The word Limelight originated in the 1800s, when theater stages were lit by heating a canister of the mineral lime, producing an intensely bright white light, from which it came to have its current meaning of being at the centre of attention. Neil was always uncomfortable with being at the centre of attention, because he was an introvert as I am, who needed time to himself to recharge his mental energy, and who preferred to first establish a meaningful connection with someone before he could feel comfortable allowing them into his personal space; he also struggled with anxiety issues stemming from a near-drowning incident at the age of 10. To me, the chorus speaks to how extroverts mainly crave the spotlight, and think that they need to act like they're someone else to attract a large crowd of followers, while we mainly prefer to work in the background, recognize that true motivation comes from inside of us, and seek authenticity in ourselves and others. The Garden, the closing track on Clockwork Angels, perfectly describes how we prefer to focus on nurturing meaningful relationships with those closest to us, as Neil did, and I think you'll really like the performance from their Clockwork Angels Tour video, which includes some beautiful visual effects that I think really bring the song to life. Rest in peace Professor. 🥁 🥁 🐐 🐐

Oof, I’ve been listening to Moving Pictures for over 40 years, and Alex’s solo in Limelight *still* causes goosebumps. SO good!

@widewailcorduroy7278

Жыл бұрын

That low-moan bend 3/4 of the way through always gets me.

@yuvalraveh

Жыл бұрын

I like that last note, sustained through the following verse right until the chorus. Alex really digs into it and it never fails to move me.

@Steve_Blackwood

Жыл бұрын

@@yuvalraveh I can still hear that sustained note 10 minutes after the song is over. 👌🏻

@MarkoMakela-mv8dt

Жыл бұрын

I started from the hardest albums of Rush aka 'Grace Under pressure' but still I found out that this was my band forever thing. Later on I bought everything on sale and listened them from the 'Rush' and 'Fly By Night' album to the 'Clockwork Angels'... oh man it was a real journey...

YYZ is the airport code for Toronto their hometown.

About YYZ: There’s nothing political here. The animation has *nothing* to do with the song. It was created recently, but the song is over 40 years old. YYZ is simply the airport code for Toronto, and when the guys were flying in once, Neil thought the morse code for YYZ (that triangle part at the start) was catchy, and they wrote an instrumental from that base. For them, that code (and the song) means “coming home” after weeks and months on the road touring. Nothing deeper than that. The animation for The Spirit of Radio was right on point. This one is mostly just a filler. Nice reaction, but I hope you take a look at YYZ in Rio, as it would allow you to enjoy the song more than the cartoon. 😊

@mdu2112

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, this YYZ video has nothing to do with the song

@AnthonyKellett

Жыл бұрын

Agreed. The cartoon is bewildering and superfluous I can forgive anyone for being utterly misled by it.

@tomperugini189

Жыл бұрын

Well said

@bigpoppaplump462

Жыл бұрын

Well, the cartoon is full of references to the Moving Pictures album. All of the other songs are referenced, as well as the cover art, and the band itself.

@gdscott8276

Жыл бұрын

@@mdu2112 Uh yes it does, the scenery is Toronto and YYZ is Peirson (Toronto) Airport.

In order to "get" the joke of the cartoon, you have to be familiar with the art on the "Moving Pictures" album cover (the album from which this song, "Limelight" and "Tom Sawyer" all come from, fyi.) The album cover depicts the front of this building (a legislative building in Toronto) with moving men moving the pictures as if from the building which I guess is supposed to represent a museum. The album art is a "triple entendre", with the men literally moving pictures, passers-by weeping and being overcome with emotion at the moving (adjective) pictures. When you flip the album over, you see the entire scene is being filmed by a camera crew. So... the goofy humor that the band is known for is on display: Men are moving pictures of "moving" pictures, while in the process of filming a moving picture. Ta da! Some of the characters in the cartoon are caricatures of the people you see on the cover art. Some clever person just invented a story around it all.

Another great reaction! Limelight was one of the first songs that drew me to Rush. Neil was an intellectual and an introvert, through and through. His lyrics resonate with me still to this day, some 15 years later. Also, YYZ was one of THE biggest reasons I became a drummer lol

Please watch YYZ Live in Rio. You won't be sorry!

2003 YYZ live in Rio. Neil Drum Solo live in Frankfurt. 2011 Working Man live in Cleveland!

Now that you heard YYZ see the live version YYZ in Rio see 60,000 fans singing to the song with no lyrics, 😮

@frankiew8532

Жыл бұрын

Best audience reaction ever filmed, the crowd went ballistic jumping in unison!

Fun fact Neil is braking plywood in YYZ too make that sound

Alex slays the solo on Limelight. Clockwork Angels "The Garden" is so incredibly beautiful. Please react to the live version. Rush in Rio YYZ is insane to watch a huge audience move in unison and sing along to an instrumental.

@stunspot

Жыл бұрын

That performance is simply jaw dropping. You just the feeling one them at some point said, "Betcha a Tim Horton's coffee we can get 30,000 people to sing along to an instrumental." "I'll double it I'd we can do it without prompting them." "Yer on."

@davidryan7386

9 ай бұрын

Rush in Rio yyz and Tom sawyer with their own reaction..most insane audience ever!!!!!!!!!❤

Try the Garden Live Clockwork Angels tour , imagine Rush with Violin players 💘

Oops you already saw the Cleveland one, try Best intro ever, the opening of the R30 Tour. Jerry Stiller (Ben's dad) introduces them.

The way to pick live stuff is to search for "live" and the location. For YYZ, it should be Rio. For Clockwork Angels, you really, really need to see/hear the live versions. Just add live and Dallas to Rush and the name of the song.

Before you do Clockwork Angles I recommend 2112 because on cover of Clockwork Angels you will see a clock with its;s hand at 9 and 12 Neil’s Birthday 2112 is also Neil’s Birthday in Military time

Awesome reaction!!!!!🤘🤘🤘 Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦🥂🥂

Great reaction, but first of all YYZ means passengers to Toronto airport in the international city vides. And the video Is just about moving pictures album and Rush carreer, the boy making a grafitti of 2112 logo, all the names and the front of the building Is the photo of the album moving pictures. Great reaction Again

I was 14 in 1984. I had a Sony Walkman ( look it up) I had to cut the grass. I randomly borrowed my brother’s cassette of this album. I had never heard Rush before. I played this while I cut the grass. It was the first time I was sorry that the lawn was done. I envy people who listen to Rush songs for the first time. You lucky dogs.

YYZ is the airport code in Toronto. When the band was returning from being on tour when they heard that intro figure they knew they were home.

YYZ is the Airport code for Toronto Ontario Canada!

Hello Venice. Limelight is a song about them being stars and living in the spotlight. Being on stage and being idolized by their fans. Love your music reactions. ❤

I just noticed for the first time that the band members were trapped on the pillars of the Old City Hall at the end!! Lol!!

'I can't pretend a stranger is a long awaited friend' sums it up. When total strangers come up to you and act like they know you.

+1 for the 2112 'comic/Graphic Novel version. A gorgeous visual interpretation of the song & lyrics. Love your energy and insights here. Had me smiling the whole way through on both tracks.

"All the world's indeed a stage and we are merely players" is Shakespeare's pastoral comedy monologue, then Rush make live perform titled "All the World's a Stage" in 1976.

I've been an aircraft technician for 36 years. YYZ is simply the Morse code signal for the Toronto Airport. Lol. It's a locator for the aircraft to let them know they are on the right glide slope. Great reaction.

Hi, I've been a Rush fan for a long time, and I'm so happy that such a young girl like you reacts to their amazing songs! And your reactions are "soooo goorgeous"!...😂 Serious, your reactions are very good! If you haven't reacted to them yet, then I suggest that you react to these songs by Rush: "Subdivisions", "Distant Early Warning", "Red Sector A" and "Xanadu". Congratulations for your good taste in music! 😉👍

VM - you HAVE to watch RUSH 2112 - the 'comic book' or 'Graphic Novel' version. It's a sci-fi adventure 7- segment piece I'm sure you'd get a kick out of!

@dunnd1

Жыл бұрын

Agreed

YYZ is just named after the airport ident code for Toronto. I have no idea what the video was about 😄 Rush would often name their instrumentals something silly like "Where's My Thing" They all had a good sense of humour. Have a great rest of your day!

I knew you would like YYZ. Such a classic instrumental,🔥🔥🔥

Triangle thingy was Morris Code for Y Y Z.. the Glide Path for Toronto Airport .. Neal heard the pattern and inspired the song 😎

@kyle381000

Жыл бұрын

Morse...

Much respect to you. Yes is a band. It is a band that these guys listened to, and so should you. 😊

When you get to the album Signals please pick Subdivisions. It came out when I was in high school and really is spot on as far as society at the time.

Venice, you should take a look at some of the new videos The Warning has out! They sold out two nights at the famous Teatro Metropolitan in Mexico City and have some great pre-shot video.

@spaceknave

Жыл бұрын

Definitely agree, the new videos are definitely next level!

Following up on other comments re: YYZ having nothing whatsoever to do with politics, it's just the IATA airport code for Toronto Pearson International. The morse code for YYZ is what you hear Neil produce with the first notes of the song. It also repeats throughout the song, reproduced by each band member. They heard the morse code for Y.Y.Z when landing in Toronto in a small airplane - returning from the studio in which they recorded a few albums around that time (i.e. the one you just saw in the Limelight video). It's near Montreal (which is about 1.5 hours from Toronto in a small plane). They liked the sound of YYZ in morse code so much that they decided to make a song out of it. And just like they tried to evoke the tuning a radio dial with Spirit of Radio, with YYZ they tried to evoke images of life in a bustling airport. The cartoon version of the video is just a couple of years old. They've been releasing these "visualizer" videos in coordination with the 40th anniversaries of each album. In fact, they just released one yesterday for "Analog Kid" from 1982's Signals album. PS - Maple Leaf Gardens, home of the Toronto NHL hockey team, is where we used to go to see Rush (and other stadium-filling rock bands) back in the 1970's, 1980's, and 1990's. It has since been replaced by a newer building. PPS - The little part at the end is just humour. It had nothing to do with the song. They were making fun of their old selves by mentioning the dumb kimonos they wore in 1976. PPPS - Oddly enough, when airport codes were being decided, the Government of Canada decided to have all of the country's airports start with Y. So, Toronto is YYZ, Montreal is YUL, Calgary is YCA, Vancouver is YVR, etc. Weird, eh?

You are awesome Venice. ❤😂 !!

As for Limelight, your interpretation isn't wrong but it does sort of miss the point. As stated in multiple interviews, this song was a personal statement by Neil Peart about his discomfort with fame. It wasn't a political statement about surveillance society. Indeed, it was written and performed in 1980/1981, when there were no handheld, portable cell phones, much less cameras. Sure, there were analogue CCTV cameras but they were far from ubiquitous. No, Neil was just a terribly shy and personal man who wrote an awesome song about how he was struggling with fame. "All the world's a stage" was just a reference to Shakespeare's As You Like It, intended to provide context for Neil's struggle.

I really like this young lady. She is smart, perceptive, and articulate. Why can't ALL reaction videos be as well-informed as hers?????

RUSH, while being serious musicians who tend to play very complex melodies and using time signature changes all the time, yet the music is still seamless and enjoyable (just difficult to play if you try it for yourself). But when it comes to their music videos and cartoons, they use a lot of humor to entertain at another level. Their creativity and imagination doesn't stop with the music. They want to make you laugh, too.

Your mind races like a Red Barchetta, no doubt because you are both excited and smart, but when you start and stop so often, you miss experiencing fully some of the elements that make Rush such a brilliant band, the transitions, the changes in time signatures, and the way three musicians weave together such complex ideas, musically and lyrically, in such tight musical compositions. You don't miss those experiences -- you are too perceptive -- but it's a bit like speed eating a carefully crafted, multi-course meal. As much as you enjoy the music so far, you might enjoy it even more if you allowed yourself to be immersed, saving much more of your analysis to after you hear each song in its entirety. As others noted, the video, while technically engaging, distracts from, and conflicts with the song, which is about the excitement of coming home to Toronto after being on the road. The song is buoyantly joyful, not political or tinged with conspiracy. YYZ (the last letter pronounced Zed in Canadian English) is the airport code for Toronto's major airport, and the morse code for those letters is pattern struck by the triangle to start the song and repeated throughout. It's a song about finding joy in simple things, from that simple rhythm to coming home.

The intro and first guitar figure spells out YYZ in morse code. I would suggest the rest of the Rush catalog.

Next instrumental La Villa Strangiato

Long live RUSH..

These guys were inspired in part by a band called Yes. And You and I. Think that you will appreciate.

YY zed

@everettharris967

Жыл бұрын

Glad to see this comment. They're Canadian (I'm not) and when they introduce this song they call it what you did, ending with zed.

Well said Steve, bang on bud.

Ahhh... Rush. Not one of the names that comes up when the subject is "Great rock Bands". But every time I hear any of their pieces! Ah, so good.

"YYZ" is the Morse code identification for Toronto's Pearson International Airport; every airport has one. And the Canadian pronunciation of "Z" is "Zed." "Zee" is American.

Great reviews and a cutie too. 😉

BTW watch this song 'Live in Rio'. Ciao, Alex

As you listen to the lyrics, you may think that you've heard some of the phrases before. Indeed, Neil read a lot of literature, and he would incorporate some of what he read into the lyrics (since was the primary lyricist for RUSH). "All the world's a stage," from Shakespeare is an example. Glad you're enjoying RUSH.

"YYZ" is the Lorraine's code for "Toronto". And yes, Alex was once kidnapped by some boys from a trailer park. I think there is some footage on it on KZread still if you search for it. Also study the album cover for this tune.

* whispers * Pssst! There's a typo in your video's title! 😉😊

Limelights lyrics refer to the struggle of being famous.m, Peart felt uncomfortable with,esp as a shy person. "All the world's a stage ...performers & portrayers" is Shakespeare, saying, in life as on stage we each have roles we live & portray to each other. "A Giulded Cage" is the idea of living in luxury that is yet, a prison. (Similar to the theme in Xandau)

Now go watch Limelight live from Montreal in 81. It's arguably even better live. The boys were inntheir late 20s then and played with amazing power, dynamism and energy.

❤ ❤... ❤

I love your reactions

Nice. Well done

Great reaction as usual from you. You should try 'The Garden' live. The last song from their last album. Neil Peart's swan song before he died. It reflects on his his life and the losses in his life. I believe Geddy considers this their best song ever

@lancewilliams4847

Жыл бұрын

bo-ring!

@AlexRubbo

Жыл бұрын

@@lancewilliams4847 Nice to meet you too.

Hope you’re doing good

Limelight is for me simply among the best 4 and a bit minutes of music I've ever heard. No, really: Rush were THAT brilliant.

Are you thinking..... No, its what you hear...

While the lyrics of a Rush song always have a meaning or message, be careful to not overthink them. If "YYZ," an instrumental track, has a meaning, it is simply "about" flying back home after being away on tour for some period of time.

He doesn't like people aproaching him.

Enjoyed your reaction, you have to do their live performances to see the skill they have its fantastic, three cheers to you thanks

RIP Neil :(

You need to check out YYZ live in RIO

I love you rock 😮

This song is about being in the public eye. The cost of fame😊

Basically, "Limelight" is about dealing with groupies.

I'm in

The clip distracts you from the song

@Steve_Blackwood

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, I love the one for The Spirit of Radio, but this cartoon serves no real point.

This is a good video but I prefer their live stuff. IMO they are one of those bands that really shine live.

@lancewilliams4847

Жыл бұрын

live is 'fun' .............. Studio is the way the composer intended, so I wanna hear THAT first. You miss too much with live performances.

@MsTypoqueen

Жыл бұрын

@@lancewilliams4847 with some bands you miss things with live performances with some you hear more. Many times writers were forced to shorten their songs by the record companies so they could get more air time, so to me that isn’t what the composers wanted. But each to their own, it is completely subjective IMO

free will ftw

Limelight talks about the negativity that comes with fame. Neil was a notoriously private guy and really disliked any attention aimed at him.

You could think neil an antisocial person. He wasn't that at all. He had time for everybody. And that's upsetting....

Love your reactions.. you're amazing..but it's tough to watch with so many pauses.. half as much and you would be star.. great ear..

@cogline

Жыл бұрын

Wayyy too many pauses. Gotta skip

For the love of God, it's Y-Y-Zed, not Zee.

@Stogie2112

Жыл бұрын

Easy, Kyle. It's not a big deal. People in the USA say "Zee" all the time. It's not worth throwing a tantrum.

Stop looking at the video. It has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SONG. YYZ is the code for Toronto airport. The video actually takes away from the song.

@freefall8243

Жыл бұрын

She is literally studying art and animation, of course the animation is going to be noticed. This video was given full support of Rush. It’s fine if it doesn’t fit your image of the song, but it’s no reason to take what others feel or see as irrelevant… and yes YYZ is the identifier for the Toronto airport.

Rush are the GOATS. Period.

Alex's Limelight solo is one of my favorite pieces of music