Galt's Gulch
10

Requiem for Progressive Rock's Philosopher Poet

Posted by mshupe 4 years, 11 months ago to Entertainment
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In the world of musical aesthetics, he took the best he could learn from The Who’s Keith Moon, Krupa, Gruber and Rich. From the world of individualist ethics, he took the best he could learn from the hero in Ayn Rand‘s novel The Fountainhead, “I think everything I do has Howard Roark in it. As much as anything, the person I write for is Howard Roark.” Even Peart’s attitude about live performances, “We just have a certain standard to get to. If you don’t get that, no matter how wonderful the audience was to you, you still know it,” was similar to Roark’s motivations, “I don’t build in order to have clients. I have clients in order to build.”
SOURCE URL: https://www.centerforindividualism.org/the-introverted-drummer-and-philosopher-of-progressive-rock-neil-peart-was-his-own-hero/

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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 4 years, 11 months ago
    Rush's songs "Anthem" and "Free Will" are tributes to Rand and Objectivism.

    http://news.anthemvault.com/rush-obje...

    From "Anthem":

    “Live for yourself, there’s no one else
    More worth living for
    Begging hands and bleeding hearts will
    Only cry out for more”

    From "Free Will":

    “You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.
    If you choose not to decide, you still haven’t made a choice.
    You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill.
    I will choose a path that’s clear…
    I will choose Free Will”
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    • Posted by edweaver 4 years, 11 months ago
      I often wondered if Rush, or at least the songs you mentioned held Objectivist values but never took the time to find out. Thanks for sharing this info.
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      • Posted by mshupe 4 years, 11 months ago
        My pleasure. I heard several years ago that they were influenced by Rand and held fairly strong Objectivist opinions, but didn't really know the depth or source of it.
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  • Posted by mshupe 4 years, 11 months ago
    Peart claims to have changed hi s outlook from Objectivist to something he called Bleeding Heart Libertarian. It seems that to the end, he held Objectivist principles dear. In a 2015 interview he was talking about the concretes of reality and the destructive influences of religion.
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  • Posted by mccannon01 4 years, 11 months ago
    Thank you for placing this in the Gulch. I enjoyed the read.
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    • Posted by mshupe 4 years, 11 months ago
      My pleasure. When the news broke on Friday about Neil Peart's passing there were several Objectivists on FB who acknowledged his ethics and his achievements. Since then I've heard a little of the interviews he did and got to hear his voice in that context. There is so much more to his legacy.
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  • Posted by ohiocrossroads 4 years, 11 months ago
    A nice tribute to Neal, but only a brief introduction to his work. The brief liner note in the album 2112 said "with acknowledgment to the genius of Ayn Rand". And indeed it was the storyline of Anthem set to hard progressive rock. I bought the album because I liked the cover, and it seemed to have something to do with science fiction. It just flat blew me away, and soon after, I looked up Ayn Rand in the library, and read Anthem. I believe that brief liner note introduced many of my generation to the works of Ayn Rand, and earned Rush the undying hatred of most rock critics, who lean on the liberal side. I read some reviews of Rush albums as they came out, and they were always panned. But I didn't care; the music was like no others, and the lyrics espoused thought and values. Many other kids didn't care about critics' opinions either, and they built their fan base album by album, tour by tour, and over the period of about 20 years they became legendary.

    In this sense, the career of Rush parallels the career of Howard Roark in The Fountainhead. Despite the critics disapproval, they succeeded on their own terms over the years. Roark's final victory was achieved when he designed the Wynand Building, the tallest in the world. Rush's final victory was achieved when they were inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in 2013. But in the case of Rush, I didn't believe the Rock Hall of Fame had sufficient stature to enshrine them.
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    • Posted by mshupe 4 years, 11 months ago
      Fabulous comments, thank you! I'm still learning of Peart's and Rush's achievements and place in rock in history. Certainly they had few peers for their independence, lyrical content, longevity, and artistic creativity. The few interview minutes with Peart I've heard so far blow me away with his intelligence and decency and sense of humor.
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  • Posted by mshupe 4 years, 11 months ago
    For Galt's Gulch Producers - please comment here with a short narrative about Neil Peart's and Rush's influence on you personally.
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  • Posted by $ Commander 4 years, 11 months ago
    Thank you for an insightful, compassionate epitaph.
    A friend called me on the eve following Neil's death to lament on the loss of his hero. His initiation into thoughts objective source from Rush, mine from Lao Tsu. "We have clients in order to build" I recall him conveying quite some time past. I'm happy that I know the origin and can share deeper with him on the expression.
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