Different Stages

Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee, alex lifeson, and neil peart

Book one ---- the voyage
Prologue

In the constellation of cygnus
There lurks a mysterious, invisible force
The black hole
Of cygnus x-1

Six stars of the northern cross
In mourning for their sister's loss
In a final flash of glory
Nevermore to grace the night....

1
Invisible
To telescopic eye
Infinity
The star that would not die

All who dare
To cross her course
Are swallowed by
A fearsome force

Through the void
To be destroyed
Or is there something more?
Atomized ---- at the core
Or through the astral door ----
To soar....

2
I set a course just east of lyra
And northwest of pegasus
Flew into the light of deneb
Sailed across the milky way

On my ship, the 'rocinante'
Wheeling through the galaxies,
Headed for the heart of cygnus
Headlong into mystery

The x-ray is her siren song
My ship cannot resist her long
Nearer to my deadly goal
Until the black hole ----
Gains control....

3
Spinning, whirling,
Still descending
Like a spiral sea,
Unending

Sound and fury
Drowns my heart
Every nerve
Is torn apart....

To be continued

Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson

I knew he was different, in his sexuality
I went to his parties, as a straight minority
It never seemed a threat to my masculinity
He only introduced me to a wider reality

As the years went by, we drifted apart
When i heard that he was gone
I felt a shadow cross my heart
But he's nobody's ---

Hero --- saves a drowning child
Cures a wasting disease
Hero --- lands the crippled airplane
Solves great mysteries

Hero --- not the handsome actor
Who plays a hero's role
Hero --- not the glamor girl
Who'd love to sell her soul
If anybody's buying
Nobody's hero

I didn't know the girl, but i knew her family
All their lives were shattered
In a nightmare of brutality
They try to carry on, try to bear the agony
Try to hold some faith
In the goodness of humanity

As the years went by, we drifted apart
When i heard that she was gone
I felt a shadow cross my heart
But she's nobody's ---

Hero --- the voice of reason
Against the howling mob
Hero --- the pride of purpose
In the unrewarding job

Hero --- not the champion player
Who plays the perfect game
Not the glamor boy
Who loves to sell his name
Everybody's buying
Nobody's hero

As the years went by, we drifted apart
When i heard that you were gone
I felt a shadow cross my heart

Hero

Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson

I. tide pools
When the ebbing tide retreats
Along the rocky shoreline
It leaves a trail of tidal pools
In a short-lived galaxy
Each microcosmic planet
A complete society

A simple kind mirror
To reflect upon our own
All the busy little creatures
Chasing out their destinies
Living in their pools
They soon forget about the sea...

Wheels within wheels
In a spiral array
A pattern so grand
And complex
Time after time
We lose sight of the way
Our causes can't see
Their effects

Ii. hyperspace
A quantum leap forward
In time and in space
The universe learned to expand

The mess and the magic
Triumphant and tragic
A mechanized world, out of hand

Computerized clinic
For superior cynics
Who dance to a synthetic band

In their own image
Their world is fashioned ---
No wonder they don't understand

Wheels within wheels
In a spiral array
A pattern so grand
And complex
Time after time
We lose sight of the way
Our causes can't see
Their effects

Iii. permanent waves
Science, like nature
Must also be tamed
With a view towards its preservation
Given the same
State of integrity
It will surely serve us well

Art as expression ---
Not as market campaigns
Will still capture our imaginations
Given the same
State of integrity
It will surely help us along

The most endangered species ---
The honest man
Will still survive annihilation
Forming a world ---
State of integrity
Sensitive, open, and strong

Wave after wave
Will flow with the tide
And bury the world as it does
Tide after tide
Will flow and recede
Leaving life to go on
As it was...

Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson

There are those who think that life
Has nothing left to chance
With a host of holy horrors
To direct our aimless dance

A planet of playthings
We dance on the strings
Of powers we cannot perceive
"the stars aren't aligned ---
Or the gods are malign"
Blame is better to give than receive

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 free will

There are those who think that they've been dealt a losing hand
The cards were stacked against them ---
They weren't born in lotus-land

All preordained
A prisoner in chains
A victim of venomous fate
Kicked in the face
You can't pray for a place
In heaven's unearthly estate

Each of us
A cell of awareness
Imperfect and incomplete
Genetic blends
With uncertain ends
On a fortune hunt
That's far too fleet...

Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson

He's got a road map of jupiter
A radar fix on the stars
All along the highway
She's got a liquid-crystal compass
A picture book of the rivers
Under the sahara

They travel in the time of the prophets
On a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun
Like lovers and hereos, and the restless part of everyone
We're only at home when we're on the run
On the run

He's got a star map of hollywood
A list of cheap motels
All along the freeway
She's got a sister out in vegas
The promise of a decent job
Far away from her hometown

They travel on the road to redemption
A highway out of yesterday -- that tomorrow will bring
Like lovers and heroes, birds in the last days of spring
We're only at home when we're on the wing
On the wing

When we are young
Wandering the face of the earth
Wondering what our dreams might be worth
Learning that we're only immortal --
For a limited time

Time is a gypsy caravan
Steals away in the night
To leave you stranded in dreamland
Distance is a long-range filter
Memory a flickering light
Left behind in the heartland

We travel in the dark of the new moon
A starry highway traced on the map of the sky
Like lovers and heroes, lonely as the eagle's cry
We're only at home when we're on the fly
On the fly

We travel on the road to adventure
On a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun
Like lovers and hereos, and the restless part of everyone
We're only at home when we're on the run
On the run...

Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson

If we burn our wings
Flying too close to the sun
If the moment of glory
Is over before it's begun
If the dream is won --
Though everything is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost

When the dust has cleared
And victory denied
A summit too lofty
River a little too wide
If we keep our pride --
Though paradise is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost

And if the music stops
There's only the sound of the rain
All the hope and glory
All the sacrifice in vain
[and] if love remains
Though everything is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost

Words and music by geddy lee, alex lifeson, and neil peart

Know your place in life is where you want to be
Don't let them tell you that you owe it all to me
Keep on looking forward, no use in looking 'round
Hold your head above the ground and they won't bring you
Down

Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind
A funeral dirge for eyes gone blind
We marvel after those who sought
New wonders in the world, wonders in the world,
Wonders in the world they wrought

Live for yourself -- there's no one else
More worth living for
Begging hands and bleeding hearts will
Only cry out for more

Well, i know they've always told you
Selfishness was wrong
Yet it was for me, not you, i
Came to write this song

Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson

Living on a lighted stage
Approaches the unreal
For those who think and feel
In touch with some reality
Beyond the gilded cage

Cast in this unlikely role,
Ill-equipped to act
With insufficient tact
One must put up barriers
To keep oneself intact

Living in the limelight
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem

Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination
The real relation
The underlying theme

Living in a fisheye lens
Caught in the camera eye
I have no heart to lie
I can't pretend a stranger
Is a long-awaited friend

All the world's indeed a stage
And we are merely players
Performers and portrayers
Each another's audience
Outside the gilded cage

Words by neil peart and pye dubois,
Music by geddy lee and alex lifeson

Here we go --- vertigo
Video vertigo
Test for echo

Here we go --- in slo-mo
Video vertigo
Test for echo

Some kind of trouble on the sensory screen
Camera curves over caved-in cop cars
Bleacher-creatures, would-be desperados
Clutch at plausible deniability
Don't touch that dial ---
We're in denial
Until the showcase trial on tv

Some kind of pictures on the sense o'clock news
Miles of yellow tape --- silhouetted chalklines
Tough-talking hood boys in pro-team logo knock-offs
Conform to uniforms of some corporate entity
Don't change that station
It's gangster nation
Now crime's in syndication on tv

What a show --- vertigo
Video vertigo
Test for echo

Touch and go -- in slo-mo
Video vertigo
Test for echo

Some kind of drama live on satellite
Hidden camera coverage from the crime scene to the courtroom
Nail-biting hood boys in borrowed ties and jackets
Clutching at the straws of respectability
Can't do the time?
Don't do the crime
And wind up in the perp walk on tv

Words and music by geddy lee and alex lifeson

I get up at seven, yeah
And i go to work at nine
I got no time for livin'
Yes, i'm workin' all the time

It seems to me
I could live my life
A lot better than i think i am
I guess that's why they call me
They call me the workin' man

They call me the workin' man
I guess that's what i am

I get home at five o'clock
And i take myself out a nice, cold beer
Always seem to be wond'rin'
Why there's nothin' goin' down here

It seems to me
I could live my life
A lot better than i think i am
I guess that's why they call me
They call me the workin' man

They call me the workin' man
I guess that's what i am

Well they call me the workin' man
I guess that's what i am

Words and music by geddy lee and neil peart

(original first stanza)
Airport scurry flurry faces
Parade of passers by
People going many places
With a smile or just a sigh
Waiting waiting pass the time
Another cigarette
Get in line - gate thirty-nine
The time is not here yet (end)

Why try? i know why
The feeling inside me says it's time i was gone
Clear head, new life ahead
I want to be king now not just one more pawn

Fly by night, away from here
Change my life again
Fly by night goodbye my dear
My ship isn't coming and i just can't pretend

Moon rise, thoughtful eyes
Staring back at me from the window beside
No fright or hindsight
Leaving behind that empty feeling inside

Start a new chapter
Find what i'm after
It's changing every day
The change of a season
Is enough of a reason
To want to get away

Quiet and pensive
My thoughts apprehensive
The hours drift away
Leaving my homeland
Playing a lone hand
My life begins today

Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson

Well, you can stake that claim --
Good work is the key to good fortune
Winners take that praise
Losers seldom take that blame
If they don't take that game
And sometimes the winner takes nothing
We draw our own designs
But fortune has to make that frame

We go out in the world and take our chances
Fate is just the weight of circumstances
That's the way that lady luck dances
Roll the bones

Why are we here?
Because we're here
Roll the bones
Why does it happen?
Because it happens
Roll the bones

Faith is cold as ice --
Why are little ones born only to suffer
For the want of immunity
Or a bowl of rice?
Well, who would hold a price
On the heads of the innocent children
If there's some immortal power
To control the dice?

We come into the world and take our chances
Fate is just the weight of circumstances
That's the way that lady luck dances
Roll the bones

Jack -- relax.
Get busy with the facts.
No zodiacs or almanacs,
No maniacs in polyester slacks.
Just the facts.
Gonna kick some gluteus max.
It's a parallax -- you dig?
You move around
The small gets big. it's a rig.
It's action -- reaction --
Random interaction.
So who's afraid
Of a little abstraction?
Can't get no satisfaction
From the facts?
You better run, homeboy --
A fact's a fact
From nome to rome, boy.

What's the deal? spin the wheel.
If the dice are hot -- take a shot.
Play your cards. show us what you got --
What you're holding.
If the cards are cold,
Don't go folding.
Lady luck is golden;
She favors the bold. that's cold.
Stop throwing stones --
The night has a thousand saxophones.
So get out there and rock,
And roll the bones.
Get busy!

Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson

A hot and windy august afternoon
Has the trees in constant motion
With a flash of silver leaves
As they're rocking in the breeze

The boy lies in the grass with one blade
Stuck between his teeth
A vague sensation quickens
In his young and restless heart
And a bright and nameless vision
Has him longing to depart

You move me ---
You move me ---
With your buildings and your eyes
Autumn woods and winter skies
You move me ---
You move me ---
Open sea and city lights
Busy streets and dizzy heights
You call me ---
You call me ---

The fawn-eyed girl with sun-browned legs
Dances on the edge of his dream
And her voice rings in his ears
Like the music of the spheres

The boy lies in the grass, unmoving
Staring at the sky
His mother starts to call him
As a hawk goes soaring by
The boy pulls down his baseball cap
And covers up his eyes

Too many hands on my time
Too many feelings ---
Too many things on my mind
When i leave i don't know
What i'm hoping to find
When i leave i don't know
What i'm leaving behind...

Words and music by geddy lee, alex lifeson, and neil peart

I. at the tobes of hades
The tobes of hades
Lit by flickering torchlight
The netherworld is gathered in the glare
Prince by-tor takes the cavern
To the north light
The sign of eth is rising in the air
By-tor, knight of darkness,
Centurion of evil
Devil's prince

Ii. across the styx
Across the river styx
Out of the lamplight
His nemesis is waiting at the gate
The snow dog, ermine glowing
In the damp night
Coal-black eyes shimmering with hate
By-tor and the snow dog
Square for battle
Let the fray begin

Iii. of the battle

Instrumental

Iv. epilogue
The battle's over
And the dust is clearing
Disciples of the snow dog sound the knell
Rejoicing echoes
As the dawn is nearing
By-tor in defeat
Retreats to hell
Snow dog is victorious
The land of the overworld
Is saved again

Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee

Waiting for the winds of change
To sweep the clouds away
Waiting for the rainbow's end
To cast its gold your way
Countless ways
You pass the days

Waiting for someone to call
And turn your world around
Looking for an answer to
The question you have found
Looking for
An open door

You don't get something for nothing
You don't get freedom for free
You won't get wise
With the sleep still in your eyes
No matter what your dreams might be

What you own is your own kingdom
What you do is your own glory
What you love is your own power
What you live is your own story
In your head is the answer
Let it guide you along
Let your heart be the anchor
And the beat of your own song

Words by neil peart and peter talbot,
Music by geddy lee and alex lifeson

And the men who hold high places
Must be the ones to start
To mould a new reality
Closer to the heart

The blacksmith and the artist
Reflect it in their art
Forge their creativity
Closer to the heart

Philosophers and ploughmen
Each must know his part
To sow a new mentality
Closer to the heart

You can be the captain
I will draw the chart
Sailing into destiny
Closer to the heart

Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee, alex lifeson, and neil peart

When they turn the pages of history
When these days have passed long ago
Will they read of us with sadness
For the seeds that we let grow
We turned our gaze
From the castles in the distance
Eyes cast down
On the path of least resistance

Cities full of hatred
Fear and lies
Withered hearts
And cruel, tormented eyes
Scheming demons
Dressed in kingly guise
Beating down the multitude
And scoffing at the wise

The hypocrites are slandering
The sacred halls of truth
Ancient nobles showering
Their bitterness on youth
Can't we find
The minds that made us strong
Can't we learn
To feel what's right and wrong

Cities full of hatred
Fear and lies
Withered hearts
And cruel, tormented eyes
Scheming demons
Dressed in kingly guise
Beating down the multitude
And scoffing at the wise
Can't we raise our eyes
And make a start
Can't we find the minds
To lead us closer to the heart