Show don't tell
(Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
How many times do you hear it? It goes on all day long Everyone knows everything And no one's ever wrong until later
Who can you believe? It's hard to play it safe But apart from a few good friends We don't take anything on faith until later
Show, don't tell
Show me, don't tell me You've figured out the score Show me, don't tell me I've heard it all before
Show me, don't tell me I don't care what you say Show me, don't tell me
You can twist perceptions Reality won't budge You can raise objections I will be the judge and the jury
I'll give it due reflection Watching from the fence Give the jury direction Based on the evidence, I, the jury
Show, don't tell
Show me, don't tell me Hey! Order in the court Show me, don't tell me Let's try to keep it short
Show me, don't tell me Enough of your demands Show me, don't tell me Witness take the stand
Show me, don't tell me
Show me, don't tell me Hey! Order in the court Show me, don't tell me Let's try to keep it short
Show me, don't tell me I don't care what you say Show me, don't tell me Let's see exhibit A
Chain lightning
(Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
Energy is contagious Enthusiasm spreads Tides respond to lunar gravitation Everything turns in synchronous relation
Laughter is infectious Excitement goes to my head Winds are stirred by planets in rotation Sparks ignite and spread new information
Respond, vibrate Feed back, resonate
Sun dogs fire on the horizon Meteor rain stars across the night This moment may be brief But it can be so bright
Hope is epidemic Optimism spreads Bitterness breeds irritation Ignorance breeds imitation
Respond, vibrate Feed back, resonate
Sun dogs fire on the horizon Meteor rain stars across the night This moment may be brief But it can be so bright
Reflected in another source of light When the moment dies The spark still flies Reflected in another pair of eyes
Dreams are sometimes catching Desire goes to my head Love responds to your invitation Love responds to imagination
Respond, vibrate Feed back, resonate
Sun dogs fire on the horizon Meteor rain stars across the night This moment may be brief But it can be so bright
Reflected in another source of light When the moment dies The spark still flies Reflected in another pair of eyes
The pass
(Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
Proud swagger out of the schoolyard Waiting for the world's applause Rebel without a conscience Martyr without a cause
Static on your frequency Electrical storm in your veins Raging at unreachable glory Straining at invisible chains
And now you're trembling on a rocky ledge Staring down into a heartless sea Can't face life on a razor's edge Nothing's what you thought it would be
All of us get lost in the darkness Dreamers learn to steer by the stars All of us do time in the gutter Dreamers turn to look at the cars
Turn around and turn around and turn around Turn around and walk the razor's edge Don't turn your back And slam the door on me
It's not as if this barricade Blocks the only road It's not as if you're all alone In wanting to explode
Someone set a bad example Made surrender seem all right The act of a noble warrior Who lost the will to fight
And now you're trembling on a rocky ledge Staring down into a heartless sea Done with life on a razor's edge Nothing's what you thought it would be
All of us get lost in the darkness Dreamers learn to steer by the stars All of us do time in the gutter Dreamers turn to look at the cars
Turn around and turn around and turn around Turn around and walk the razor's edge Don't turn your back And slam the door on me
No hero in your tragedy No daring in your escape No salutes for your surrender Nothing noble in your fate
Christ, what have you done?
War paint
(Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
Girl before the mirror Appraises her disguise Child become a mother Tries to fix her eyes
No more of his excuses It has to be today She can keep her fantasy If she can get away
Paint her name on a one way street Painted cheeks with angry heat Wounded pride on painted eyes Paint the night with battlecries
All puffed up with vanity We see what we want to see To the beautiful and the wise The mirror always lies
The mirror always lies
Boy before the mirror Checks his camoflauge Polishes his armor And the charger in the garage
No more lame excuses It has to be tonight He can take the princess If he can take the fight
Pound the drums with martial beat Pound the streets with marching feet Wounded pride, distorted eyes Paint the night with battlecries
All puffed up with vanity We see what we want to see To the powerful and the wise The mirror always lies
The mirror always lies
Boys and girls together Mistake conceit for pride Ambition for illusion Dreams for self delusion
Girls and boys together See what it is we lack Boys and girls together Let's paint the mirror black
Paint it black
Scars
(Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
I've stood upon my mountain top And shouted at the sky Walked above the pavement With my sense amplified
I get this feeling
All my nerves are naked wires Tender to the touch Sometimes super sensitive But who can care too much?
I get this feeling
Scars of pleasure, scars of pain Atmospheric changes make them sensitive again Scars of pleasure, scars of pain Atmospheric changes make them sensitive again
Each emotional injury Leaves behind its mark Sometimes they come tumbling out Like shadows in the dark
I get this feeling
When I think about all I have seen And all I'll never see When I think about the people Who have opened up to me
I get this feeling
Scars of pleasure, scars of pain Atmospheric changes make them sensitive again Scars of pleasure, scars of pain Atmospheric changes make them sensitive again
Snow falls deep around my house And holds the winter light I've heard the lions hunting In the Serengeti night
I get this feeling
Forests turned to factories And river, sea and sky Hungry child in the desert And the flies that cloud her eyes
I get this feeling
Scars of pleasure, scars of pain Atmospheric changes make them sensitive again Scars of pleasure, scars of pain Atmospheric changes make them sensitive again
Pleasure leaves a fingerprint As surely as mortal pain In memories they resonate And echo back again
Scars of pleasure, scars of pain Atmospheric changes make them sensitive again Scars of pleasure, scars of pain Atmospheric changes make them sensitive again
Presto
(Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
If I could wave my magic wand
I am made from the dust of the stars And the oceans flow in my veins Here I hide in the heart of the city Like a stranger coming out of the rain
The evening plane rises up from the runway Over constellations of light I look down into a million houses And wonder what you're doing tonight
If I could wave my magic wand I'd make everything all right
I'm not one to believe in magic But I sometimes have a second sight I'm not one with a sense of proportion When my heart still changes overnight
I had a dream of a winter garden A midnight rendezvous Silver, blue and frozen silence What a fool I was for you
I had a dream of the open water I was swimming away out to sea So deep I could never touch bottom What a fool I used to be
If I could wave my magic wand I'd set everybody free
I'm not one to believe in magic Though my memory has a second sight I'm not one to go pointing my finger When I radiate more heat than light
Don't ask me, I'm just improvising My illusion of careless flight Can't you see? My temperature's rising I radiate more heat than light
Don't ask me, I'm just sympathizing My illusions, a harmless flight Can't you see? My temperature's rising I radiate more heat than light
I'm not one to believe in magic But I sometimes have a second sight I'm not one with a sense of proportion When my heart still changes overnight
Superconductor
(Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
Packaged like a rebel or a hero Target mass appeal To make an audience feel He really means it
Package the illusion of persona Careful to conceal The fact that she's only too real She's got to screen it
Hit you in a soft place A melody so sweet A strong and simple beat That you can dance to
Watch his every move Superconductor Orchestrate illusions Superconductor
Watch his every move Superconductor Hoping you'll believe Designing to deceive
That's entertainment
He can put a target on the market Bask in your applause Reality withdraws Now he believes it
The role becomes the actor She's addicted to applause The stage a world because She never leaves it
Hit you in a soft place With sentimental ease They know the fantasies That you romance to
Watch her every move Superconductor She can manipulate reactions Superconductor
Watch her every move Superconductor Pin the donkeys on her tail Fantasy for sale
That's entertainment
Anagram (for Mongo)
(Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
There's a snake coming out of the darkness Parade from paradise End the need for Eden Chase the dreams of merchandise
There is tic and toc in atomic Leaders make a deal The cosmic is largely comic A con they couldn't conceal
There is no safe seat at the feast Take your best stab at the beast The night is turning thin The saint is turning to sin
Raise the art to resistance Danger dare to be grand Pride reduced to humble pie Diamonds down to sand
Take heart from earth and weather The brightness of new birth Take heart from the harvest Shave the harvest from the earth
There is no safe seat at the feast Take your best stab at the beast The night is turning thin The saint is turning to sin
Reasoning is partly insane Image just an eyeless game The night is turning thin The saint is turning to sin
Miracles will have their claimers More will bow to Rome He and she are in the house But there's only me at home
Rose is a rose of splendour Posed to respond in the end Lonely things like nights I find end finer with a friend
There is no safe seat at the feast Take your best stab at the beast The night is turning thin The saint is turning to sin
I hear in the rate of her heart A tear in the heat of the art The night turns thin The saint turns to sin
Red tide
(Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
Nature has some new plague To run in our streets History some new wrinkle We are doomed to repeat
Fugitives at the bedroom door Lovers pause to find an open store Rain is burning on the forest floor And the red tide kisses the shore
This is not a false alarm This is not a test
Stay out of the sun It only burns my skin Sky full of poison And the atmosphere's too thin
Bless the sun, the rain no more River running like an open sore Black wind falling to the ocean floor And the red tide washes ashore
This is not a false alarm This is not a test Nowhere we can fly away Nowhere we can rest
The party is disrupted by An uninvited guest
Deadline approaches For the weary land It used to be something But we let it run down in our hands
Too late for debate, too bad to ignore Quiet rebellion leads to open war Bring a sea change to the factory floor As the red tide covers the shore
Now's the time to turn the tide Now's the time to fight Let us not go gently To the endless winter night
Now's the time to make the time While hope is still in sight Let us not go gently To the endless winter night
This is not a false alarm This is not a test Nowhere we can fly away Nowhere we can rest
Hand over fist
(Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
Hand over fist Paper around the stone Scissors cut the paper Cut the paper to the bone
Hand over fist Paper around the stone Scissors cut the paper And the rock must stand alone
I could disappear into the crowd But not if I keep my head in the clouds I could walk away so proud It's easy enough if you don't laugh too loud
I thought I was OK alone Wait for the postman And the telephone
Lost in a world of my own I thought I could run alone Thought I could run through the night alone
Hand over hand Doesn't seem so much Hand over hand Is the strength of the common touch
You talk as we walk along You never imagined I could be so wrong Humming your favorite song You know I've hated that song for so long
How can we ever agree? Like the rest of the world We grow farther apart
I swear you don't listen to me Holding my hand to my heart Holding my fist to my racing heart
Hand over fist Paper around the stone Scissors cut the paper Cut the paper to the bone
Hand over fist Paper around the stone Scissors cut the paper And the rock must stand alone
Take a walk outside myself In some exotic land Greet a passing stranger Feel the strength in his hand
Feel the world expand I feel my spirit resist But I open up my fist Lay hand over hand over
Hand over fist Paper around the stone Scissors cut the paper Cut the paper to the bone
Hand over fist Paper around the stone Scissors cut the paper And the rock must stand alone
Available light
(Lee/Lifeson/Peart)
The restless wind has seen all things In every kind of light Rising with the full moon To go howling through the night
The sleepless wind has heard all things Between the sea and sky In the canyons of the city You can hear the buildings cry
Oh, the wind can carry All the voices of the sea Oh, the wind can carry All the echoes home to me
Run with wind and weather To the music of the sea All four winds together Can't bring the world to me
Chase the wind around the world I want to look at life In the available light
Play of light, a photograph The way I used to be Some half forgotten stranger Doesn't mean that much to me
Trick of light, moving picture Moments caught in flight Make the shadows darker Or the colors shine too bright
Oh, the light can carry All the visions of the sea Oh, the light can carry All the images to me
Run to light from shadow Sun gives me no rest Promise offered in the east Broken in the west
Chase the sun around the world I want to look at life In the available light
All four winds together Can't bring the world to me Shadows hide the play of light So much I want to see
Chase the light around the world I want to look at life In the available light
I'll go with the wind I'll stand in the light
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