Marathon (Rush song)

Last updated

"Marathon"
Marathon Rush.webp
Song by Rush
from the album Power Windows
ReleasedOctober 21, 1985 [1]
Genre
Length6:09
Label Mercury
Songwriter(s) Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee
Producer(s) Peter Collins and Rush
Rush singles chronology
"Manhattan Project"
(1986)
"Marathon"
(1985)
"Time Stand Still"
(1987)
Music video
"Marathon" on YouTube

"Marathon" is the fourth track on Canadian rock band Rush's 1985 album Power Windows . [2]

Contents

It is written by Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson and bassist/vocalist/keyboardist Geddy Lee, and its lyrics are written by drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. [2] The lyrics depict how one would feel while running in an actual marathon, but the meaning of the song is meant to use a marathon (an extreme challenge) as a metaphor for life, and say that life is full of obstacles and is all about one taking small steps to achieve their personal goals.

In a 1986 interview, Peart said "(Marathon) is about the triumph of time and a kind of message to myself (because I think life is too short for all the things that I want to do), there's a self-admonition saying that life is long enough. You can do a lot -- just don't burn yourself out too fast trying to do everything at once. "Marathon" is a song about individual goals and trying to achieve them. And it's also about the old Chinese proverb: 'The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." [3]

The live version released on the "A Show of Hands" single reached number 6 on the US Mainstream Rock chart in 1989. [4]

Composition

During the mid-1980s, Rush's style was beginning to lean towards a more synthesizer based style of rock music, as opposed to their earlier, heavier guitar based hard rock and progressive rock. During the mid-1980s, Neil Peart was also beginning to experiment with an electronic drum kit. Power Windows is perhaps Rush's most heavily synthesizer influenced album. All of these elements are evident throughout the album, including on "Marathon". It contains different sections with both Geddy Lee's synthesizer as the lead instrument, as well as Alex Lifeson's guitar as the lead instrument. During the chorus, Lee's synthesizer is most prominent, while during the verses and solo passages there is a mix between synthesizer and guitar.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Lifeson</span> Canadian guitarist (born 1953)

Aleksandar Živojinović, known professionally as Alex Lifeson, is a Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist for the rock band Rush. In 1968, Lifeson co-founded a band that would later become Rush, with drummer John Rutsey and bassist and lead vocalist Jeff Jones. Jones was replaced by Geddy Lee a month later, and Rutsey was replaced by Neil Peart in 1974, after which the lineup remained unchanged until the band's dissolution in 2018. Lifeson was the only member of Rush who stayed in the band throughout its entire existence, and he and Lee were the only members to appear on all of the band's albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geddy Lee</span> Canadian musician (born 1953)

Geddy Lee Weinrib is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the rock group Rush. Lee joined the band in September 1968 at the request of his childhood friend Alex Lifeson, replacing original bassist and frontman Jeff Jones. Lee's solo effort, My Favourite Headache, was released in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rush (band)</span> Canadian rock band

Rush was a Canadian rock band that primarily comprised Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson (guitar) and Neil Peart. The band formed in Toronto in 1968 with Lifeson, drummer John Rutsey, and bassist and vocalist Jeff Jones, whom Lee immediately replaced. After Lee joined, the band went through several line-up changes before arriving at its classic power trio line-up with the addition of Peart in July 1974, who replaced Rutsey four months after the release of their self-titled debut album; this line-up remained intact for the remainder of the band's career.

<i>Vapor Trails</i> 2002 studio album by Rush

Vapor Trails is the seventeenth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush. It was released on May 14, 2002, on Anthem Records, and was their first studio release since Test for Echo (1996), the longest gap between two Rush albums. After the Test For Echo tour finished in July 1997, drummer and lyricist Neil Peart suffered the loss of his daughter and then his wife in separate tragedies. As a result, the group entered an extended hiatus during which it was not certain they would continue. They eventually reunited in January 2001 to rehearse material for a new album, recording for which lasted until December. For the first and only time since Caress of Steel (1975), the group did not use any keyboards or synthesizers in their music, incorporating many layers of guitar, bass and drums instead.

<i>Roll the Bones</i> 1991 studio album by Rush

Roll the Bones is the fourteenth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released September 3, 1991, on Anthem Records. The band began working on the album after a brief creative hiatus following the tour promoting their previous release, Presto (1989).

<i>Power Windows</i> (album) 1985 studio album by Rush

Power Windows is the eleventh studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on October 11, 1985 in Canada by Anthem Records and on October 21, 1985 in the United States. After touring in support of their previous album, Grace Under Pressure (1984), the band took a break and reconvened in early 1985 to begin work on a follow-up. The material continued to display the band's exploration of synthesizer-oriented music, this time with the addition of sampling, electronic drums, a string section, and choir, with power being a running lyrical theme. Power Windows was recorded in Montserrat and England with Peter Collins as co-producer and Andy Richards on additional keyboards.

<i>Hold Your Fire</i> 1987 studio album by Rush

Hold Your Fire is the twelfth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on September 8, 1987. It was recorded at The Manor Studio in Oxfordshire, Ridge Farm Studio in Surrey, Air Studios in Montserrat and McClear Place in Toronto. Hold Your Fire was the last Rush studio album released outside Canada by PolyGram/Mercury. 'Til Tuesday bassist and vocalist Aimee Mann contributed vocals to "Time Stand Still" and appeared in the Zbigniew Rybczyński-directed video.

<i>A Show of Hands</i> 1989 live album by Rush

A Show of Hands is a live album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1989. The band released a video of the same name, originally on VHS and LaserDisc, the same year. A DVD version was released as part of a box set in 2006, and as an individual DVD in 2007. In 2015 it was reissued after being remastered by Sean Magee at Abbey Road Studios following a direct approach by Rush to remaster their entire back catalogue.

<i>Presto</i> (album) 1989 studio album by Rush

Presto is the thirteenth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush. It was released on November 17, 1989 by Anthem Records and was the band's first album released internationally by Atlantic Records, following the group's departure from Mercury. After the Hold Your Fire (1987) tour ended in 1988, the group members reconvened in December to decide their next step and agreed to take six months off before starting on a new album. Presto marked another change in Rush's sound, with guitar taking a more dominant role in the writing, a reduction in synthesizers and a return towards more guitar-driven arrangements.

<i>Counterparts</i> (Rush album) 1993 studio album by Rush

Counterparts is the fifteenth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released October 19, 1993, on Anthem Records. After the band finished touring its previous album Roll the Bones (1991) in mid-1992, the members took a break before starting work on a follow-up.

<i>Test for Echo</i> 1996 studio album by Rush

Test for Echo is the sixteenth studio album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released on September 10, 1996, by Anthem Records. It was the final Rush album to be co-produced by Peter Collins. The band supported the album with a world tour in 1996 and 1997, after which they went on a five-year hiatus following the deaths of drummer Neil Peart's daughter and wife, and would not record again until 2001.

"Xanadu" is a song by the Canadian progressive rock band Rush from their 1977 album A Farewell to Kings. It is approximately eleven minutes long, beginning with a five-minute-long instrumental section before transitioning to a narrative written by Neil Peart, which in turn was inspired by the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem Kubla Khan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Limelight (Rush song)</span> Rush song

"Limelight" is a song by Canadian progressive rock band Rush. It first appeared on the 1981 album Moving Pictures. 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 play As You Like It. The band had previously used the phrase for its 1976 live album. The lyrics also refer to "the camera eye", the title of the song that follows on the Moving Pictures album.

<i>Gold</i> (Rush album) 2006 compilation album by Rush

Gold is a compilation album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on April 25, 2006.

"The Analog Kid" is a song by the Canadian progressive rock band Rush. It was released as the second single from their 1982 album Signals and reached number 19 on the Mainstream Rock chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roll the Bones (song)</span> 1992 single by Rush

"Roll the Bones" is a song by the Canadian rock band Rush. It was released as the second single from their 1991 album of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dreamline</span> 1991 single by Rush

"Dreamline" is a song by the Canadian rock band Rush. It was released as a single and on their 1991 album Roll the Bones. The song peaked at number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Show Don't Tell</span> 1989 single by Rush

"Show Don't Tell" is the first single on Canadian rock band Rush's 1989 album Presto. The song peaked at number one on the U.S. Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart, the second of five songs by Rush to top the chart.

"Witch Hunt" is a song by Canadian rock band Rush. It was released on their 1981 album Moving Pictures, and unlike many other Rush songs it was a true studio production, with a variety of percussion instruments and overdubs, and a separate keyboard player. It is the first of four songs in what has been called the band's "Fear" series, the other three being "The Weapon", "The Enemy Within", and "Freeze", although this song is the third part of the series in order, and went on reverse chronological order by the album.

References

  1. "Power Windows release date".
  2. 1 2 "Power Windows — Rush.com". www.rush.com. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  3. Hansen, Eric. ""Surviving With Rush" - Canadian Composer, April 1986". www.2112.net. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  4. "Rush Chart History: Mainstream Rock". Billboard . Retrieved 17 December 2020.