The ongoing band Rush is a Canadian progressive rock band formed in 1968. It is composed of bassist and keyboardist Geddy Lee, Guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. This band has been playing for all these years, except for the five-year hiatus that occurred from 1997 to 2005. The song Freewill is a song contained on the 1980 album "Permanent Waves."
I know I'm quite cheap for doing this, but Wikipedia explains this easily.
The song's lyrics deal with the subject of free will, emphasizing that free will is not a gift but rather a choice; explaining that Man can attempt to evade the fact that he must choose, but that evasion is itself a choice.
The only thing I don't agree with is the gift part. Free will is basically a gift. But everything else is true. "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice" says Rush in there song. This song basically says it all for you, so I see no point in giving out an interpretation. You just need to now these three things-
Malign means evil and spiteful.
Preordained is like being called to something before life. It's sorta like destiny.
Lotus Land is a reference to The Odyssey. The crew came to a place where a plant called a lotus grew. The men who ate the lotus forgot everything about
Actually, here is the chorus. I'll interpret that-
You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice
If you choose not to decide, you still have 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 freewill.
These lyrics are saying that whatever you believe in, whether it be multiple Gods, one God, a Goddess, Allah, or whatever you believe in, you can take on there counsel and take on responsibility for your own actions. If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. I think that's pretty straightforward. This next line is the most difficult one to interpret. I think a phantom fear is a fear that you don't quite grasp, a fear that is inconceivable or maybe even pointless. Kindness that can kill means being overly kind or kindness that annoys people. I think the term in this song just refers to being overly kind. So you can either choose to be afraid and give up on life or make the best of this life and do what was meant to be done.The last line again, is pretty obvious as well. Making the right choices using free will equals freedom and more free will.
Now go and listen to the song. It's AWESOME!
I love this song, and I love Rush, but (I am sorry for this) I would like to offer a different interperetation to the lyrics, because all of the members of Rush are athiest.
ReplyDeleteYOU CAN CHOOSE A READY GUIDE IN SOME CELESTIAL VOICE
This means you can follow a God, Goddess, or other Celestial Being.
IF YOU CHOOSE NOT TO DECIDE YOU STILL HAVE MADE A CHOICE
Whether you choose to be agnostic, or a believer of God without a specific religion, you still choose to take a course not clearly plotted, but one still controlled by a celestial body
YOU CAN CHOOSE FROM PHANTOM FEARS, OR KINDNESS THAT CAN KILL
Phantom fears are restrictions, like on eating certain foods with certain foods, or drinking coffee or tea, that many people believe are false and can do you no harm. Even if you belong to a certain religion, you can look at other religions and say, "That is a stupid belief, why does that even work."
I WILL CHOOSE A PATH THATS CLEAR, I WILL CHOOSE FREEWILL
This last segment says that they will choose to make their OWN destiny, and not be bound to the rules or regulations that a Celestial Being puts down.
Not only can this apply to religion, but also to government, school, and other organizations.