Vapor Trails

One Little Victory (5:08) A certain measure of innocence Willing to appear naive A certain degree of imagination A measure of make-believe A certain degree of surrender To the forces of light and heat A shot of satisfaction In a willingness to risk defeat Celebrate the moment As it turns into one more Another chance at victory Another chance to score The measure of the moment Is a difference of degree Just one little victory A spirit breaking free One little victory The greatest act can be One little victory A certain measure of righteousness A certain amount of force A certain degree of determination Daring on a different course A certain amount of resistance To the forces of the light and love A certain measure of tolerance A willingness to rise above Ceiling Unlimited (5:28) It's not the heat It's the inhumanity Plugged into the sweat of a summer street Machine gun images pass Like malice through the looking glass The slackjaw gaze Of true profanity Feels more like surrender than defeat If culture is the curse of the thinking class If culture is the curse of the thinking class ceiling unlimited world so wide turn and turn again feeling unlimited still unsatisfied changes never end The vacant laugh                 [sung as "vacant smile"] Of true insanity Dressed up in the mask of Tragedy Programmed for the guts and glands Of idle minds and idle hands I rest my case - Or at least my vanity Dressed up in the mask of Comedy If laughter is a straw for a drowning man If laughter is a straw for a drowning man ceiling unlimited windows open wide look and look again feeling unlimited eyes on the prize changes never end winding like an ancient river the time is now again hope is like an endless river the time is now again Ghost Rider (5:41) Pack up all those phantoms Shoulder that invisible load Keep on riding north and west Haunting that wilderness road Like a ghost rider Carry all those phantoms Through bitter wind and stormy skies From the desert to the mountain From the lowest low to the highest high Like a ghost rider Keep on riding North and West Then circle South and East Show me beauty, but there is no peace For the ghost rider Shadows on the road behind Shadows on the road ahead Nothing can stop you now There's a shadow on the road behind There's a shadow on the road ahead Nothing can stop you now Sunrise in the mirror Lightens that invisible load Riding on a nameless quest Haunting that wilderness road Like a ghost rider Just an escape artist Racing against the night A wandering hermit Racing toward the light From the White Sands To the Canyonlands To the redwood stands To the Barren Lands Sunrise on the road behind Sunset on the road ahead There's nothing to stop you now Nothing can stop you now Peaceable Kingdom (5:23) A wave toward the clearing the sky All this time we're talking and sharing our Rational View A billion other voices are spreading other news All this time we're living and trying to understand Why a billion other choices are making their demands Talk of a Peaceable Kingdom Talk of a time without fear The ones we wish would listen Are never going to hear Justice against The Hanged Man Knight of Wands against the hour Swords against the kingdom Time against The Tower All this time we're shuffling and laying out all our cards While a billion other dealers are slipping past our guards All this time we're hoping and praying we all might learn While a billion other teachers are teaching them how to burn Dream of a Peaceable Kingdom Dream of a time without war The ones we wish would hear us Have heard it all before A wave toward the clearing sky A wave toward the clearing sky The Hermit against The Lovers Or the Devil against the Fool Swords against the kingdom The Wheel against the rules All this time we're burning like bonfires in the dark A billion other blazes are shooting off their sparks Every spark a drifting ember of desire To fall upon the earth and spark another fire A homeward angel on the fly A wave toward the clearing sky The Stars Look Down (4:28) Like the fly on the wheel, who says "What a lot of dust we're raising" Are you under the illusion That you're part of this scheme? Seems like a lifetime ago You could look with pride On your world of dreams What is the meaning of this? And the stars look down What are you trying to do? And the stars look down Was it something I said And the stars look down Like the rat in a maze who says, "Watch me choose my own direction" Are you under the illusion The path is winding your way? Are you surprised by confusion When it leads you astray? Have you lived a lifetime today - Or do you feel like you just got carried away? What is the meaning of this? And the stars look down What are you trying to do? And the stars look down Was it something I said? And the stars look down Something you'd like me to do? And the stars look down The stars look down How It Is (4:05) Here's a little trap That sometimes catches everyone When today's as far as we can see Faith in bright tomorrows giving way to resignation That's how it is - how it's going to be It's such a cloudy day Seems we'll never see the sun Or feel the day has possibilities Frozen in the moment - the lack of imagination Between how it is and how it ought to be Here's a little trap That sometimes trips up everyone When we tire of our own company Sometimes we're the last to see beyond the day's frustrations That's how it is - how it's going to be It's such a cloudy day Seems we'll never see the sun I feel the day is all uncertainty Burning in the moment - trapped by the desperation Between how it is and how it ought to be Foot upon the stair Shoulder to the wheel You can't tell yourself not to care You can't tell yourself how to feel That's how it is Another cloudy day Vapor Trail (4:57) Stratospheric traces of our transitory flight Trails of condensation held in narrow paths of white The sun is turning black The world is turning gray All the stars fade from the night The oceans drain away Horizon to Horizon memory written on the wind Fading away, like an hourglass, grain by grain Swept away like voices in a hurricane In a vapor trail Atmospheric phases make the transitory last Vaporize the memories that freeze the fading past Silence all the songbirds Stilled by the killing frost Forests burn to ashes Everything is lost Washed away like footprints in the rain In a vapor trail Secret Touch (6:34) The way out Is the way in The way out Is the way in... Out of touch With the weather and the wind direction With the sunrise And the phases of the moon Out of touch With life in the land of the loving With the living night And the darkness at high noon You can never break the chain There is never love without pain A gentle hand, a secret touch on the heart Out of sync With the rhythm of my own reactions With the things that last And the things that come apart Out of sync With love in the land of the living A gentle hand, a secret touch on the heart A healing hand, a secret touch on the heart There is never love without pain Life is a power that remains Earthshine (5:38) On certain nights When the angles are right And the moon is a slender crescent Its circle shows In a ghostly glow Of earthly luminescence Earthshine A beacon in the night I can raise my eyes to Earthshine Earthshine A jewel out of reach Form a dream to rise to Earthshine Floating high In the evening sky I see my faint reflection Pale facsimile Like what others see When they look in my direction Earthshine Stretching out your hand Full of starlit diamonds Earthshine Reflected light To another's sight And the moon tells a lover's story My borrowed face And my third-hand grace Only reflect your glory You're still out of reach Form a dream to rise to Earthshine Sweet Miracle (3:40) I wasn't walking on water I was standing on a reef When the tide came in Swept beneath the surface Lost without a trace No hope at all No hope at all Oh - sweet miracle Oh - sweet miracle Of life I wasn't walking with angels I was talking to myself Rising up to the surface Raging against the night Starless night Oh - sweet miracle Love's sweet miracle Of life Oh salvation Oh salvation I wasn't praying for magic I was hiding in plain sight Rising up from the surface To fly into the light Nocturne (4:49) Did I have a dream? Or did the dream have me? Set off on a night-sea journey Without memory or desire Drifting through lost latitudes With no compass and no chart Flying through hallucination Distant voices, signal fires                [possibly erroneous, may be "Distant voices, sing in choirs"] Lighting up my unconscious And the secret places of the heart Dream - Temporary madness Dream - A voice in the wilderness Dream - Unconscious revelations The morning says, the answer is yes Floating through a darkened mirror Deep reflections in disguise Soaring through lost altitudes Without wonder, without fear Symbols on a field of visions Behind the curtain of sleeping eyes On the instant of waking Another world of dreams appears Dream - A walk in the wilderness Dream - Unconscious recreation The morning says, the answer is yes Freeze (Part IV of "Fear") (6:21) The city crouches, steaming In the early morning half-light The sun is still a rumor And the night is still a threat Slipping through the dark streets And the echoes and the shadows Something stirs behind me And my palms begin to sweat Sometimes I freeze - until the light comes Sometimes I fly - into the night Sometimes I fight - against the darkness Sometimes I'm wrong - sometimes I'm right Coiled for the spring Or caught like a creature in the headlights Into a desperate panic Or a tempest of blind fury Like a cornered beast Or a conquering hero The menace threatens, closing And I'm frozen in the shadows I'm not prepared to run away And I'm not prepared to fight I can't stand to reason Or surrender to a reflex I will trust my instincts Or surrender to my fright Sometimes we freeze - until the light comes Sometimes we're wrong - and sometimes we're right Sometimes we fight - against the darkness Sometimes we fly - into the night Blood running cold Mind going down into a dark night Of a desperate panic Or a tempest of blind fury Like a cornered beast Or a conquering hero Sometimes I freeze Sometimes I fight Sometimes I fly Into the night Out Of The Cradle (5:03) It's not a place It's a yearning It's not a race It's a journey It's not an act It's attraction It's not a style It's an action It's a dream for the waking It's a flower touched by flame It's a gift for the giving It's a power with a hundred names Surge of energy, spark of inspiration The breath of love is electricity Maybe Time is bird in flight Endlessly mocking Here we come out of the cradle Endlessly rocking Endlessly rocking It's a hand That rocks the cradle It's a motion That swings the sky It's method on the edge of madness It's a balance on the edge of a knife It's a smile on the edge of sadness It's a dance on the edge of life Endlessly r o c k i n g Notes: Highest Billboard Chart Position: 6 Both the original version and an instrumental edit of "One Little Victory" were included in the in-game soundtrack of Need for Speed - Hot Pursuit 2 For more information visit the Vapor Trails news archive (includes information regarding the remaster) Japanese release includes linernotes essay written by Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy (click to read) (translated by Suzuki Jun'ya) Rush's impact on mine and Dream Theater's lives and career is immeasurable. I think it is pretty safe to say that if it is weren't for Rush, there would be no Dream Theater! When I met John Petrucci and John Myung at the Berklee College of Music in the Fall of 1985, there were two immediate things we found we had in common: 1. our homebase of Long Island, NY and 2. our love (no...make that OBSESSION) with Rush. Right from the very first rehearsal, we began jamming on all of our favorite Rush songs: The Spirit of Radio, YYZ, La Villa Strangiato. We found a common language of musical communicarion between us that stemmed from this music that we loved with all of our hearts, souls, minds, hands and fingers. We were 3 Rush fans who were so inspired by their musicality and obvious personal comradery, that we decided to devote our lives and careers to making music from a similar blueprint and background. Even the band's original name Majesty stemmed from a description one of us used to describe the ending of Rush's Bastille Day that we were listening to while sleeping out for tickets for their Power Windows tour! Here we are 17 years later and I am both honored and priviledged to have been asked to write these liner notes for the much anticipated return of Rush with their new album Vapor Trails. Since those old days in the mid-80's at Berklee, Dream Theater has gone on to much international success and acclaim, selling millions of albums worldwide and selling out year-long tours around the world. (and all the while still getting the occasional comparison to our Canadian heros.) But the most shocking thing to us is that there seems to be a whole new generation of progressive music fans (especially throughout Asia and Europe) that have started their journey of progressive music with bands like Dream Theater...and unlike us, haven't necessarily had the exposure to and influence from some of the pioneer bands that created this unique genre of music. If you are one of those lucky people, I must say I ENVY you!! You have a tremendously rewarding musical journey lying ahead of you. I cannot begin to tell you how incredibly inspirational my first experience of discovering albums like 2112, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures were. The thought of some of you being able to listen to those albums for the very FIRST TIME, is something I truly do envy! If you are already a Rush fan, then you realize how special today is: you are holding in your hands THE BRAND NEW Rush CD!!! An occasion such as this used to be a national holiday in the Portnoy, Petrucci and Myung homes. And this is a CD that many Rush fans feared would never be made. Although I cannot say I ever doubted their return, it does happen to come off of a 5 year hiatus which is the longest in the band's career. And it is obvious that they have come back with a vengeance. All of the classic Rush qualities are intact: Geddy's totally unique voice and virtuosic bass playing, Alex's chordal guitar textures and wall of sound, and Neil's legendary drumming and breathtakingly poetic lyrics. But there is also an obvious new sense of exploration. The playing is fresh and vibrant. The songs are immediate yet constantly venturing into new territories. The production is tight enough to be crisp and balanced yet loose enough to feel their new surge of life. Here they are ladies and gentlmen, the unveiling of Rush in the New Millenimum.... Listen, learn, enjoy.... I know I will be! Mike Portnoy New York April 2002

Buy at Amazon.com Geddy Lee - bass guitar, Vocals Alex Lifeson - electric and accoustic Guitars, mandola Neil Peart - drums and cymbals Music by Lee and Lifeson Lyrics by Peart Produced by Rush and Paul Northfield Brought to you by the letter "3" Atlantic/Anthem, May 14, 2002