the year in "Sprit of the Radio", as well as "Jacob's Ladder", "Entre Nous" and "Freewill". While still following the course their music was naturally evolving into, The group also performed on Max Webster's "Battle Scar" on the UNIVERSAL JUVENILES record that same year.

In 1981 Rush turned out their biggest selling record to date, MOVING PICTURES, which featured "Red Barchetta", "Vital Signs" and "Tom Sawyer", co-written by Max Webster's lyricist Pye Dubois. Geddy Lee also found time to make a guest appearance on Bob & Doug McKenzie's record that year, proudly showing his hoser roots by singing "Take Off". The group released their second live album - EXIT STAGE LEFT later that year then came back with SIGNALS in 1982. The record marked a noticeable change in the group's sound. With keyboards and synthesized guitars now prominant, SIGNALS went over with the public like the proverbial lead balloon, though it remains a critic's favourite to this day, backed by "Subdivisions", "The Weapon", and "New World Man".

The slight change of direction also paved the way for 1984's GRACE UNDER PRESSURE. Falling back on more of a mainly guitar-based sound but still following the course laid out by its predecessor, the record featured "Distant Early Warning", "Red Sector A" and "Body Electric". POWER WINDOWS was released the next year but failed to build on the momentum the group was rebuilding, though "Big Money" and "Mystic Rhythms" remain staples of the groups live show today. By this time, Peart's writing style had alsopretty much changed from just writing the epic fantasies and story-telling to more politically and social-conscious numbers. Not withstanding, Rush still stayed true to their fans and released HOLD YOUR FIRE, featuring "Time Stand Still" with Amee Mann and "Force Ten" in 1987.

Again to show their appreciation of the fans, a third live album A SHOW OF HANDS was released in 1989. Later that same year came "Presto", featuring "Show Don't Tell" and "Superconductor". 1991 saw "Roll the Bones", which had the title track and "Dreamline". 1993 saw unquestionably Rush's biggest album in years. Backed by "Stick It out" and "Nobody's Hero", "Counterparts" was the album that brought the group back into the spotlight after losing some of their lustre over recent albums. The group was inducted into the Juno Hall of Fame the next year, in recognition of their truly legendary status in their homeland and the mark they'd humbly but unimistakingly left on the development of Canadian music over the last twenty-some years.

After appearing on I Mother Earth's "Like A Girl" from the "Scenery and Fish" lp, Lifeson became the first member to put out a solo album when VICTOR hit the shelves in '96. Partially based on the works of poet W.H. Auden, the record was met with rave reviews and featured a helping hand from Dalbello, Edwin and some people with first AND last names too. This time of seperation also afforded Peart the chance to release an instructional video called "Modern Drummer". and see his first novel published, the non-fictional "The Masked Rider", his personal memoirs from his time in South Africa.

1997 was a year of emotional highs & devestating lows for the group. On February 27, the humble threesome was recognized for their exhaustive charity work with the awarding of the Order of Canada, this country's highest civic honour. However, later that year, after the release of TEST FOR ECHO, which featured "Half The World", all plans for the group were put on hiatus following the death of Peart's 19 year-old daughter in a car accident. Tragedy struck the Peart household barely a year later when Neil's wife Jacqueline lost her battle with cancer.

While the group took some time off out of the spotlight, with tours and recording on hiatus, Anthem released a 2 disc "best of" set called RETROSPECTIVE in 1999 and that same year pumped out the group's fourth live record entitled DIFFERENT STAGES. Hailed as the definitive live Rush album, it features 2 discs made up from the TEST FOR ECHO world tour, as well as a limited-edition third disc of re-mastered performances from '77.

Lee put out his first solo album, in 2000, just in time for Christmas. Like Lifeson, the debut effort apart from his bandmates was met with instant critical praise on the back of the first single, the title track. A revitalized Rush returned to the studios in 2001. The result was possibly the band's heaviest hitting disc in years, 2002's VAPOR TRAILS. The lead single "One Little Victory" not only shows the band has overcome the adversities the members have faced over the recent years, but that they're back - to coin a phrase - better than ever. Their fifth live album was released in 2003, RUSH IN RIO, co-inciding with the DVD.

The band returned to their roots in 2004 with FEEDBACK, a collection of tunes that influenced the members in their formative years. Tracks like "Summertime Blues", "Shapes Of Things", "For What It's Worth" and "Heart Full Of Soul" all capture the raw innocence that molded the band into one of Canada's most successful in history, selling 35 million copies of 18 studio albums.

Though their sound has matured, following a natural progression ... or evolution ... over 30 years, Rush has always stayed loyal to their fans, never compromising themselves for the sake of a hit record. The elaborate show they put on make their concerts an event, always remembering their early musical roots and filling the arena with lazers and pyrotechnics that are rivalled by no one. They have pioneered so many avenues for so many Canadian artists of so many different sounds, Rush is indeed a one of a kind group, and they've always been proud to say they're from Canada, making them our ambassadors and our greatest contribution to the rock and roll world.
 
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