Rush ~ Limelight ~ Time Machine - Live in Cleveland [HD 1080p] [CC] 2011

Click on "CC" icon for Closed Captioning (Lyrics on Screen)
"Limelight" is the fourth song from Rush's eighth studio album "Moving Pictures," recorded during October and November of 1980 at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada. It was released on February 12, 1981. As with their previous album Permanent Waves, they continued to write songs with a more radio-friendly format, featuring tighter song structures and songs of shorter length compared to their early albums.
The song's lyrics were written by Neil Peart with music written by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. "Limelight" expresses Peart's discomfort with Rush's success and the resulting attention from the public. The song paraphrases the opening lines of the "All the world's a stage" speech from William Shakespeare's 1599 play "As You Like It". The play contains the line "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players" - a similar phase that appears in the lyrics "All the worlds indeed a stage, and we are merely players." Rush had previously used the phrase for their 1976 live album "All The Worlds A Stage".
The phrase "In the limelight" means the center of attention. In the early days of theater, a limelight was a device used to brightly illuminate the front of a stage, which put the main performer in a spotlight. The light was made by focusing a flame at a cylinder filled with lime that was projected through a lens - lighting technicians had to be creative before electricity.
In "Limelight", lyricist Neil Peart comments on the band's commercial success and the fame and its demands that come with rock star status. According to guitarist Alex Lifeson, the song "is about being under the microscopic scrutiny and the need for privacy-trying to separate the two and not always being successful at it". Bassist Geddy Lee describes the motivation for "Limelight" in a 1988 interview:
"Limelight was probably more of Neil's song than a lot of the songs on that album in the sense that his feelings about being in the limelight and his difficulty with coming to grips with fame and autograph seekers and a sudden lack of privacy and sudden demands on his time... he was having a very difficult time dealing with. I mean we all were, but I think he was having the most difficulty of the three of us adjusting; in the sense that I think he's more sensitive to more things than Alex and I are, it's harder for him to deal with those interruptions on his personal space and his desire to be alone. Being very much a person who needs that solitude, to have someone coming up to you constantly and asking for your autograph is a major interruption in your own little world. I guess in the one sense that we're a little bit like misfits in the fact that we've chosen this profession that has all this extreme hype and this sort of self-hyping world that we've chosen to live in, and we don't feel comfortable really in that kind of role."
Guitarist Alex Lifeson: "We were very, very careful not to let it get the best of us. That sudden success can really change you and you become lazy and you constantly have other people doing things for you and you lose perspective on why you're there and really what you're doing."
In a 2007 interview, Alex Lifeson gives his take on "Limelight":
"It's funny: after all these years, the solo to "Limelight" is my favorite to play live. There's something very sad and lonely about it; it exists in its own little world. And I think, in its own way, it reflects the nature of the song's lyrics-feeling isolated amidst chaos and adulation. I've always enjoyed the elasticity of that solo, particularly the way it sounds on the record. It has a certain tonality I just love. I do like playing the solo live, but I think I prefer listening to it on the album. On record, it has a magical quality to it - it really conveys the pathos of the song and the lyrics. I've never been able to re-create that live. I get pretty close, but it's never exactly the way it is on record. I'll keep trying, though."
Lifeson's guitar solo was performed on what he called a "Hentor Sportscaster", a modified Fender Stratocaster equipped with a Floyd Rose vibrato arm. Critics frequently point out Lifeson's use of vibrato in the solo, with Max Mobley writing that it "is dripping with Floyd Rose whammy". "Limelight" has been described as Lifeson's "signature song", and critics cite the influence of Allan Holdsworth. Lifeson himself calls it his favorite solo.
The song was a staple of Rush's live performances, having been played on every tour since its release except the Grace Under Pressure Tour (1984), the Presto Tour (1990), and the R40 Live Tour (2015).
"Limelight" was one of five Rush songs inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame on March 28, 2010.
Geddy Lee - Bass , Synthesizers, Vocals
Alex Lifeson - Guitar, Bass Pedal Synth
Neil Peart - Drums, Percussion
#MysticRhythmsLive

[@ColtConway]

Got that whole crowd air drumming RIP to the professor Neil Peart

[@kevinmcgiffin10]

Nobody else can make a Gibson hollow body sound sooo goood .👍👏👏❤🎶👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏✌

[@kevinmcgiffin10]

Rockin the Cleveland House of RUSH !!! WOOOO- WEEEE !!!!

[@bd5933]

It’s always good to see ladies in the audience singing and playing the air drums😊
My memory is certainly not as good as it used to be Dan - there seemed to be a lack of ladies at Rock, Metal and Prog concerts in the past🤔
When I was in secondary school, the guys liked a mix between Glam Rock and Rock/Metal and Prog - the ladies liked Soul and Disco.
I fortunately was in both categories - and I was into Funk with James Brown, Sly etc and this went onto P-Funk with George Clinton, Bootsy Collins etc.
Hence why Prince as always appealed to me.
Great track again - loving these uploads mate.

[@MysticRhythmsLive]

Rush didn't have many ladies in their audiences for years, until they finally caught on to how great Rush was. I do know that the first Rush concert I went to on their Exit Stage Left tour had far fewer females than their Roll the Bones tour. By the time 2011 came around, there were a lot of females at Rush concerts. Not just there, but going crazy and singing the lyrics (and even air drumming!). The females attended rock concerts, but it was mostly of the hair band variety (Poison, Ratt, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, etc.). They also liked bands like R.E.O. Speedwagon. At least that's how it was in the U.S. I don't know about Soul and Disco concerts as I never went to them lol!
I liked the Funk side of music too. James Brown was awesome before he went crazy! He was a little before my time, though. Parliament and Earth, Wind, and Fire were great bands IMO.
Prince was in his own category of greatness. I didn't know how good he was until a fellow workmate turned me on to some of his earlier work. (This was a long time ago) Since then I've always respected him as an artist and knew he was a genius. I think that playing in rock bands kept me focused on rock to the point that I probably missed some of the other styles of music that you were and still are into.
I'm glad you're loving the uploads, BD! I still have a lot more of the Rush concert to upload, but I am contemplating where I want to go next. Only time will tell! Peace bro!

[@tambourini]

I found it hard to see the vid clearly...thru my tears...joy and sadness. Thank you my friend. Amazing vid quality, cam angles, etc!

[@davids1632]

Great drums by the professor and the vocals were bizarre but excellent and the guitar work got better till an interesting ending with plenty of crowd support. Good song thanks.

[@MysticRhythmsLive]

I used to play this song on the guitar in bands in my younger years. I always loved playing the solo section especially. The time signature shifts in the song make it interesting musically. I'm not sure what you mean by the vocals being bizarre. I know Geddy can't sing this song like he did back in 1981. The crowd were going crazy, as they should be at a Rush concert! LOL! Good to hear from you, David!

[@tambourini]

P.s.
Your description in your "descripton" box is extensive and wonderfully exhaustive (in the true meaning of the word!) Thanks once more!

[@lipusesfarquadian5808]

ngl they probably just copy and pasted the wikipedia artivle

[@MysticRhythmsLive]

*Lyrics* *[Click on "CC" icon for Closed Captioning] (Lyrics on Screen)*
Living on a lighted stage
Approaches the unreal
For those who think and feel
In touch with some reality
Beyond the gilded cage
Cast in this unlikely role
Ill-equipped to act
With insufficient tact
One must put up barriers
To keep oneself intact
Living in the limelight
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem
Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination
The real relation
The underlying theme
Living in a fisheye lens
Caught in the camera eye
I have no heart to lie
I can't pretend a stranger
Is a long-awaited friend
All the world's indeed a stage
And we are merely players
Performers and portrayers
Each another's audience
Outside the gilded cage
Living in the limelight
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem
Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination
The real relation
The underlying theme
[Guitar Solo]
Living in the limelight
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem
Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination
The real relation
The underlying theme
The real relation
The underlying theme