| "Red Barchetta (live)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Rush | ||||
| from the album Exit...Stage Left | ||||
| A-side | "Subdivisions" | |||
| Released | October 22, 1982 (UK) [1] | |||
| Recorded | March 27, 1981 | |||
| Venue | Montreal Forum | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 6:46 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
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| Rush UKsingles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Red Barchetta" on YouTube | ||||
"Red Barchetta" is a song by the Canadian rock band Rush,from their 1981 studio album Moving Pictures .
The song was inspired by the futuristic short story "A Nice Morning Drive ",written by Richard Foster and published in the November 1973 issue of Road &Track magazine. The story describes a similar future in which increasingly stringent safety regulations have forced cars to evolve into massive Modern Safety Vehicles (MSVs),capable of withstanding a 50-mile-per-hour (80 km/h) impact without injury to the driver. Consequently,drivers of MSVs have become less safety-conscious and more aggressive,and "bouncing" (intentionally ramming) the older,smaller cars is a common sport among some. [2]
Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart made several attempts to contact Foster during the recording of Moving Pictures but Road &Track did not have an up-to-date address and Rush were forced to settle for a brief "inspired by" note in the lyric sheet mentioning the story. In July 2007,Foster and Peart finally made contact with each other. [3] Foster later posted on his website an account of their journey by motorcycle through the backwoods of West Virginia between stops on Rush's 2007 Snakes &Arrows Tour.
Barchetta ,literally "small boat" in Italian,is the diminutive form of barca ("boat" or "craft"). In the automotive industry,the term is used for a two-seat car without any kind of roof. The proper Italian pronunciation is [barˈketta] ,with a /k/ rather than the /tʃ/ sung by Geddy Lee. [4] Neil Peart's favorite car was the 1948 Ferrari 166MM ″Barchetta″.
The song's lyrics tell a story set in a future in which many classes of vehicles have been banned by a "Motor Law." The narrator's uncle has kept one of these now-illegal vehicles (the titular red Barchetta sports car) in pristine condition for roughly 50 years and is hiding it at his secret country home,which had been a farm before the Motor Law was enacted. Every Sunday,the narrator commits a "weekly crime" of sneaking out to this location and going for a drive in the countryside. During one such drive,he encounters the equivalent of the police in the form a "gleaming alloy air car" followed soon by a second,which culminates into a fantastic car chase until the narrator drives across a one-lane bridge that is too narrow for the air cars. The song ends with the narrator returning safely to his uncle's farm.
In the book Rush and Philosophy:Heart and Mind United,Jim Berti &Durrell Bowman wrote of the song:
"Red Barchetta" itself repeatedly "fixes" its temporal complications at the ends of many sections. In the exciting passage that most closely approximates the feeling of speeding,unhindered,down an empty road (when the protagonist "commits his weekly crime",2:28-2:58),the music is filled with syncopated accents that keep thrusting us forward. In addition,each phrase takes away two beats from normative four-measure groups in 4/4;we're moving faster than can be contained within standard phrases. But the last group,punctuated with Lee's "adrenaline surge",brings back those two beats—we're entering a new zone,where time can now flow freely. And indeed,in the next section (2:58-3:18),while changing harmonies takes us on a bit of a journey,the phrases lock comfortably into relaxed four-bar groups in 4/4. The following guitar solo (3:18-3:41) introduces further metric complications,alternating 4/4 and 3/4 bars for eight units of seven beats each. But again the last unit brings back the "missing" beat,making for a satisfying conclusion of eight beats before we head back into the main song. And for the final,peaceful phrases built around Lifeson's guitar harmonics (from 5:10),while the initial groups imply 4/4 phrases lasting a somewhat unexpected two,six and again six bars,from 5:32 to the song's fade normative eight-bar groups sound the rest of the way. [5]
Rolling Stone listed the song at number 5 on their list "The 10 Best Rush Songs". [6]
Ultimate Classic Rock ranked the song number 3 on their list of "All 167 Rush Songs Ranked Worst to Best". [7]
Neil Ellwood Peart was a Canadian and American musician,known as the drummer and primary lyricist of the rock band Rush. He was known to fans by the nickname 'The Professor',derived from the Gilligan's Island character of the same name. His drumming was renowned for its technical proficiency and his live performances for their exacting nature and stamina. Peart earned numerous awards for his musical performances,including an induction into the Modern Drummer Readers Poll Hall of Fame in 1983 at the age of thirty,making him the youngest person ever so honoured.
Rush was a Canadian rock band formed in Toronto in 1968 that primarily comprised Geddy Lee,Alex Lifeson (guitar) and Neil Peart. The band's original line-up comprised Lifeson,drummer John Rutsey,and bassist and vocalist Jeff Jones,whom Lee immediately replaced. After Lee joined,the band went through a few 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 unchanged for the remainder of the band's career.
Signals is the ninth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush,released on September 9,1982 by Anthem Records. After the release of their previous album,Moving Pictures,the band started to prepare material for a follow-up during soundchecks on their 1981 concert tour and during the mixing of their subsequent live album Exit...Stage Left. Signals demonstrates the group's continuing use of synthesizers,sequencers,and other electronic instrumentation. It is the last album produced by their longtime associate Terry Brown,who had worked with them since 1974.
Caress of Steel is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Rush,released on September 24,1975,by Mercury Records. It was recorded immediately after the band concluded touring in support of their previous album,Fly By Night,and marked a development in the group's sound,moving from the blues-based hard rock style of their debut towards progressive rock. Caress of Steel is considered Rush's first progressive rock album. Songs such as "The Necromancer" furthered Rush's advancement into narrative-driven,fantasy-based compositions,while "The Fountain of Lamneth" was their first prog-rock "epic" to span an entire side of vinyl. Other tracks like "Bastille Day" and "Lakeside Park" became staples of the band's live setlists.
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.
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).
Moving Pictures is the eighth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush;it was released on February 12,1981,by Anthem Records. After touring to support their previous album,Permanent Waves (1980),the band started to write and record new material in August 1980 with longtime co-producer Terry Brown. They continued to write songs with a more radio-friendly sound,featuring tighter and shorter song structures compared to their earlier albums.
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.
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.
"2112" is a song by the Canadian rock band Rush. It was released as a 20-minute song on their 1976 album of the same name and is the longest single song by the band. The overture and the first section,"The Temples of Syrinx",were released as a single. The song was adapted into a comic booklet,which used the lyrics of the song as lines for the characters and the narrations from the cover as intros.
"Bastille Day" is a song by the Canadian rock band Rush,and is the opening track from their third album,Caress of Steel. Like most Rush songs,the music was written by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson,and the lyrics by Neil Peart. The song uses the storming of the Bastille,which began the French Revolution,as an allegory for revolutionary fervor needed in the struggle against tyrannical government.
"Freewill" is the second track on the 1980 album Permanent Waves by Canadian progressive rock band Rush. The song's music was composed by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson,and its lyrics written by Neil Peart. In a 2016 review of Rush discography for Ultimate Classic Rock,Eduardo Rivadavia described "Freewill" as a "cerebral but remarkably radio-friendly" song. Lee has stated that the final verse of "Freewill" is at the highest part of his vocal range.
The Test for Echo Tour was a concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush in support of their sixteenth studio album Test for Echo.
Sonic Elements is a unique American progressive rock project formed in Los Angeles,California,in 2011. Led by musician and sound producer Dave Kerzner,Sonic Elements is a new type of "fantasy rock tribute band" where some of the elements are authentic parts of the original music,whether it is one of the original musicians from the band or vintage instrument sounds recorded by the original recording engineer/producers. Sonic Elements takes samples produced by the sound design company Sonic Reality Inc and puts them into musical context,creating a virtual "super group" per song that combines different musicians with Sonic Reality sampled drummers and more.
"Force Ten" is a song written,produced and performed by Canadian rock band Rush,released as a promotional single from their album Hold Your Fire. It was the last song written for the album. The song has been critically positively received,and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
The R40 Live Tour was the final concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush that commemorated the 40th anniversary of drummer Neil Peart joining the band in July 1974. The title hearkens back to Rush's 2004 R30:30th Anniversary Tour that celebrated the 30th anniversary of the band. The tour grossed US$37.8 million,with 442,337 tickets sold at 35 concerts. Although the tour was shorter than many of Rush’s preceding tours,it was very successful in terms of average concert attendance and gross,which was 12,638 and US$1,080,000 respectively. The tour also saw more sellouts than any other Rush tour in recent memory. With 26 out of the 33 reported shows being sellouts,and the remaining 7 still over 90% capacity,the band felt a taste of their success from their prime years again.
"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.
"YYZ" is an instrumental rock composition by the Canadian rock band Rush from their 1981 album Moving Pictures. The live album Exit... Stage Left (1981) and the concert video recording A Show of Hands (1989) both include versions in which Neil Peart incorporates a drum solo –as an interlude on the former,and as a segue out of the piece on the latter.
