A short story I wrote, ‘The All Hallows Knight,’ was just published in a new issue of the journal Tales of Reverie. I’m excited that the editors liked this fantastic tale! You can read and share it at the link below. https://issuu.com/theparagonjournal/docs/final_version_tales_of_reverie/10

In high school, when I was fourteen, a friend introduced me to “Tom Sawyer” and I was hooked. I loved the book of course, but here was a song updating it, asking you to think. The music was unique and searing to me, the story puzzling. It sounded so severe. Catch the myth!

I sought out everything by this band, and wanted to know all about them. The drummer, Neil Peart, pronounced like ‘ear’, my friend told me, wrote the lyrics. I listened to 2112 again, and again, hunting for meaning in the sci fi epic they’d created. I read whatever I could find about them in music magazines, where they were laughably compared to Zeppelin, who I also liked, but who of course are nothing like Rush, except maybe because they played heavy music. The Farewell to Kings album challenged me to think of philosophy, even asked the listener to go and read Coleridge.

I’d found THE BAND. This was my stuff. I didn’t care if anyone thought they were uncool, or didn’t like the singer’s voice. These guys were the best, hands down, no arguments, and anyone who didn’t get that, well, they were missing out.

Gaming sessions, road trips, just hanging out and reading or talking with friends, Rush was always there. I read Neil’s lyrics again and again. “Live for yourself, there’s no one else more worth living for!” Well, wasn’t that a bit much, kind of selfish, I thought? The liner notes mentioned Ayn Rand, so I read her. I didn’t love everything she said, maybe, but it was worth thinking about.

By Tor and the Snow Dog. Return of the Prince. Cygnus X-1. Xanadu. Rivendell. The Twilight Zone. Catch the Myth! What wonderful music for a teenager, a perfect complement to Lord of the Rings, Asimov, Bradbury, and all the other books I loved. These songs became the soundtrack of everything I did and thought about as I developed from a young teen to a young man. I read widely and soaked in everything, always inspired by writers I loved, and by Rush, these guys who melded thoughtful, epic poetry with heavy rock. What could be better music for a young kid growing up?

In college I found other music and literature, but a new Rush album was always an event, always followed by repeated listenings, dissection of the lyrics, tracing the arc of the band as they grew and matured.

I got to see them once in college, and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. They played a deep set for hours, including all of 2112 plus their latest record, Test for Echo.

Life went on, and I always had a rush cassette in the car, a cd in my player, then later all loaded up on an mp3 player. Somehow I never got to see them again, since something always got in the way. Then in 2013, hearing rumors of the end of the road, I got some tickets to the Clockwork Angels tour. That was a stunning work, a return to the epics I fell in love with as a young man, accompanied by a science fiction novel by Kevin Anderson. A concept album to top all concept albums. I absolutely loved it. The show was the greatest concert I’ve ever witnessed.

A couple of years later, they announced their retirement, yet I didn’t believe it. I didn’t blame Neil for wanting some peace and some time to spend with his young daughter. He’d been through so much tragedy and I was happy for him. But, I thought, they were still so young. In a few years, I figured, Neil would get bored and at the very least they’d do some studio stuff and a short tour. I would see them again.

So when the news came last week, I just didn’t accept it at first. This is how you feel anytime you get the news about someone close to you. Of course, I never met Neil, but I knew his lyrics. I knew his drumming. I intimately knew and was influenced by the Rush catalog. No, I don’t know these guys, but they affected me more than any other rock band.

All weekend I watched videos of concerts, interviews, drum solos. I read lyrics that inspired me as a boy and that still do today.

Suddenly, you were gone/From all the lives you left your mark upon

And I kept thinking of the final song from Clockwork Angels, the album I always assumed could not possibly be their last. It was so perfect, so wonderful, and so encapsulated everything that made Rush such a unique, powerful force. What a way to go out. The Garden:

The treasure of a life is a measure of love and respect
The way you live, the gifts that you give
In the fullness of time
It’s the only return that you expect

RIP Neil Peart, you were a unique soul. Thank you for all the good times.