| "YYZ" | |
|---|---|
| Instrumental by Rush | |
| from the album Moving Pictures | |
| Released | February 12, 1981 |
| Recorded | 1980 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:25 |
| Label | Mercury |
| Songwriter(s) | |
| Producer(s) |
|
| Audio sample | |
| Music video | |
| "YYZ" on YouTube | |
"YYZ" (natively pronounced wye-wye-zed) 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. [2] [3]
YYZ is the IATA airport identification code of Toronto Pearson International Airport,near Rush's hometown. The band was introduced to the rhythm as Alex Lifeson flew them into the airport. A VHF omnidirectional range system at the airport broadcasts the YYZ identifier code in Morse code. Peart said in interviews later that the rhythm stuck with them. [4] Peart and Geddy Lee have both said "It's always a happy day when YYZ appears on our luggage tags." [5]
The piece's introduction,played in a time signature of 10
8,repeatedly renders "Y-Y-Z" in Morse Code using various musical arrangements. [6] [7]
| "YYZ" rendered in Morse code | ||
|---|---|---|
| Y | Y | Z |
| - . - - | - . - - | - - . . |
An official animated music video was released on YouTube on March 11,2022 to coincide with the release of the 40th anniversary edition of Moving Pictures. The video contains elements from the parent album cover,and depicts a heist in Toronto. It also contains various easter eggs referencing Rush's other work,such as a fast food chain named Fried by Night,based on their album Fly by Night .
The recording of YYZ took place at Le Studio in Morin-Heights,Quebec,in the summer of 1980 [8] . The rhythm of the song is inspired by a IATA airport identification code of Toronto Pearson International Airport,thought of by Neil Peart,who recalls:
"The rhythm stuck in my head and I said, ‘Guys!’ So then, thematically we said, ‘We’ll let’s use that airport — so much a part of our lives in those days and after — let’s use that as a metaphor in a sense. Again, in a playful way. There was no sense of ‘Okay, this part is this part’ and all that. But there is a sense of bustling and coming and going and the grand emotion of that middle section of what airports can be. In our lives, airports were rich with symbolism. Departures and comings and goings; departures and arrivals. Separations and meetings. That was kind of woven into the song. The exotic nature of travel, too, and Alex’s guitar solo for sure too. He wove in that kind of eastern mode." [9]
Neil Peart’s used the crotales for the Morse code-inspired rhythm. The crashing noise heard between the breaks in the guitar solo are the sound of windchimes tied to a 2x4 plywood sheet slapped against a wood table [10] .
"YYZ" was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Rock Instrumental category in 1982. It lost to "Behind My Camel" by The Police, from their album Zenyatta Mondatta . [11]
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.
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Exit... Stage Left is the second live album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released as a double album in October 1981 by Anthem Records. After touring in support of their eighth studio album Moving Pictures (1981), the band gathered recordings made over the previous two years and constructed a live release from them with producer Terry Brown. The album features recordings from June 1980 on their Permanent Waves (1980) tour, and from 1981 on their Moving Pictures tour.
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.
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R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour is a live DVD by the Canadian rock band Rush, released on November 22, 2005 in Canada and the US, and November 28, 2005 in Europe. The DVD documents the band's R30: 30th Anniversary Tour, and was recorded on September 24, 2004 at the Festhalle Frankfurt, Germany.
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"A Passage to Bangkok" is a song by Canadian rock band Rush, released in March 1976 by Anthem Records. The song appears on the band's fourth studio album 2112 (1976). With the album's title track comprising the first half of the record, "A Passage to Bangkok" opens the second side of the album.
The Snakes & Arrows Tour was a concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush to promote the studio album Snakes & Arrows. The first leg of the tour began on June 13, 2007, in Atlanta and concluded on October 29, 2007, at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland. The 2008 portion of the tour started on April 11, 2008, in San Juan, Puerto Rico at José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum and ended on July 24, 2008, in Noblesville, Indiana at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. The tour was Rush's most successful to date, grossing nearly $65 million. At 114 shows, it is Rush's second-longest tour, after the Hemispheres tour back in 1978 –79.
The Test for Echo Tour was a concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush in support of their sixteenth studio album Test for Echo.
The Roll the Bones Tour was a concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush in support of their fourteenth studio album Roll the Bones.
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.
The Presto Tour was a concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush in support of their thirteenth studio album Presto.
The Exit... Stage Left Tour was a concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush, in support of the band's second live album Exit... Stage Left and its accompanying video.
