Neil's lyrics here were based on his own experience growing up in a suburban community, where conformity was king, and he was repeatedly teased and bullied by his high school classmates because he was different. I have Asperger's Syndrome, which is part of the autistic spectrum, and when Subdivisions came out while I was in high school, it hit me like a ton of bricks because it sounded like a carbon copy of what I was going through. As I matured, I came to recognize that being different made me special because like Neil, I had many special gifts that most neurotypical people cannot even begin to understand. If you'd like to see exactly how gifted he was, I'd like to recommend Leave That Thing Alone from their 1997 Toronto show, which leads into an extended drum solo. Rest in peace Professor! 🥁 🥁 🐐 🐐
I felt the same way as someone with Asperger's, and many of Neil's lyrics extraordinarily related to me. And like you, as I matured, I realized what was once a curse was, in fact, a gift.
@@mattjohn4731 The Rush you are introduced to is your home. Us oldies that grew up on By Tor, Anthem and Cygnus loved it. The Prog era was when the rest of the world found them. This era has its moments for me Distant Early Warning and a few others and they came back great with Counterparts and Clockwork Angels. Hold Your Fire and Presto were pretty hard to get through.
@donhadfield2835 I never really was a big fan, but I always liked what I heard. Every era has its bangers. New World Man is a personal favorite, and I rarely hear anyone ask for it. Rush has something for everyone.
@@mattjohn4731 That's because starting somewhere in the mid-to-late 70's music became more simplified in order to please the masses because freeform radio was taken over by the corporate record companies. So it became more about the money and less quality; compared to the 70s when great bands could take their time and were not forced to put something out on the record deals time. Rush's early music as with all of the older bands who made stuff in the 80s compared to the 70s was way more progressive, with much more complex arrangements and that's what gets my juices flowing. Then again I am a musician and took guitar lessons and learned music theory and I'm conditioned to listening to that stuff more but I do enjoy the 80s Rush too .
All three of the Rush members considered them selves out spiders , geeks , out cast in School , nit fitting in with the click . But this proves you can be an outsider and be successful
Rush is my all time favorite band. Thanks for the review! "Be cool or be cast out"...no truer words could be said about what high school was like back in the 1980's when this was released.
This song spoke to me when I was a kid. I was that weird,awkward,odd duck kid who couldn't stand where I lived and didn't really have friends. Neil's drum work is on point here as are his lyrics. This one really got me through a tough time in school.
Rush was hit and miss on many of their official videos but the one for this is excellent and illustrates what they're trying to say really well. Nice review next you should do The Analog Kid from the same Signals album.
This is my high school jam. It reminds me of the suburbs around Toronto. The classic rock station in Toronto frequently still plays this and everytime I go to the city I hear it at least once. It's a feel good tune for me.
Wow! …. and I’m not talking about the song (which is classic Rush brilliance!) Your review and interpretation of the lyrics is truly amazing and much appreciated. Love your enthusiasm and outstanding insight. Please keep up the great work. ❤ your video!
I am 63 years old and I really appreciate how you explain and define the lyrics to the music I grew up with. I just mostly listened to the muaic, caught a line here and there, THANK YOU!!
I can't impress upon you how talented the members of Rush are. The drummer, Neil was literally a god tier master. Geddy often plays the bass and the keys both live on stage at the same time. Alex has created some of the catchiest riffs in rock and roll history.
The precursor of that song could very well be Vital signs, which closed the album that came before signals. Check it out bros, amazing lyrics yet again by Neil. It's like a reggae Sci-fi song which is very interesting in that sense alone but what an great song. Check it out bro !!!!!!
I love the subdivision album to this day , thanx for your commentary on the lyrics , every song in this album is golden and almost prophetic of were we are now
‘Subdivisions’ is one of my very favorite songs from any artist and it is chock-full of everything that makes Rush so great! I would argue that they delivered some of the very best albums across three distinct genres. 2112 may be the definitive Prog Rock and concept album; particularly side one. Moving Pictures belongs in any discussion of greatest Classic Rock or Hard Rock albums. Finally, Signals is among the very best New Wave records and showcases just how much the band grew in six years, both in talent and their appreciation for other music.
My interpretation is that the safe but boring (subdivisions) are portrayed as dull compared to city life (where the action is). We're brainwashed to think this way. However, as people chase this "dream" only to discover it's a rat race, they eventually wish to be somewhere else. Maybe even a subdivision!! Most of it is a clever play on the word subdivision.
This song/video is how I discovered Rush in the 80s. I haven’t looked back. They’re the best. I think you’ll find a lot of us for whom this is true. It’s all we had. We had both “The Ave“ and a quarter mile racing strip You should definitely review Manhattan Project and Mission if you haven’t Seriously. How does the less than five minute song manage to nail who I was, the absolute loneliness, and what I was afraid of.
The thing with RUSH is that they don't sound like anything other but themselves. This three men bad was still able to make a huge waal of sound as I have been priviledged to see them live and most of the songs almot all, the lyrics are quite deep. They didn't sang about the usually stuff, but real life problems bith in society and the whole world, but also in relationshiops like in their 1993 album 'Counterparts' referring to man and woman. They even sang about our histrory like in the song 'Xanadu' and the sort time of the Kublai Khans rule and conquering vast areas. So they were singing about everything. Some of the lyrics can be from the first hearing a bit weird, but they are always very toughtful and top of that Neil Peart was one of the best drummers ever. His drumset was ridicilous and of the things that many may have not maybe realized is the pace and extraoridinary time signatures. Also Alex Lifeson is way better guitarit compared to how he was ranked. He can plaay an acusatic guitar very well as his electric guitars too. Thanks JMBOY for this reaction!
@mattjohn4731 Listen more closely. It's about being a teenager in the suburbs. Looking hard for acceptance and to fit in. "Conform or be cast out". Even in my day the pressure on teens from other teens could be intense. What with social media and cameras catching every little mistake and blunder for all to see, today's kids are in a world of hurt... and society wonders why we have seen such a spike in teen suicide
First 😂I was 10 and grew up in a town outside Toronto and we were playing in the park and heard music coming from the factories and we climbed on the dumpsters to watch in the window and saw them rocking out making the most impressive sounds we had ever heard. They saw us and came out and talked to us about hockey (cause that's what we Canadians do 😂) and we talked about the music they were recording and their cars they had beautiful cars 😂 Alex and Geddy gave us guitar picks and Neil gave us drumsticks . They were so down to earth and humble and when I was older I saw them live twice in 88 and 03 in front of 500,000 crazy Canadians at the SARS relief concert in Toronto in 2003. Great reaction and Peace out 🙏 ✌️ ☮️
I feel fortunate to have seen "RUSH"- Neil Peart perform at SPAC, N.Y. in one of the last shows. Neil did a drum solo in the middle of the show that the entire crowd was playing "AIR-DRUMS" along. I recorded the entire show and have them at my place. They are in any coversation about who is the most talented musicians in Rock history... Greatest Three Man Bands.... Jimi's Experience, Cream, Rush, ZZ Top,.... all others are my choices
Hi bud, home of RUSH Toronto here & touching base. Excellent choice and always a great day to drop the needle on vintage vinyl RUSH,keep rocking it up. Neil was a wizard with lyrical writing.
I once thought the Signals album was a really big leap from Moving Pictures but it’s really a natural progression. I love the dark synths and bass lines so thick you can park a car on them. Great reaction. 🏄♂️
* If you liked this one, you'd probably like their song *Chemistry* and *Countdown.* I think the band was always interested in science, and the space program. The song "Countdown" is a song about the first space shuttle "Columbia" launch that entered low Earth orbit in space. I love some of the chatter between the astronauts and flight control near the end of the song while the music is still going. Like for instance, some of the chatter was: "Columbia is now 36 precise window in space, remain engine cutoff."/"Launch 2 minutes, 40 seconds." * "Columbia now 39 north-a-miles altitude ah, 42 north-a-miles down range."/"Columbia looks to be a little hot doggin'. Your calls will be a little early."/"Young intrepid really moving out now. Velocity now reading ah, 6200 feet per second."/"What a view. What a view."/"Just glad you enjoyed it."/"J-hundred-a-mile west."/"Columbia-Houston ah, we have 40 seconds. Say-alla-west. Configure alla-west. You're lookin' good for an overhill. We'll see you in the drift."/"...and we're going to need this but, not yet."/"Ah, me an John...we just wanted to say something." and the music's still going at that point. I don't know. I just think it's cool.
The official video of this tune is pretty cool, aside from watching the band perform it, it's filled with scenes from all over Toronto, including the famous Yonge St. downtown strip where me and my buddies used to cruise around every weekend!! You should check it out!
A unique haunting melody this song has. When I was 17 I didn't care for this song at first. Silly me. There only a handful of songs that I did not like at first but love now. This is one of them
The live version of this on the clockwork angels tour video is a great way to see how they do this some live.watchung Geddy switch from keyboards to bass all while singing….. to me he is the heart of this band.
I was 20 when this came out and it instantly became my favorite Rush song. The keyboards and bass line are just so good. The other thing is I could identify with the lyrics growing up in the that era because it fit so many of us. It really describes that era of the tail end of the Boomers, 1960 to 1964, and the early Gen X 1965 to 1970 maybe 1972. Great reaction!
This is the song that initially got me to take a deep dive into Rush's music just a few months ago. I remember being a nerdy introvert school, so I related to Neil's lyrics. I also love the '80's sound. I suggest checking out the official music video to this song, as I feel it really tells the story of this song well.
RIP Neil Peart🤘🎸
This song for whatever reason doesn't get old. It has that strange ability.
Neil's lyrics here were based on his own experience growing up in a suburban community, where conformity was king, and he was repeatedly teased and bullied by his high school classmates because he was different. I have Asperger's Syndrome, which is part of the autistic spectrum, and when Subdivisions came out while I was in high school, it hit me like a ton of bricks because it sounded like a carbon copy of what I was going through. As I matured, I came to recognize that being different made me special because like Neil, I had many special gifts that most neurotypical people cannot even begin to understand. If you'd like to see exactly how gifted he was, I'd like to recommend Leave That Thing Alone from their 1997 Toronto show, which leads into an extended drum solo. Rest in peace Professor!
🥁 🥁 🐐 🐐
I felt the same way as someone with Asperger's, and many of Neil's lyrics extraordinarily related to me. And like you, as I matured, I realized what was once a curse was, in fact, a gift.
Hard rock fans were really harsh on Rush's synth albums, but nowadays they feel very ahead of their time.
Their early stuff doesn't do it for me. Early 80s stuff slayed🎹🥁🎸
@@mattjohn4731 The Rush you are introduced to is your home. Us oldies that grew up on By Tor, Anthem and Cygnus loved it. The Prog era was when the rest of the world found them. This era has its moments for me Distant Early Warning and a few others and they came back great with Counterparts and Clockwork Angels. Hold Your Fire and Presto were pretty hard to get through.
@donhadfield2835 I never really was a big fan, but I always liked what I heard. Every era has its bangers. New World Man is a personal favorite, and I rarely hear anyone ask for it. Rush has something for everyone.
@@mattjohn4731
That's because starting somewhere in the mid-to-late 70's music became more simplified in order to please the masses because freeform radio was taken over by the corporate record companies. So it became more about the money and less quality; compared to the 70s when great bands could take their time and were not forced to put something out on the record deals time. Rush's early music as with all of the older bands who made stuff in the 80s compared to the 70s was way more progressive, with much more complex arrangements and that's what gets my juices flowing. Then again I am a musician and took guitar lessons and learned music theory and I'm conditioned to listening to that stuff more but I do enjoy the 80s Rush too .
@@Dick_Throbbmore simplified in what regard? Shorter songs? There is still lots of complexity in their music all the way through their catalog.
I love this album just as much as the iconic Moving Pictures
This has always been one of my Top 5 Rush songs
'Signals' is a MASTERPIECE!
💯
All three of the Rush members considered them selves out spiders , geeks , out cast in School , nit fitting in with the click . But this proves you can be an outsider and be successful
Rush is my all time favorite band. Thanks for the review! "Be cool or be cast out"...no truer words could be said about what high school was like back in the 1980's when this was released.
I'm never tired of listening to this song!
When I listen to this song in the car, so do the drivers in the other lanes.
Definitely on repeat 🔥🤘🏽🔥
So so thankful that I got to see them live❤️ RIP Neil, you were the master!!
The official video is a must-see. 🎉
I just read Geddy Lee’s autobiography. A brilliant memoir of his personal story as well as the band’s history.
40 years and not a speck of rust. Excellent choice, young man.
Conform or be cast out is making a come back by force and command, if it ever wasn't...
keep rolling ,,, track 2,,🎶 you move me,, you move me,,🎶🤘🤘🤘
Great analysis of the lyrics. You really caught the theme and the metaphors Neil used to illustrate it. Great song!
You really have a knack for summing up the meanings of these songs!
Just a great track. Love this one.
Excellent reaction for a first listen. Nice work. Looking forward to some more from Rush.
This song spoke to me when I was a kid. I was that weird,awkward,odd duck kid who couldn't stand where I lived and didn't really have friends. Neil's drum work is on point here as are his lyrics. This one really got me through a tough time in school.
Rush was hit and miss on many of their official videos but the one for this is excellent and illustrates what they're trying to say really well. Nice review next you should do The Analog Kid from the same Signals album.
This is my high school jam. It reminds me of the suburbs around Toronto. The classic rock station in Toronto frequently still plays this and everytime I go to the city I hear it at least once. It's a feel good tune for me.
Analog kid is my fave rush song
I was in 10th grade when this song came out and it totally defined high school.
Wow! …. and I’m not talking about the song (which is classic Rush brilliance!) Your review and interpretation of the lyrics is truly amazing and much appreciated. Love your enthusiasm and outstanding insight. Please keep up the great work. ❤ your video!
I am 63 years old and I really appreciate how you explain and define the lyrics to the music I grew up with. I just mostly listened to the muaic, caught a line here and there, THANK YOU!!
You missed the last lyrics. "Somewhere out of a memory of lighted streets on quiet nights".
Have a great day!
Pure poetry.
Thanks for taking time to touch upon the lyrics.
Ellwood Lives.
Ellwood Saves!
Look up the video of Neil playing this by himself. It's awesome!!
Wow! 🤯 Excellent review! Best breakdown I've heard in a very long time. Keep it real, JMBOY. Intelligent analysis 🤘👍
Damn homey you nailed this hard. 100% that’s what he’s talking about. Peart’s lyrics really spoke easily to you.
Watch the video to this - much more profound - really captures the vibe of this song - nice recap of the lyrics - Neil was a modern poet -
U R the man,JM...love the reaction, love the site, keep them bangers coming....Todd from Ohio....
You should do Tom Sawyer from Rush next.
Got it! LOVE THE STYLE! | Tom Sawyer - Rush (Reaction)
ua-cam.com/video/FGQVUiq_p84/v-deo.html
……great breakdown of this track ! You nailed it 💪🏾
I can't impress upon you how talented the members of Rush are. The drummer, Neil was literally a god tier master. Geddy often plays the bass and the keys both live on stage at the same time. Alex has created some of the catchiest riffs in rock and roll history.
The precursor of that song could very well be Vital signs, which closed the album that came before signals. Check it out bros, amazing lyrics yet again by Neil. It's like a reggae Sci-fi song which is very interesting in that sense alone but what an great song. Check it out bro !!!!!!
Great adolescent song , live through it
I love the subdivision album to this day , thanx for your commentary on the lyrics , every song in this album is golden and almost prophetic of were we are now
My mate you smashed the breakdown of what neal was saying . The hole analysis was crisp an you wrote a song about the song bravo 👏
As I grew up in suburbia, in Ohio, and this song arrived when I was a teen (now, in my later 50's) this has been one of my favorite songs by Rush.
‘Subdivisions’ is one of my very favorite songs from any artist and it is chock-full of everything that makes Rush so great! I would argue that they delivered some of the very best albums across three distinct genres. 2112 may be the definitive Prog Rock and concept album; particularly side one. Moving Pictures belongs in any discussion of greatest Classic Rock or Hard Rock albums. Finally, Signals is among the very best New Wave records and showcases just how much the band grew in six years, both in talent and their appreciation for other music.
My favorite Rush song!
When you get a chance check out the video for this song. It was definitely a video ahead of its time.
Great song, iconic band! Next, check out “New World Man” off of the same album (Signals), killer bass lines! ✌️
My interpretation is that the safe but boring (subdivisions) are portrayed as dull compared to city life (where the action is). We're brainwashed to think this way.
However, as people chase this "dream" only to discover it's a rat race, they eventually wish to be somewhere else. Maybe even a subdivision!!
Most of it is a clever play on the word subdivision.
This song/video is how I discovered Rush in the 80s. I haven’t looked back. They’re the best.
I think you’ll find a lot of us for whom this is true. It’s all we had.
We had both “The Ave“ and a quarter mile racing strip
You should definitely review Manhattan Project and Mission if you haven’t
Seriously. How does the less than five minute song manage to nail who I was, the absolute loneliness, and what I was afraid of.
masterpiece
The thing with RUSH is that they don't sound like anything other but themselves. This three men bad was still able to make a huge waal of sound as I have been priviledged to see them live and most of the songs almot all, the lyrics are quite deep. They didn't sang about the usually stuff, but real life problems bith in society and the whole world, but also in relationshiops like in their 1993 album 'Counterparts' referring to man and woman. They even sang about our histrory like in the song 'Xanadu' and the sort time of the Kublai Khans rule and conquering vast areas. So they were singing about everything. Some of the lyrics can be from the first hearing a bit weird, but they are always very toughtful and top of that Neil Peart was one of the best drummers ever. His drumset was ridicilous and of the things that many may have not maybe realized is the pace and extraoridinary time signatures. Also Alex Lifeson is way better guitarit compared to how he was ranked. He can plaay an acusatic guitar very well as his electric guitars too. Thanks JMBOY for this reaction!
One of my favorite tunes by Rush. The lyrics are amazing once you catch what's being said. Be cool or be cast out
Subdivision and New World Man ...
Yeah the culture is cold. In the suburbs. Wall Street, workplaces, etc.
@mattjohn4731 Listen more closely. It's about being a teenager in the suburbs. Looking hard for acceptance and to fit in. "Conform or be cast out". Even in my day the pressure on teens from other teens could be intense. What with social media and cameras catching every little mistake and blunder for all to see, today's kids are in a world of hurt... and society wonders why we have seen such a spike in teen suicide
Dude - your commentary NAILED it.😎
THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN RUSH ...ALSO CHECK OUT THEIR ALBUM..GRACE UNDER PRESSURE
First rate reaction my friend!
First 😂I was 10 and grew up in a town outside Toronto and we were playing in the park and heard music coming from the factories and we climbed on the dumpsters to watch in the window and saw them rocking out making the most impressive sounds we had ever heard. They saw us and came out and talked to us about hockey (cause that's what we Canadians do 😂) and we talked about the music they were recording and their cars they had beautiful cars 😂 Alex and Geddy gave us guitar picks and Neil gave us drumsticks . They were so down to earth and humble and when I was older I saw them live twice in 88 and 03 in front of 500,000 crazy Canadians at the SARS relief concert in Toronto in 2003. Great reaction and Peace out 🙏 ✌️ ☮️
🏆🏆🏆🏆!
BUT I GREW UP THEN TOO AND I DIDNT THINK THAT WAY
Always thought this was their best song.
🥁 🔥 🎸 🔥 🎸🔥 🎹
Grew up listening to these fine gentlemen, seen them live a bunch too. Great song.
I feel fortunate to have seen "RUSH"- Neil Peart perform at SPAC, N.Y. in one of the last shows. Neil did a drum solo in the middle of the show that the entire crowd was playing "AIR-DRUMS" along. I recorded the entire show and have them at my place. They are in any coversation about who is the most talented musicians in Rock history... Greatest Three Man Bands.... Jimi's Experience, Cream, Rush, ZZ Top,.... all others are my choices
ya only missed Triumph :)
@@mspicer3262 I had them in mind with C.S.N..... G.F.R.......E.L.P.... Police and Bee Gees, but I only wrote my top four
I've been fortunate enough to see Rush play live in 4 states. Still my favorite all time ever band.
Seeing this live back in the 80s was one of the best things ever !!!
This song came out when I was in HS and hit home for me so much. Great song by the best rock trio of all-time.
Second time seeing your channel. Definitely one of the best reviewers out there!
Thanks!
Absolutely 💯 🔥
SAVOY BROWN man....check them out. POOR GIRL. Give it a listen...you`ll understand.
that comes from 3 dudes. THREE!!!! Rare talent on loan from God.
Great message
Hi bud, home of RUSH Toronto here & touching base. Excellent choice and always a great day to drop the needle on vintage vinyl RUSH,keep rocking it up. Neil was a wizard with lyrical writing.
Another great one.
great vid!
Great reaction. Like how you didn’t stop the song like most reactors. Excellent lyrical analysis as well.
Perfect drum part. Masterful parts that drive the song.
Those drums 😮
I once thought the Signals album was a really big leap from Moving Pictures but it’s really a natural progression. I love the dark synths and bass lines so thick you can park a car on them. Great reaction. 🏄♂️
You got it!
My favourite Rush song. Great reaction!
Damn I'm relatively new to your channel but you are so damn good at interpreting songs it's unbelievable how good you are I am subscribed
Thank you! Welcome aboard!
Razor sharp analysis. You did it again. Keep honing those listening skills. They seem to be a dying art these days. And ALWAYS ENJOY RUSH!!!!!
one of the better songs from Signals;;;Top Notch
I love to watch youtube drummers cover the drumming on this song, it gets you to appreciate the complexity Neil Peart puts into the song .
* If you liked this one, you'd probably like their song *Chemistry* and *Countdown.* I think the band was always interested in science, and the space program. The song "Countdown" is a song about the first space shuttle "Columbia" launch that entered low Earth orbit in space. I love some of the chatter between the astronauts and flight control near the end of the song while the music is still going. Like for instance, some of the chatter was: "Columbia is now 36 precise window in space, remain engine cutoff."/"Launch 2 minutes, 40 seconds."
* "Columbia now 39 north-a-miles altitude ah, 42 north-a-miles down range."/"Columbia looks to be a little hot doggin'. Your calls will be a little early."/"Young intrepid really moving out now. Velocity now reading ah, 6200 feet per second."/"What a view. What a view."/"Just glad you enjoyed it."/"J-hundred-a-mile west."/"Columbia-Houston ah, we have 40 seconds. Say-alla-west. Configure alla-west. You're lookin' good for an overhill. We'll see you in the drift."/"...and we're going to need this but, not yet."/"Ah, me an John...we just wanted to say something." and the music's still going at that point. I don't know. I just think it's cool.
RUSH is unique, each musician is a soloist, somehow they make chaos into music.
live is even better
The official video of this tune is pretty cool, aside from watching the band perform it, it's filled with scenes from all over Toronto, including the famous Yonge St. downtown strip where me and my buddies used to cruise around every weekend!! You should check it out!
A unique haunting melody this song has. When I was 17 I didn't care for this song at first. Silly me. There only a handful of songs that I did not like at first but love now. This is one of them
The live version of this on the clockwork angels tour video is a great way to see how they do this some live.watchung Geddy switch from keyboards to bass all while singing….. to me he is the heart of this band.
Yeah, great music, and even better lyrics.
Rush was so awesome in every musical way. Neil wrote lyrics we can all relate to.
I was 20 when this came out and it instantly became my favorite Rush song. The keyboards and bass line are just so good.
The other thing is I could identify with the lyrics growing up in the that era because it fit so many of us. It really describes that era of the tail end of the Boomers, 1960 to 1964, and the early Gen X 1965 to 1970 maybe 1972.
Great reaction!
This is the song that initially got me to take a deep dive into Rush's music just a few months ago. I remember being a nerdy introvert school, so I related to Neil's lyrics. I also love the '80's sound. I suggest checking out the official music video to this song, as I feel it really tells the story of this song well.
Opinions are provided? Thank you but no. Back tf off.
Blessed me with a matching thought, opinions, everbody has some, but noone tells me what they are.
Great reaction
All six members of Rush were at their best here. Bono’s lyrics are just so true.
What?! You've got to be trolling for a reaction. Ok, I had to bite! 😆
… although you’d think it was six guys based on their sound. Bono had a mullet as good as Geddy’s, too.
🤣
Bono's mullet was magnificent!