Rush ~ Limelight ~ Time Machine - Live in Cleveland [HD 1080p] [CC] 2011
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Published 2021-03-09
"Limelight" is the fourth song from Rush's eighth studio album "Moving Pictures," recorded during October and November of 1980 at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada. It was released on February 12, 1981. As with their previous album Permanent Waves, they continued to write songs with a more radio-friendly format, featuring tighter song structures and songs of shorter length compared to their early albums.
The song's lyrics were written by Neil Peart with music written by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. "Limelight" expresses Peart's discomfort with Rush's success and the resulting attention from the public. The song paraphrases the opening lines of the "All the world's a stage" speech from William Shakespeare's 1599 play "As You Like It". The play contains the line "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players" - a similar phase that appears in the lyrics "All the worlds indeed a stage, and we are merely players." Rush had previously used the phrase for their 1976 live album "All The Worlds A Stage".
The phrase "In the limelight" means the center of attention. In the early days of theater, a limelight was a device used to brightly illuminate the front of a stage, which put the main performer in a spotlight. The light was made by focusing a flame at a cylinder filled with lime that was projected through a lens - lighting technicians had to be creative before electricity.
In "Limelight", lyricist Neil Peart comments on the band's commercial success and the fame and its demands that come with rock star status. According to guitarist Alex Lifeson, the song "is about being under the microscopic scrutiny and the need for privacyโtrying to separate the two and not always being successful at it". Bassist Geddy Lee describes the motivation for "Limelight" in a 1988 interview:
"Limelight was probably more of Neil's song than a lot of the songs on that album in the sense that his feelings about being in the limelight and his difficulty with coming to grips with fame and autograph seekers and a sudden lack of privacy and sudden demands on his time... he was having a very difficult time dealing with. I mean we all were, but I think he was having the most difficulty of the three of us adjusting; in the sense that I think he's more sensitive to more things than Alex and I are, it's harder for him to deal with those interruptions on his personal space and his desire to be alone. Being very much a person who needs that solitude, to have someone coming up to you constantly and asking for your autograph is a major interruption in your own little world. I guess in the one sense that we're a little bit like misfits in the fact that we've chosen this profession that has all this extreme hype and this sort of self-hyping world that we've chosen to live in, and we don't feel comfortable really in that kind of role."
Guitarist Alex Lifeson: "We were very, very careful not to let it get the best of us. That sudden success can really change you and you become lazy and you constantly have other people doing things for you and you lose perspective on why you're there and really what you're doing."
In a 2007 interview, Alex Lifeson gives his take on "Limelight":
"It's funny: after all these years, the solo to "Limelight" is my favorite to play live. There's something very sad and lonely about it; it exists in its own little world. And I think, in its own way, it reflects the nature of the song's lyrics-feeling isolated amidst chaos and adulation. I've always enjoyed the elasticity of that solo, particularly the way it sounds on the record. It has a certain tonality I just love. I do like playing the solo live, but I think I prefer listening to it on the album. On record, it has a magical quality to it - it really conveys the pathos of the song and the lyrics. I've never been able to re-create that live. I get pretty close, but it's never exactly the way it is on record. I'll keep trying, though."
Lifeson's guitar solo was performed on what he called a "Hentor Sportscaster", a modified Fender Stratocaster equipped with a Floyd Rose vibrato arm. Critics frequently point out Lifeson's use of vibrato in the solo, with Max Mobley writing that it "is dripping with Floyd Rose whammy". "Limelight" has been described as Lifeson's "signature song", and critics cite the influence of Allan Holdsworth. Lifeson himself calls it his favorite solo.
The song was a staple of Rush's live performances, having been played on every tour since its release except the Grace Under Pressure Tour (1984), the Presto Tour (1990), and the R40 Live Tour (2015).
"Limelight" was one of five Rush songs inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame on March 28, 2010.
Geddy Lee - Bass , Synthesizers, Vocals
Alex Lifeson - Guitar, Bass Pedal Synth
Neil Peart โ Drums, Percussion
#MysticRhythmsLive
All Comments (10)
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Got that whole crowd air drumming RIP to the professor Neil Peart
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Salvation. GOD is Good.
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Rockin the Cleveland House of RUSH !!! WOOOO- WEEEE !!!!
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Nobody else can make a Gibson hollow body sound sooo goood .๐๐๐โค๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ
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Great drums by the professor and the vocals were bizarre but excellent and the guitar work got better till an interesting ending with plenty of crowd support. Good song thanks.
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Itโs always good to see ladies in the audience singing and playing the air drums๐ My memory is certainly not as good as it used to be Dan - there seemed to be a lack of ladies at Rock, Metal and Prog concerts in the past๐ค When I was in secondary school, the guys liked a mix between Glam Rock and Rock/Metal and Prog - the ladies liked Soul and Disco. I fortunately was in both categories - and I was into Funk with James Brown, Sly etc and this went onto P-Funk with George Clinton, Bootsy Collins etc. Hence why Prince as always appealed to me. Great track again - loving these uploads mate.
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I found it hard to see the vid clearly...thru my tears...joy and sadness. Thank you my friend. Amazing vid quality, cam angles, etc!
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Lyrics [Click on "CC" icon for Closed Captioning] (Lyrics on Screen) 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 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 [Guitar Solo] 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 The real relation The underlying theme
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P.s. Your description in your "descripton" box is extensive and wonderfully exhaustive (in the true meaning of the word!) Thanks once more!
