Power Windows

Buy at Amazon.com The Big Money (5:36) Big money goes around the world Big money underground Big money got a mighty voice Big money make no sound Big money pull a million strings Big money hold the prize Big money weave a mighty web Big money draw the flies Sometimes pushing people around Sometimes pulling out the rug Sometimes pushing all the buttons Sometimes pulling out the plug It's the power and the glory It's a war in paradise It's a cinderella story On a tumble of the dice Big money goes around the world Big money take a cruise Big money leave a mighty wake Big money leave a bruise Big money make a million dreams Big money spin big deals Big money make a mighty head Big money spin big wheels Sometimes building ivory towers Sometimes knocking castles down Sometimes building you a stairway - Lock you underground It's that old-time religion it's the kingdom they would rule It's the fool on television Getting paid to play the fool Big money goes around the world Big money give and take Big money done a power of good Big money make mistakes Big money got a heavy hand Big money take control Big money got a mean streak Big money got no soul... Grand Designs (5:05) A to B - Different degrees... So much style without substance So much stuff without style It's hard to recognize the real thing It comes along once in a while Like a rare and precious metal Beneath a ton of rock It takes some time and trouble To separate from the stock You sometimes have to listen to A lot of useless talk Shapes and forms Against the norms - Against the run of the mill Swimming against the stream Life in two dimensions Is a mass production scheme So much poison in power The principles get left out So much mind on the matter The spirit gets forgotten about Like a righteous inspiration Overlooked in haste Like a teardrop in the ocean A diamond in the waste Some world-views are spacious - And some are merely spaced Against the run of the mill Static as it seems We break the surface tension With our wild kinetic dreams Curves and lines - Of grand designs... Manhattan Project (5:05) Imagine a time when it all began In the dying days of a war A weapon - that would settle the score Whoever found it first Would be sure to do their worst - They always had before... Imagine a man where it all began A scientist pacing the floor In each nation - always eager to explore To build the best big stick To turn the winning trick - But this was something more... The big bang - took and shook the world Shot down the rising sun the end was begun - it would hit everyone When the chain reaction was done The big shots - try to hold it back Fools try to wish it away The hopeful depend on a world without end Whatever the hopeless may say Imagine a place where it all began They gathered from across the land To work in the secrecy of the desert sand All of the brightest boys To play with the biggest toys - More than they bargained for... Imagine a man when it all began The pilot of "Enola Gay" Flying out of the shockwave on that August day All the powers that be, and the course of history, Would be changed for evermore... Marathon (6:09) It's not how fast you can go The force goes into the flow If you pick up the beat You can forget about the hea More than just survival More than just a flash More than just a dotted line More than just a dash It's a test of ultimate will The heartbreak climb uphill Got to pick up the pace If you want to stay in the race More than just blind ambition More than just simple greed More than just a finish line Must feed this burning need - In the long run... From first to last The peak is never passed Something always fires the light That gets in your eyes One moment's high And glory rolls on by Like a streak of lightening That flashes and fades In the summer sky Your meters may overload You can rest at the side of the road You can miss a stride But nobody gets a free ride More than high performance More than just a spark More than just the bottom line Or a lucky shot in the dark - In the long run... You can do a lot in a lifetime If you don't burn out too fast You can make the most of the distance First you need endurance - First you've got to last... Territories (6:19) I see the Middle Kingdom between Heaven and Earth Like the Chinese call the country of their birth We all figure that our homes are set above Other people than the ones we know and love In every place with a name They play the same territorial game Hiding behind the lines Sending up warning signs The whole wide world An endless universe Yet we keep looking through The eyeglass in reverse Don't feed the people But we feed the machines Can't really feel What international means In different circles We keep holding our ground Indifferent circles We keep spinning round and round We see so many tribes - overrun and undermined While their invaders dream of lands they've left behind Better people - better food - and better beer Why move around the world when Eden was so near? The bosses get talking so tough And if that wasn't evil enough We get the drunken and passionate pride Of the citizens along for the ride They shoot without shame In the name of a piece of dirt For a change of accent Or the colour of your shirt Better the pride that resides In a citizen of the world Than the pride that divides When a colourful rag is unfurled Middletown Dreams (5:15) The office door closed early The hidden bottle came out The salesman turned to close the blinds A little slow now, a little stout But he's still heading down those tracks Any day now for sure Another day as drab as today Is more than a man can endure Dreams flow across the heartland Feeding on the fires Dreams transport desires Drive you when you're down - Dreams transport the ones Who need to get out of town The boy walks with his best friend Through the fields of early May They walk awhile in silence One close - one far away But he'd be climbing on that bus Just him and his guitar To blaze across the heavens Like a brilliant shooting star The middle-aged madonna Calls her neighbour on the phone Day by day the seasons pass And leave her life alone But she'll go walking out that door On some bright afternoon To go and paint big cities From a lonely attic room It's understood By every single person Who'd be elsewhere if they could So far so good And life's not unpleasant In their little neighbourhood They dream in Middletown... Emotion Detector (5:10) When we lift the covers from our feelings We expose our insecure spots Trust is just as rare as devotion - Forgive us our cynical thoughts If we need too much attention - Not content with being cool We must throw ourselves wide open And start acting like a fool If we need too much approval Then the cuts can seem too cruel Right to the heart of the matter Right to the beautiful part Illusions are painfully shattered Right where discovery starts In the secret wells of emotion Buried deep in our hearts It's true that love can change us But never quite enough Sometimes we are too tender Sometimes we're too tough If we get too much attention It gets hard to overrule So often fragile power turns To scorn and ridicule Sometimes our big splashes Are just ripples in the pool Feelings run high Mystic Rhythms (5:54) So many things I think about When I look far away Things I know - things I wonder Things I'd like to say The more we think we know about The greater the unknown We suspend our disbelief And we are not alone - Mystic rhythms - capture my thoughts And carry them away Mysteries of night Escape the light of day Mystic rhythms - under northern lights Or the African Sun Primitive things stir The hearts of everyone We sometimes catch a window A glimpse of what's beyond Was it just imagination Stringing us along? More things than are dreamed about Unseen and unexplained We suspend our disbelief And we are entertained Mystic rhythms - capture my thoughts And carry them away Nature seems to spin A supernatural way Mystic rhythms - under city lights Or a canopy of stars We feel the powers And we wonder what they are We feel the push and pull Of restless rhythms from afar Notes: Certified Gold by RIAA: December 18, 1985 - Certified Platinum: January 27, 1986 - Highest Billboard Chart Position: 10 "Our producer works in London all the time. He's become very jaded about the Simmons drum sound. He didn't really want to hear it, so we found other ways of getting around that. There were times when I vocalized a little single-stroke roll, and that's exactly what you hear-my voice doing a single stroke roll." Neil Peart, Modern Drummer, Jan. 1986 "I chose the fictional town's name in a similar way - because there seemed to be a Middletown in every state (and I seemed to have bicycled through half of them). The other two guys wanted me to change the town's name at first, because it reminded them of a freaky teacher they'd had in high school, named Mr. Middleton - I was glad they got over it." - Neil Peart, Traveling Music "I produced a track for Gary Moore, who was opening up for Rush in 1984-85, and as a result of that I got a gig with Rush. I did the Power Windows album, and I've done three more since then...When I first worked with them, they wanted to be involved with the technological breakthroughs that were happening in England at the time, the Trevor Horn sound that he'd achieved with Yes and Frankie and those sort of bands. So I was able to help them move into that area, and be a foil, a sounding-board for Neil Peart on the drums and push him into different areas. When I first got involved, Alex Lifeson had this horrible mismatched guitar pedalboard, which needed a lot of work -- or, rather, lot of work had been done to it, and that was the problem. It was just a question of coming in fresh, and getting them to change some things they'd always done. If there's somebody to say to them 'Guys, I think that section could be better, it could be more exciting, or it could be more laid-back,' or whatever, they like that. They like to be challenged. In the case of Rush, they strive to be better with every record, they strive to progress with every record. AC/DC strive to sound exactly as they did on their first record on their 14th record, and that's their strength, but Rush want to be different on every record and to progress. As human beings, that's the way they are, they're very interesting people, and they need continual intellectual and musical stimulation." - Peter Collins, Sound On Sound, March 2002

Geddy Lee - Bass Guitars/Synthesizers/Bass Pedals/Vocals Alex Lifeson - Accoustic And Electric Guitars Neil Peart - Drums/Accoustic And Electronic Percussion Additional Musicians Jim Burgess - Synthesizer Prorgamming Andy Richards - Keyboards/ Synthesizer Programming Music by Lee and Lifeson Lyrics by Peart Produced by Peter Collins and Rush Engineered by Jimbo Barton Mercury, October 29, 1985