Today’s song is tied to a memory of the last Rush concert Larry and I saw together in Columbus, Ohio. I will let Larry speak to that part of it, all I will say is that I am so glad we spent the money that we did on the seats we had. I am going to speak about this song itself.
Despite what Larry says and thinks, I did know Rush before he and I started dating. I may not have known them as well as he did but I did know many of their songs. This was not one of the ones I knew though, which is very unfortunate, because I think this song could have helped me a lot during my high school years. I don’t want to give anyone the wrong impression, it’s not like I didn’t have my own group that I ran with. I did and we did manage to get into our fair share of trouble, usually I was the one leading us into the eye of the storm, but I was not part of the “in-crowd”. I was a dreamer and a misfit and I still am, but unlike high school I no longer feel alone. As an adult I have “collected” my own group of misfits and dreamers as my inner circle and could not be happier about that.
This is a tough write-up, I'm not going to lie. On June 8th, 2015 I watched Rush for the last time in my hometown (though it wouldn't be the last time altogether). And although it wasn't the last time, it still hits a little different. There's something subliminal about "home field advantage" that I feel is in play. Every time a tour was announced the first thing you do is look and see if they're coming to your town - and then you look at the price.
Oh price. The siren song of the touring ocean that covers the world (at least the world touched by Ticketmaster). All you have to do is look at all the tickets I've posted to see how they've grown and grown. There were literal times I though about not going to see Rush because I thought the price of admission was too high. But those were fleeting thoughts and I whipped out my credit card and yelled "I'll take two, please - and don't skimp on screwing me over!"
It's important to share a couple of things. The R40 Tour stands for "Rush 40 years". Let that sink in. 40 years of the same three guys being together in an industry known for destroying lives.
The other thing to share is that prior to and even during the tour there were whispers on the street that this was it. That time had taken its toll on their bodies (especially drummer Neil Peart - and "just" the physicality of his intense playing; the world would not find out until years later of his battle with brain cancer).
So I had a decision to make based on "rumors". Would Shannon and I take our rightful seats just forward and above Geddy (no offense Alex); or would I throw our finances into disarray and do something I had never done before - for Rush or any other artist?
2015-06-08 R40 Receipt
Well as you can see - I blew $813.25 for two Row 7 VIP Gold Tickets. And now we know it was their last tour and I made the right decision. Had I not, and things happened like they did (it was their last tour and Neil's passing) I would have regretted it until the day I died. So let this be a lesson to just do it - whatever it is.
Oh yeah - the song write-up. Better get that done.
This a prime example of a second time around song.
First time around: I am the nerd kid in the video; I epitomized the lyrics Shannon used.
Second time around: In my adult life, I epitomized these lyrics:
"Well, some will sell their dreams for small desires Or lose the race to rats Get caught in ticking traps And start to dream of somewhere To relax their restless flight"
Basically this song is a battle cry for us cool kids - the intelligent ones. And we'll never let any charlatans appropriate it from us. You can try, but we'll outsmart you.
P.S. For every city Rush played on the R40 Tour, they had a special intro video and a note for that town - ours happened to be "Don't Step In The Doo Dah". IYKYK.
Ghost of a Chance 