Friday, January 10, 2020

RIP Neil Peart

The ticket pictured below is from a concert not too far away from forty years ago. When I went to this concert those many years ago, Neil Peart, the drummer and primary lyricist for Rush, was only 29, practically still a kid. Today it was announced that three days ago, January 7, Peart passed away at the age of sixty-seven. I still can't quite believe it.


The truth is I haven't listened to Rush much in the last fifteen or twenty years; my musical tastes have changed since I was a teenager, and I don't always find much pleasure in the things I once did. But I remember the depths of that pleasure, and I will tell you that there is nothing, NOTHING, better than being an awkward adolescent kid who just got an electric guitar and who loves to read science fiction and fantasy novels, and discovering A Farewell to Kings or Caress of Steel or 2112.

It's been a long time since he was much of a presence in my life, but it will take a while to adjust to the idea of a world that doesn't have Neil Peart in it anymore.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I remember you first mentioning RUSH to me in High School. I then remember not being able to get enough of of them. They spoke to something in my teenage angst that empowered me and replenished the well of wonder that is essential for getting thru that period. I've come back to them from time-to-time during my journey and that well has been filled again. Best interview I've listened to since his passing:

https://www.npr.org/2015/01/06/375171736/mystic-rhythms-rushs-neil-peart-on-the-first-rock-drummer

Very sad his passing. Happy that he found a new path after his travails.

All this machinery making modern music
Can still be open-hearted
Not so coldly charted
It’s really just a question of your honesty.

Best Regards,
Kirk