To say Rush has a devoted fan base would be an understatement. I know, because I was a card-carrying member of the “Rush Backstage Fan Club” back in the ’80’s. Perhaps no Rush song connected so directly with their fans as “Subdivisions”. On this episode, we celebrate Neil Peart with a deeper look at this fan favorite.

“Subdivisions” (Music by Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson, Words by Neil Peart) Copyright 1982 Core Music Publishing

TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome to the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. Hold your fire, check your vital signs, and listen to the mystic rhythms as we celebrate one of the greatest bands of all time with an exploration of “Subdivisions” by Rush.

I’m your host, Brad Page, and together on this podcast we listen to one of my favorite songs, uncovering all the elements that make it a great song. You don’t have to be a musician or know anything about music theory to enjoy this show. We don’t get into a lot of that technical stuff here. This show is for anyone who loves music. So, let’s have a listen to one of my favorite bands, Rush, with “Subdivisions”.

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I’m recording this episode on January 12th, 2020. Just a few days ago, on January 7th, we lost Rush’s drummer and lyricist, Neil Peart. He died after a long bout with brain cancer. There are many fans, musicians and fellow drummers who believed that Neil Peart was the greatest drummer in history. Not just as a rock drummer, but across all musical genres, the greatest drummer ever, period. But he was also one of my favorite lyric writers. He wrote fantasy and sci-fi epics for those early Rush records, but his lyrics became more personal and meaningful as the years went on.

So let’s celebrate Neil and his bandmates, who are no musical slouches either, with a song that shows all of their brilliant musicianship, along with one of Neil’s most powerful lyrics that spoke directly about the lives of his millions of fans.
After many years of slowly building an audience, in 1981, Rush released their eighth studio album, Moving Pictures, which would become their biggest selling album. After a massive world tour and a live album that followed, all eyes were on guitarist Alex Lifeson, bassist-vocalist Geddy Lee, and drummer Neil Peart. What would they do for album number nine?

There was a year and a half gap between Moving Pictures and the next album. Doesn’t seem like that much today, but a break that long was pretty uncommon back in those days. Rush’s sound had steadily evolved over each album, and this next record was going to follow in that tradition.

When the album, called Signals was released in September 1982, it was perhaps their biggest change yet. Back in 1977, Geddy Lee had started playing keyboards along with his bass guitar, but on Signals, the keyboards had moved from being just an added spice to now being one of the main ingredients.

They were also avid listeners of new wave bands, and they incorporated a lot of those sounds into their sound. The reggae-tinged sounds of the Police were a particular big influence, and you can hear a lot of that on the Signals album.
One thing that was missing from Signals was the epic length, long song. Signals was the first Rush album where none of the tracks passed the seven-minute mark.

“Subdivisions” is the song that opens the album. It was one of the first songs written for the record. Music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, lyrics by Neil Peart. The song opens with a synthesizer played by Geddy Lee. This intro is in 7/4 time, which would be thought of as an odd time signature. Most popular music has four beats per measure, or maybe three beats per measure if you’re talking about a waltz. But here, there’s seven beats per measure. Let’s count it out.

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

What’s kind of cool about this intro is that even though it’s in an odd time signature, they play it in a way that feels completely natural, so even the most rhythmically challenged among us can tap your foot to it and not even notice the odd time.

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Now, after six measures of 7/4 time, they switch to a traditional 4/4 time, or four beats per measure. See if you can feel the change. Don’t count it, just see if you can feel that shift in the groove.

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With this chord change, the sound gets bigger.

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Here, the guitar and keyboards play quick alternating chords.

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We’re going to pay close attention to these lyrics because this was some of Neil’s most effective and affecting songwriting.

The first verse:
“Sprawling on the fringes of the city, in geometric order
An insulated border in between the bright lights and the far, unlit unknown.”

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Sprawling on the fringes of the city
In geometric order
An insulated border
Between the bright lights and the far unlit unknown

Usually laid out in cookie-cutter developments, or geometric order, the suburbs sit between the urban and the rural areas, insulated from both.

The next lines:
“Growing up it all seems so one-sided, opinions all provided
The future pre-decided, detached and subdivided in the mass production zone.”

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Growing up, it all seemed so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and sub-divided
In the mass production zone

The uniformity, the pressure to conform, to live up to somebody else’s definition of success, go to work, go to college. That’s how it felt when I was a kid in school, I’m sure kids feel the same today. Neil’s setting the table here for the line that follows.

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Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone

“Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone.”
I believe that most great songs have one key line or phrase that captures the essence of the song in that one expression, and this is it. With this one line, Neil encapsulated how millions of kids felt. If you were a Rush fan back in those days, you weren’t exactly swimming with the tide. With this song, Rush created an anthem for every intelligent, creative kid who felt stifled, misunderstood, and alone.

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Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone

This leads us into the chorus, and Geddy plays a smokin’ little bass lick here.

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Let’s hear just that bass part.

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It’s worth noting that up until this point, all the bass parts have actually been played on keyboards, not on a bass guitar.

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It’s only at this point that an actual bass guitar comes in, and boy, does it make its presence known with that lick.

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ah yes, the clicks, the gangs, the in-crowds, the mean girls, call them what you will.
The chorus goes:
“Subdivisions, in the high school halls, in the shopping malls
Conform or be cast out
Subdivisions, in the basement bars, in the backs of cars
Be cool or be cast out”

Man, how many of us can relate to that? Brings you right back with those feelings of high school anxiety.

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“And the escape might help to smooth the unattractive truth
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth”

Once again, the bass guitar is replaced by the bass keyboards while Geddy plays a melodic synthesizer part over the top.

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This far, we’ve been focusing mostly on the lyrics, but let’s listen to some of the musical parts that are happening here.

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Here’s Alex’s guitar part for this section. He’s doubled or tripled the same part with different guitar tones. You can hear at least one clean guitar in there, along with the distorted guitar. Overdubbing the same part multiple times with different tones is a great way to thicken up a part.

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And let’s hear what the master was playing on the drums here.

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Check out that intricate work on the symbol.

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This is a great little drum fill.

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Let’s back up a bit and play into the second verse.

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Drawn like moths we drift into the city
The timeless old attraction
Cruising for the action
Lit up like a firefly
Just to feel the living night

Okay, let’s take a closer look at this verse. One thing that surprised me is that when you strip away the keyboards and just listen to the guitar and drums, there’s almost a punky feel to it.

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They’re also doing some subtle time signature changes during the verse. The first two lines are four beats per measure.

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1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4
Then it changes to seven beats per measure here.

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
And then back to four beats per measure here.

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Just to feel the living night

Let’s listen in on those drums again.

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Somewhere out on the memory of lighted streets on
And here comes another great bass part.

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The chorus is in yet another time signature: 6/4, or six beats per measure.
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1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
I think it’s really brilliant how they mix these different time signatures throughout the song, and yet it seems to flow so naturally. It’s not herky-jerky at all. It’s really clever.

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And let’s listen to what Alex is doing during the chorus. This is a great example of how he works with chords.

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And here’s Alex’s guitar solo. Let’s listen to it by itself first.

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And here it is in context with the rest of the song.

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And behind the solo, Neil and Geddy are really working it. Let’s listen to the bass and drums here.

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“Subdivisions” by Rush.

Also, on the Signals album is a song called “Losing It”. In that song, Neil writes about two people, a dancer in the first verse, and a writer in the second, who were once masters of their craft, but now, aging, they’re losing their skills. They’re past their peak, they just can’t perform like they used to. There’s a line in that song: “Sadder still to watch it die than never to have known it.” Whether you agree with that or not, Neil definitely did, and he retired from playing drums before his skills diminished. He wanted to leave while he was still on top before we had a chance to watch him decline.

Neil Peart lived a full life, with all the success and tragedy that that entails. On August 10th, 1997, his teenage daughter, Selena, left their home, heading to Toronto to start her first year at college. She never made it. She died in a car accident on the way. Of course, that left a hole in Neil’s heart and his soul, but for Neil’s wife, Jackie, losing their only child took something more. Jackie never recovered from the loss. She was diagnosed with cancer, and died June 20th, 1998, only 10 months after the death of their daughter. Though it was cancer that took her life, Neil believed that it was a broken heart that really killed her.

Neil himself died from brain cancer just a few days ago. But look, Neil had a natural gift, and he worked hard at it, becoming one of the acknowledged masters of his instrument. He recorded dozens of successful records, toured the world multiple times, and became wealthy. He earned that money. That afforded him the luxury to travel around the world on his motorcycle and live the life that he wanted. He eventually fell in love again, married, and had another daughter, who was born in 2009. So Neil’s life is more than just the tragedies. That should not define him, nor should his drumming. He was more than just the world’s greatest drummer, as great as that achievement may be.

Neil wrote seven books during his lifetime. My favorite one is Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. It’s about the aftermath of his personal losses, and how he found his way back. Another book I’d like to mention is Rush: Album by Album by Martin Popoff. It’s one of the books that I used for reference for this show. It’s a good book. And Martin is also a fellow podcaster right here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, so check out his show.

Thanks for listening to the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. You can find out more about the show on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com. You can find us on Facebook by searching for the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, and you can tweet at us at @PopstaffTweets. I’ll be back in two weeks with another episode. Remember to support the music and the artists you love by buying their music. And thanks for being part of this special episode on “Subdivisions” by Rush.

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Go listen to the whole song by downloading it or buying it, or streaming it from your favorite source of legit music. Always support the music that you love.