Snakes & Arrows

Buy Limited Edition MVI DVD Buy Standard CD Far Cry (5:21) Pariah dogs and wandering madmen Barking at strangers and speaking in tongues The ebb and flow of tidal fortune Electrical changes are charging up the young It's a far cry from the world we thought we'd inherit It's a far cry from the way we thought we'd share it You can almost feel the current flowing You can almost see the circuits blowing One day I feel I'm on top of the world And the next it's falling in on me I can get back on I can get back on One day I feel I'm ahead of the wheel And the next it's rolling over me I can get back on I can get back on Whirlwind life of faith and betrayal Rise in anger, fall back and repeat Slow degrees on the dark horizon Full moon rising, lays silver at your feet You can almost see the circle growing You can almost feel the planet glowing One day I fly through a crack in the sky And the next it's falling in on me I can get back on I can get back on Armor and Sword (6:36) The snakes and arrows a child is heir to Are enough to leave a thousand cuts We build our defenses, a place of safety And leave the darker places unexplored Sometimes the fortress is too strong Or the love is too weak What should have been our armor Becomes a sharp and angry sword Our better natures seek elevation A refuge for the coming night No one gets to their heaven without a fight We hold beliefs as a consolation A way to take us out of ourselves Meditation, or medication A comfort, or a promised reward Sometimes that spirit is too strong Or the flesh is too weak Sometimes the need is just too great For the solace we seek The suit of shining armor Becomes a keen and bloody sword A refuge for the coming night A future of eternal light No one gets to their heaven without a fight Confused alarms of struggle and flight Blood is drained of color By the flashes of artillery light No one gets to their heaven without a fight The battle flags are flown At the feet of a god unknown No one gets to their heaven without a fight Sometimes the damage is too great Or the will is too weak What should have been our armor Becomes a sharp and burning sword Workin' Them Angels (4:47) Driving away to the east, and into the past History receeds in my rear-view mirror Carried away on a wave of music down a desert road Memory humming at the heart of a factory town All my life I've been workin' them angels overtime Riding and driving and living So close to the edge Workin' them angels - Overtime Riding through the Range of Light to the wounded city Filling my spirit with the wildest wish to fly Taking the high road to the wounded city Memory strumming at the heart of a moving picture All this time I've been workin' them angels overtime Riding and driving and flying Just over the edge Workin' them angels - Overtime Driving down the razor's edge between the past and the future Turn up the music and smile Get carried away on the songs and stories of vanished times Memory drumming at the heart of an English winter Memories beating at the heart of an African village The Larger Bowl (4:07) (a pantoum) if we're so much the same, like I always hear why such different fortunes and fates? some of us live in a cloud of fear some live behind iron gates why such different fortunes and fates? some are blessed and some are cursed some live behind iron gates while others see only the worst some are blessed and some are cursed the golden one or scarred from birth while others only see the worst such a lot of pain on the earth the golden one or scarred from birth somethings can never be changed such a lot of pain on this earth It's somehow so badly arranged some things can never be changed some reasons will never come clear it's somehow so badly arranged if we're so much the same like I always hear Spindrift (5:24) As the waves crash in On the western shore The wind blows fierce from the east Wavetops torn into flying spindrift As the waves crash in On the western shore It makes me feel uneasy The spray that's torn away Is an image of the way I feel What am I supposed to say? Where are the words to answer you When you talk that way? As sun goes down On the western shore The wind blows hard from the east It whips the sand into a flying spindrift As the sun goes down On the western shore It makes me feel uneasy In the hot dry rasp of the devil winds Who cares what a fool believes? What am I supposed to say? Where are the words to answer you When you talk that way? Words that fly against the wind and waves (A little closer to you) Where is the wave that will carry me A little closer to you? What am I suppose to do? Where are the words that will make you see What I believe is true? The Main Monkey Business (instrumental 6:01) The Way The Wind Blows (6:28) Now it's come to this It's like we're back in the Dark Ages From the Middle East to the Middle West It's a world of superstition Now it's come to this Wide-eyed armies of the faithful From the Middle East to the Middle West Pray, and pass the ammunition So many people think that way You gotta watch what you say To them and them, and others too Who don't seem to see to things the way you do We can only grow the way the wind blows On a bare and weathered shore We can only bow to the here and now In our elemental war We can only go the way the wind blows We can only bow to the here and now Or be broken down blow by blow Now it's come to this Hollow speeches of mass deception From the Middle East to the Middle West Like crusaders in unholy alliance Now it's come to this Like we're back in the Dark Ages From the Middle East to the Middle West It's a plague that resists all science It seems to leave them partly blind And they leave no child behind While evil spirits haunt their sleep While shepherds bless and count their sheep Like the solitary pine On a bare wind-blasted shore We can only grow the way the wind blows Hope (instrumental 2:02) Faithless (5:31) I've got my own moral compass to steer by A guiding star beats a spirit in the sky And all the preaching voices - Empty vessels ring so loud As they move among the crowd Fools and thieves are well disguised In the temple and market place Like a stone in the river Against the floods of spring I will quietly resist Like the willows in the wind Or the cliffs along the ocean I will quietly resist I don't have faith in faith I don't believe in belief You can call me faithless But I still cling to hope And I believe in love And that's faith enough for me I've got my own spirit level for balance To tell if my choice is leaning up or down And all the shouting voices Try to throw me off my course Some by sermons, some by force Fools and thieves are dangerous In the temple and marketplace Like a forest bows to winter Beneath the deep white silence I will quietly resist Like a flower in the desert That only blooms at night I will quietly resist Bravest Face (5:12) Though we might have precious little It's still precious I like that song About this wonderful world It's got a sunny point of view And sometimes I feel it's true At least for a few of us I like that world It makes a wonderful song But there's a darker point of view That's sadly just as true For so many among us In the sweetest child there's a vicious streak In the strongest man there's a child so weak In the whole wide world there's no magic place So you might as well rise, put on your bravest face I like that show Where they solve all the murders That heroic point of view It's got justice and vengeance too At least, so the story goes I like that story - Makes a satisfying case But there's a messy point of view That's sadly just as true For so many among us In softest voice there's an acid tongue In the oldest eyes there's a soul so young In the shakiest will there's a core of steel On the smoothest ride there's a squeaky wheel Though we might have precious little It's still precious Good News First (4:51) The best we can agree on Is it could have been worse What happened to your old Benevolent universe? You know the one with stars That revolve around you Beaming down full of promises To bring good news You used to feel that way The saddest words you could ever say But I know you'll remember that day And the most beautiful words I could ever say The worst thing about it all Is that you might have been right And I'm still not really sure What started that fight But I still get this feeling There's more trouble ahead So never mind the bad news Let's have the good news instead Some would said they never fear a thing Well I do And I'm afraid enough for both of us - For me and you Time, if nothing else, will do it's worst So do me that favor And tell me the good news first Malignant Narcissism (instrumental 2:17) "Usually a case of malignant narcissism brought on during childhood." We Hold On (4:13) How many times Do we tire of all the little battles Threaten to call it quits Tempted to cut and run How many times Do we weather out the stormy evenings Long to slam the front door Drive away into the setting sun Keep going until dawn How many times must another line be drawn We could be down and gone But we hold on How many times Do we chafe against the repetition Straining against a fate Measured out in coffee breaks How many times Do we swallow our ambition Long to give up the same old way Find another road to take Keep holding on so long 'Cause there's a chance that we might not be so wrong We could be down and gone But we hold on How many times Do we wonder if it's even worth it There's got to be some other way To get me through the day But we hold on Notes: Highest Billboard Chart Position: 3 "The Games Of Snakes And Arrows Prize Every Time", linernotes essay, also included in the tourbook, written by Neil Peart "Malignant Narcissism" was nominated for the Best Rock Instrumental Performance Grammy in 2008 (their fifth nomination). The winner was "Once Upon A Time In The West" by Bruce Springsteen, from We All Love Ennio Morricone. For more information visit the Snakes & Arrows news archive

Neil Peart - drums, cymbals, electronic percussion, tambourine Geddy Lee - bass guitar, bass pedals, mellotron, vocals Alex Lifeson - six and twelve-string electric and acoustic guitars, mandola, mandolin, bouzouki Additional Musicians Ben Mink - Strings ("Faithless") All songs composed by Lee and Lifeson, with lyrics by Peart, except "Hope", composed and performed by Lerxst Lifeson, all by his own self Produced by Nick Raskulinecz and Rush Atlantic, May 1, 2007 Brought to you by the letter "sssss"