The Body Electric (song)

Last updated
"The Body Electric"
Single by Rush
from the album Grace Under Pressure
B-side
Released1984
Format7", 12"
Recorded1984
Genre
Length5:00
Label Anthem
Songwriter(s) Neil Peart, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson
Producer(s) Peter Henderson and Rush
Rush singles chronology
"Distant Early Warning"
(1984)		"The Body Electric"
(1984)		"Red Sector A"
(1984)

The Body Electric is a song by the Canadian rock band Rush. It was released as the second single from their 1984 album Grace Under Pressure . It peaked at #56 on the UK charts. [3] [4]

Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the early 1950s, and developed into a range of different styles in the 1960s and later, particularly in the United Kingdom and in the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, a style which drew heavily on the genres of blues, rhythm and blues, and from country music. Rock music also drew strongly on a number of other genres such as electric blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz, classical and other musical styles. Musically, rock has centered on the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass, drums, and one or more singers. Usually, rock is song-based music usually with a 4/4 time signature using a verse–chorus form, but the genre has become extremely diverse. Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political.

Rush (band) Canadian rock band

Rush was a Canadian rock band consisting of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson (guitars), and Neil Peart. Formed in 1968, the band went through several configurations until arriving at its longest and most popular line-up when Peart replaced original drummer John Rutsey in July 1974, two weeks before the group's first tour of the United States.

<i>Grace Under Pressure</i> (Rush album) 1984 album by Rush

Grace Under Pressure is the tenth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in April 1984 on Anthem Records. After touring for the band's previous album, Signals (1982), had come to an end in mid-1983, Rush started work on a follow-up in August. The band had decided to not work with its longtime producer Terry Brown, who had worked with Rush since 1975. The new material attenuated the group's change in direction towards a keyboard-oriented sound as per the previous album. After some difficulty in finding a suitable producer who could commit, the album was recorded with Peter Henderson.

Contents

Composition and recording

The song is in the key of A major, and is played in common time. [5] [6]

The song is based on the Twilight Zone episode "I Sing the Body Electric". [7] [8]

<i>The Twilight Zone</i> (1959 TV series) American TV anthology series (1959-1964)

The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created and presented by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. Each episode presents a stand-alone story in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described as entering "the Twilight Zone," often ending with a surprise ending and a moral. Although predominantly science-fiction, the show's paranormal and Kafkaesque events leaned the show towards fantasy and horror. The phrase “twilight zone,” inspired by the series, is used to describe surreal experiences.

"I Sing the Body Electric" is episode 100 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. The script was written by Ray Bradbury, and became the basis for his short story of the same name, published in 1969, itself named after a Walt Whitman poem. Although Bradbury contributed several scripts to The Twilight Zone, this was the only one produced.

Rolling Stone thought that the song had sci-fi lyrics. [9]

<i>Rolling Stone</i> American magazine focusing on popular culture, based in New York City

Rolling Stone is an American monthly magazine that focuses on popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California in 1967 by Jann Wenner, who is still the magazine's publisher, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its musical coverage and for political reporting by Hunter S. Thompson. In the 1990s, the magazine shifted focus to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors, and popular music. In recent years, it has resumed its traditional mix of content.

Reception

Odyssey rated "The Body Electric" 4.5/5, writing that it is probably the most hook oriented song from Grace Under Pressur, "as it as one of the most sing-along like choruses in the Rush catalog. The guitar solo is awesome and incorporates some very excellent effects and certainly stands out as one of the best parts of the song. Neil's drumming is probably the best thing in the song though". [10]

Odyssey is an American internet media company that operates based on a crowdsourced model, receiving articles from a base of thousands of volunteer authors and edited through their teams of volunteer, outsourced, and professional content strategists. The platform produces material covering virtually all major topics, including politics, sports, fashion, technology, business, science, and health, among others. Odyssey has over 15,000 contributing writers, 1,200 communities, and over 30 million readers across the country. Each community consists of at least 12 writers, a voluntary Editor-In-Chief, and a content strategist based in the NYC headquarters. Within each team are opportunities for executive positions, like a contributing editor, social outreach specialist, recruitment director, and more, all on a voluntary basis. Writers have the opportunity to receive compensation for their articles based on the amount of page views a contributor has.

'Ultimate Classic Rock ranked the song number 94 on their list of "All 167 Rush Songs Ranked Worst to Best". They praised the song's bass and production. [11]

Christopher Thelen of The Daily Vault thought that "The Body Electric" was an enjoyable song. [12]

In 2016, Prog wrote that it was the 9th best Rush song from the 1980s. [13]

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References

  1. ↑ "Revisit: Rush: Grace Under Pressure". 16 February 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  2. ↑ "Grace Under Pressure (1984) Stereogum" . Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  3. ↑ http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=11422
  4. ↑ https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/the-body-electric
  5. ↑ https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0063254
  6. ↑ https://findsongtempo.com/artists/rush/songs/the-body-electric-0dcfa991-7bf2-48f3-b931-34d1af69cf73
  7. ↑ https://www.songfacts.com/facts/rush/the-body-electric
  8. ↑ https://rushvault.com/2011/02/06/the-body-electric
  9. ↑ Loder, Kurt (21 June 1984). "Grace Under Pressure". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  10. ↑ Clouse, Matthew. "Rush: Grace Under Pressure Album Review". theodysseyonline.com. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  11. ↑ http://ultimateclassicrock.com/every-rush-song
  12. ↑ Thelen, Christopher (2019). "The Daily Vault Music Reviews : Grace Under Pressure". dailyvault.com. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  13. ↑ Prog, Jerry Ewing 2016-10-28T18:00:00 301Z. "The Top 10 Best Rush Songs Of The 80s". Prog Magazine.
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