Natural Science

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...


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