I was already a Rush fan when 'Subdivisions' came out. I straight up cried when I heard it. I had never had such an emotional response to a song before. I had never felt so SEEN and understood. "Conform/be cool or be cast out". I didn't have many friends back then, but we ALL related to this so much.
This song touched my soul. I was that loner who didn’t fit in with any particular group in high school. Wasn’t invited to parties or with the in crowd. Neil’s lyrics always spoke to me over the years and his death was heartbreaking.
I worked at my friends Auto shop and we were talking about trying to get tickets to see Rush that night. Another friend of ours worked there too and he was a drummer for a Death Metal band and had never heard of Neil Peart. At that moment we said "We are going to see them tonight and you're coming with" he said he was broke so we said we would pay for his ticket. When we got to the arena the show was sold out. About ready to leave a ticket window opened up right in front of us the ticket guy said a few extra seats were available. We ended up in the front row on the side of the stage so close we could almost touch Geddy. Our Drummer friend was blown away by Neil and was a rush fan from then on.
This song, for Rush fans, is the "YES! You're speaking directly to me!!!" song. To anyone who ever felt uncool, stuck in a boring cookie cutter world, who felt that being a nerd who loved this odd band and their unique music- this was the song. The lyrics are indeed about being a youth caught in the machine of 'normal'- and hating it. To me, this song resonates so much. The line 'Conform or be cast out' perfectly sums it up. And to that sentiment I say, to anyone who feels out of place in a 'normal' world- keep being you, embrace being 'cast out', and just be who you are. Because there are millions of you out there, you'll find your people, and as Rush proved in their 40+ year career, the Uncool become COOL :-)
It is a song about growing up in the suburbs. Sometimes these neighborhoods are called Subdivisions. Also it is a nod to the free thinkers and and how people are excluded and divided. Smoke Dog nailed it!
Growing up in the Northeast, didn’t have subdivisions, we had neighborhoods. But I instantly got the double meaning when this song came out. High school life was nothing but subdivisions.
Smokey was right on the money. It is about living in the suburbs and how your life is planned out for you. All the guys in Rush never felt like they fit in. On his book tour Geddy talked about how he would get beat up in school because he was Jewish but ended up becoming friends with Steve Shutt who became a famous hockey player in the NHL. Steve was one of the cool guys in school because he was a hockey player. Not only did he save Geddy from being bothered anymore but he also introduced him to a fellow named Alex Lifeson. This song came out in 1981. To hear some banger 90's Rush please check out Stick it Out official music video. Neil's lyrics became more personal in the 80's. Cheers 🇨🇦
This song is from Rush’s 1982 album Signals. You definitely should have watched the video for this one. It pretty much explains the whole song. Please keep the Rush coming. Happy New Year guys!
I was a 15-year-old suburban kid when this came out, and I felt like the lyrics were written specifically with me in mind. This was the first concert I ever saw, and I saw them an additional 14 times through the years. RIP Neil.
Once upon a time being an outcast, and outlier, a nerd, would be a very difficult life in high schools/society when you were young. Getting bullied, beat up, laughed at everyday. Nowadays, society has embraced the nerdiness of media and people openly embrace it. Fortunately the bullying of nerds has dramatically decreased, though it still will happen. This song was the anthem for the nerds that needed some light in the darkness and who better to give them that than Rush, the biggest nerds on the planet who also happen to be one of the most famous bands on the planet.
I feel like Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures were molting albums where Rush was shedding the old trappings of the 70's and emerging as a new band. Signals is the album where the lyrics began to take center stage in their songs. Of course the music is still rocking and super technical but Neil's lyrics moved from a conceptual, fantasy, proggy form to a version more connected to the human experience. His lyrics got deeper. This song really hits you in the feels as do so many others to come in the next few decades.
Watch the music video. It'll help clarify the lyrics, Smokey is really onto them. I miss seeing this live. It was a concert staple, so they played it on every tour during the later part of their career. The opening synth hummed and vibrated, and you could feel it in your bones. Good times🥰. Have a happy, safe, and blessed New Year, fellas!
🎄 Happy Holidays to you and your families! 🎁 Thanks for the Rush Reaction! 😉 Think the official video would have helped. It shows literal Subdivisions and the residences who all conform to that lifestyle. Be cool or be cast out, is every student who ever grew up in a Subdivision trying to blend in to at least one HS clique. There's a scene in the video where a kid is home watching a Music Video on TV and the parent walks in, turns off the TV and throws his school books at him. Ala "study, get a good job, raise a family & forget about all that hokey music nonsense". But it's the view of the rows & rows of Subdivision Houses that really hit home every time they pan over them. Millions of people all conforming. Anything different must be squashed, deleted..... 😔 Cast out. 😂 I would have been 1 of the first tossed. 😒 I'm just saying..... 🖖🏿🥰🐰
This was a change for Rush in 1982... they opted to use more synthesizers and electronic beats from the album 'Signals'... Fans were disappointed that the band was heading away from 70's rock into pop music, but they still appealed to a loyal audience... They continued to experiment w/ electronic music until 1987. Neil Peart (drums) wrote 'Subdivisions' about his experience growing up in Canada... He was an awkward, shy kid who didn't fit in anywhere... It was like he had to be something he was not to be popular cos everyone growing up was expected to be a certain way and end up where their parents were... But that life was not for Peart; he started playing drums and dreamed of being a rock musician. When he took the spot as Rush's drummer in 1974, he was working at his dad's farm parts shop... He was desperate to succeed and Rush almost faltered in 1975 before '2112' became a hit record in 1976. The other members of Rush had similar stories... Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were expected to graduate school... go to college... get a job... Instead, they quit school and put everything into Rush (which upset their parents back then) cos they did not want the life they were expected to have.
Released in '82 when I was 17, this song is TIMELESS. I grew up about 5-minutes north of the Bronx and my high-school had 3000 kids - so this really spoke to me! Everything about this was ME in my formative years - from "cruising for the action" to "the backs of cars," from "the far unlit unknown" to "ticking traps." I'm now 59-years old, and it brings right back to my home city of New Rochelle every single time I hear it - because that's the power of a timeless song! BTW, my first concert ever was a Rush show in New Jersey, 1981. AND, both of my sons are *huge* Rush fans who've seen them 5 times between the both of them...yes, I'm a proud father :) Keep going down the rabbit hole guys - you won't be disappointed!
Grew up in a suburb located about 60 miles west of Toronto. I was 14 when this song came out in 1982. It took one listen for me to become a lifelong fan. The band celebrated the 40th anniversary of this album with a box set released earlier this year. I loved it so much that I even posted an unboxing on my (otherwise non-existent) RUclips channel!
@@Whateva67 having our first and only child - a precocious, gifted boy who turns 8 in 6 weeks - has turbocharged that "time flies" phenomenon for us! He earnestly hopes Geddy and Alex tour one more time, so he can see and hear the songs he also loves for himself. Speaking of which, I think I have a name for their reformed band: "Rush Remnants," condensed to just Remnants for promotional purposes!
@@SnowDogisVictorious I grew up in Burlington, ON... 40 miles or so west of Toronto. This was an anthem for many of us in the 80s. I still have the vinyl... even though I have no way to play it today!
Having reacted to every single Rush song, I can say that this is my favorite era of Rush! They got so experimental with their synth sound. Always looking forward to more Rush reactions from you guys! Keep up the good work and thank you! Happy New Year!
I have seen Rush 49 times since the 'Signals' Tour in 1982 when I was 12. I have NEVER tired of this song. From the lyrical and drumming composition to the addition of keyboards as a melodic hook. there have been songs they've done tour after tour that I had grown tired of, but never this one. Growing up in the '80's, this song represented so much to those of us who were insecure, geeky or just plain.....Rush fans. One of Neil's finest moments, both "lyrically and drumistically. "
The last time I saw Rush was doing the Clockwork Angels tour in Cleveland. They opened with this song, and I swear at the beginning , the synth went straight through my body. I never felt anything like it.
just saw tool in november... the 12th i believe, in toronto... alex lifeson came out and played jambi with them. i will never forget that, at least until i'm forgetting some real fundamental things. these guys are getting old. if you've never seen tool live.... _DO IT NOW._ SOOOO GOOOD. saw them ten years ago and i swear this show was even better.
How about you guys check out some of the following Rush cuts : Jacob's ladder - Analog kid - Losing it (careful for copyrights) - Witch hunt - Marathon - Middletown dreams- Show don't tell, and one of my favourite - Available light. Not many people react to these tracks for they are not the typical ''hit songs'' or Like grabbers but they are all absolutely brilliant in their own right and should be shared with non Rush fans. You guys can change all that !!!! I just subscribed to your channel so why not make one of these songs my welcome to channel gift !!!!! 🤣😂🤣
This song is a great example of the noticeable shift their music took going away from the sound of the 70s and embracing what was possible with keys and synth in the 80s. As others have mentioned, watching the OMV will provide clarity to the meaning of the song. After Rush finished the era of their epic prog songs featuring elements of fantasy and science fiction, Neil began to write extensively on the human condition. Subdivisions doesn’t really describe a plight or conflict, but serves more as an observation of the restlessness felt by young people growing up in the homogenous suburbs of cookie cutter neighborhoods, as well as the “subdivisions” of the social hierarchy and the feeling of loneliness or searching for an identity for those who feel like misfits or otherwise on the outside of the cool kids club. Great song and always a staple of their live shows.
Very well said @pablozee6359! The brainwashing we endure in society influences the decisions we make. Some become conflicted with their thoughts and behaviors. Living comfortably in a quiet place is deemed boring and "not living life" to it's fullest. Against better judgement, we're sucked into the bustling city life. However, many who choose that lifestyle are often unhappy, chasing impossible dreams and eventually realize there's something to be said for life in a small, organized and calm place like the suburbs. That's why they exist and should be appreciated, not mocked. Neil is simply making another observation about human nature.
Simply, Neil was writing about growing up in a typical subdivision life, but in schools, malls, basement bars, etc, unless you were one of the "cool kids", you were an outcast. All the Rush band members related to this. As always, RIP to Neil (Peeer-tuh) THAT is how it's pronounced.....period. Oh, and you should watch (or react to) the documentary "Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage". It will explain a lot about the band members, their families, etc.
Greetings to the people of 2023 from Australia in the future of 2024, a time in which Rush is still considered one of the greatest bands in history. Watch the video. It's a great one.
Another example of Neil Peart's lyrical and rhythm genius. Love the facial expressions throughout almost the whole song. lol Happy New Year, you two. 💜
This album came out after Moving Pictures. Geddy decided to go more with a synth keyboard sound and Neil incorporated electric drums with acoustic. That's why it sounds like Rush but also different. Eventually they went back to their original sound on the Presto album around 1996.
Cruising in the 80's cranking this rolling in my jacked up lift kit 35" tires '86 Ford Bronco Eddie Bower Edition! So long ago, been listening to rush since 1981...
OMG!!! 🤦 Guys, how many times do I have to say this? "Roll the Bones" is the song you need to do. It's tailormade for you. Your jaws will jaw and your eyes will be huge. Ask anyone.
I worked at my friends Auto shop and we were talking about trying to get tickets to see Rush that night. Another friend of ours worked there too and he was a drummer for a Death Metal band and had never heard of Neil Peart. At that moment we said "We are going to see them tonight and you're coming with" he said he was broke so we said we would pay for his ticket. When we got to the arena the show was sold out. About ready to leave a ticket window opened up right in front of us the ticket guy said a few extra seats were available. We ended up in the front row on the side of the stage so close we could almost touch Geddy. Our Drummer friend was blown away by Neil and was a rush fan from then on.
When I was learning to play the drums this was an excellent one to play along with. NOt crazy complex, but tons of these sweet, tasty challenges. Love it. RIP Neil. I think "Headlong Flight" is an underappreciated monster Rush track.
Very good song off their 'Signals' album. You should listen to "The Weapon" and "Losing It from that album. We all know the top five greatest drummers of all time are as follows: - Stewart Copeland - The Police - Dave Lombardo - Slayer - Danny Carey - Tool - Keith Moon - The Who - Neil Peart - Rush
The song is about the subdivisions of Toronto…namely Brampton, Markham, & North York, where Geddy and Alex grew up! These are now busy cities…in the 80’s they were still bedroom communities!
The 3 man bit is a lie. In this song alone you have a guitar, bass, drums and keyboard/synthesizer. Only 3 men are credited to the band, but more instruments are played. They just hire temps for tour. The three man thing is a lie.
Ahhhh Rush, can we ever get enough… fun fact…in grade 10 here in my school in New Brunswick Canada, Rush was a grade 10 elective. The class was over flowing with eager students and another class was created. On this song…Smokey nailed it. All the subsections of youth, you’re in or you’re out, the bullying, etc. Moving away from the inner city core to the outside fringes( subdivisions )where the belief is that everything is safer, very structured and limited in life experiences and creates a loss of freedom and expression for the youth. Outside always looking in and trying to fit. The struggles of youth in a boxed in way of life on quiet streets with lampposts at night. ;)
@@christinec4919 Ahhhhhh the illusion of it all……the apparent safeness of it all, created its own issues. I’m from way back when lol, grew up a subdivision kid just out side Toronto. We didn’t have those issues in my town then. Moved to New Brunswick with my Maritime parents and never had that issue here either. Boredom, kid cliques, and smoking behind the school was the norm. No creative outlets, just kids loose in a subdivision making up our own rules to hide and seek and driving around in cars, usually our parents that we quietly pushed out of the driveway late at night lol. Underage drinking and house parties, went to school dances to see Rush and Max Webster and smoked a lot of pot. The fitting in with cliques was our biggest issue. Finding our identity and where we belonged filled with hopes and dreams of escaping the mundaneness of it all and no direction to take us…….awwwwww the freedom of the 70’s…..lol.
Man so many Rush songs to do still lol , You really need to do working man Live in Cleveland, see how the boys in their 50s end a three hour show , even though you may have done the original one this is fire 🔥
I like that you pick up on how perfectly the players mesh. Rush is one of the rare few groups that wouldn’t work without one of its parts. No one was replaceable because of how perfectly they all worked/sounded together. Now on to the song…this was the one that did it for me. I was liking what I’d heard on the radio and then this dropped. I wasn’t an outcast, but I deliberately shied away from anything/one I thought was too popular or mainstream. Here was this group who already didn’t sound like anyone else singing about being an outcast in the suburbs. That subject matter alone was enough, but that keyboard solo, Geddy’s voice, the incredible drumming, etc. I was hooked and here we are, 40+ years later (13 tours and 50 shows from ‘84 to ‘15) and I’m still just as hooked. They were the greatest band ever and there will never be another like them. Ever.😜
It's the peer pressure of living in the tight knit suburbs as kids you crave the action of the night life😂Rush lived in my hometown of Thornbill and recorded in the factory right near our house. We were standing on the big dumpsters watching them record.We were like 10 years old and they knew we were watching them they came out and gave us guitar picks and Neil gave us drumsticks it was the best day ever. ❤😂
I was 16 in 1982 in Toronto when this song came out. They could have been writing about my friends and I. Subdivisions were being built all around Toronto and they all looked the same. We lived right in Toronto but in a decent area. In school they were showing us a certain track that our lives would follow and what to think that was very bland. On weekends, we would take a bus and the subway downtown to Toronto's Yonge and Dundas Streets. Back then it was much seedier and you got to see more of what real life was like. Sometimes we could talk our way into places but mostly just walked up and down and took in the energy. We also played a lot of pinball and video games or went roller skating at The Terrace a couple blocks away. Only rule we had was not to miss the last subway train home. The official Rush video shows Toronto, the subdivisions and Yonge St back in the early 80's. Now it's all touristy and the edginess is long gone.
They bring up a good point about Rush songs. Almost every one of their songs need to be listened to at least once in a darkened room reclined in your favorite chair with a Bitch'n set of headphones that allows every nuance to be heard. Their songs are an experience unto themselves. Thanks Guys and have a Happy New Year.
Its never a bad time to tell that Neil was called "The Professor", he is the favorite drumer of your favorite drumer, thats how important he is for the rock music.
One of my favorite Rush songs!! HAPPY NEW YEAR FELLAS 🎉 🤘🏻🤘🏻🔥🔥🤘🏻🤘🏻 Be cool or be cast out…. One of the most powerful lines With me being a nerd and geek growing up, beaten up and outcasted, this song just hits home, very relatable to many people
Great reaction guys. Best wishes on the upcoming year. Watching the video adds some clarity to what they're saying. Basically, you grow up in the suburbs wishing for the excitement of the city and as you get older and have experienced it, you yearn to move back to the suburbs where it's simpler and "safer".
Smoke nailed it It’s about life in the suburbs and the subdivisions of life, and if you don’t fit in to the narrative you are cast out for being different than the norm
Use to run into Geddy and Alex on their walks. Fine gentlemen with that great Canadian sense of humour. Never bought a Rush album because they were constantly on the radio. Saw them 3 times in our hometown of Toronto. 🙏🍁
Personally I think it is about the struggle to be an individual and not conform. The flight refers to the flight from the suburbs to the city looking for excitement and different experiences.
"Conform or be cast out", "Be cool or be cast out"... this song is about what it's like to be in the world if you can't or don't want to follow the crowd. The line "Some will sell their dreams for small desires and lose their race to rats" can be taken on a larger level, in that people will trade their youthful idealism for peace and quiet and a comfortable life in the burbs, and will follow politicians who promise these things and seldom deliver; or on smaller level, where the desire to keep up with the Joneses and appear prosperous gradually results in having to take jobs your youthful self would never have pictured doing in order to support your "lifestyle", and all it's doing is making the Jeff Bezos's of the world more rich. It's not a musically complicated song (at least not for Rush), but the lyrics make me evaluate myself every time I hear it. It's one of their best songs, in my opinion.
He's talking about both. Some of us can relate to growing up in small towns or suburbs and wanting more experiences and excitement. Going to college in a great city opened my eyes up to all sorts of things, the best being meeting people from all over the world. Rush captures the feeling of being trapped intellectually and otherwise if you don't expand your horizons.
Neil is basically saying that subdivisions and those ordered and structured neighbourhoods in general breed conformity and those who walk to the beat of their own drum (as he did in his youth) are outsiders.
Good reaction...I had to laugh out loud when hollywood said this was either before or after 2112, good hearted laugh! Loved the "rave" comparison....Smokey was all over it with interpretation. Glad you did a lyric video...after 40yrs as a fan this is my 2nd fave tune of all Rush🤘
This song is about growing up in the suburbs and all the cliques that come with being in school….hence the attraction of the city…it’s all in the lyrics.
Neil thought of himself as an outsider in high school not in the clicks , this is why he wrote the song , Geddy and Alex considered the selfs outsiders also in school
Guys This song is about social cliques mainly in high school. Jocks and cheerleaders. Cool kids while some are considered as "outcasts or misfits" I think that late great Professor Neil Peart was a misfit or an outcast growing up. So, he wrote the lyrics based on his experiences. It is reported that Neil likes to alone except with his family. Neil like to ride motorcycles on long trips. While Neil doing this, Alex and Geddy Lee hang around together.
Suburban life and subdivisions were a brand new paradigm when these guys were kids. 'In between the bright lights'(of the city) 'and the far unlit unknown'(out in the countryside) was a new thing called subdivisions (suburbs) Also the subdivisions of groups(like in high school-athlete, nerds, misfits) Smokey got it...
This is an incredibly relatable song. The prime conflict lies between the ‘restless’ hearts of young people and, at first, that feeling that there is no adventure, no future, in the suburbs. In the second verse the young people move to the big cities, where we become caught up, like Smoke said, in the ‘rat race’, or, otherwise, we might choose to ‘sell [our] dreams for small desires’-I.e., we lose sight of our original visions for our lives in favour of instant gratification: drugs, meaningless sex, etc., and it wears us down. The secondary conflict lies between the ‘subdivided’ classes of people that one finds throughout the culture of middle-class America (USA AND Canada). The title of the song IS a double-entendre. ‘Subdivisions’ as in the neighbourhoods in which these restless youth live, and the ‘subdivisions’ between social strata, especially amongst those young, middle-class kids that live in ‘subdivided’ neighbourhoods in the suburbs.
Having just started high school when this song came out - it was an anthem of my youth - being a nerdy Rush fan - the social subdiviisons were quite distinct - living in suburbia - it all made sense. We are all subdivided from our communities to our social circles, and in all the ways we are catergorized in life.
I was already a Rush fan when 'Subdivisions' came out. I straight up cried when I heard it. I had never had such an emotional response to a song before. I had never felt so SEEN and understood. "Conform/be cool or be cast out". I didn't have many friends back then, but we ALL related to this so much.
💯 % this!
I grew up outside the city. Had a couple friends, and my dogs.
💯...grew up in the 80s in a suburb of Phoenix. This song touched my soul.
No song ever had such an effect on us misfits.
This song touched my soul. I was that loner who didn’t fit in with any particular group in high school. Wasn’t invited to parties or with the in crowd. Neil’s lyrics always spoke to me over the years and his death was heartbreaking.
Neil Peart was not only the greatest drummer who ever lived, he was also the greatest lyricist ever.
This was the second single from 1982s "Signals" LP.
I worked at my friends Auto shop and we were talking about trying to get tickets to see Rush that night. Another friend of ours worked there too and he was a drummer for a Death Metal band and had never heard of Neil Peart. At that moment we said "We are going to see them tonight and you're coming with" he said he was broke so we said we would pay for his ticket. When we got to the arena the show was sold out. About ready to leave a ticket window opened up right in front of us the ticket guy said a few extra seats were available. We ended up in the front row on the side of the stage so close we could almost touch Geddy. Our Drummer friend was blown away by Neil and was a rush fan from then on.
This song, for Rush fans, is the "YES! You're speaking directly to me!!!" song. To anyone who ever felt uncool, stuck in a boring cookie cutter world, who felt that being a nerd who loved this odd band and their unique music- this was the song. The lyrics are indeed about being a youth caught in the machine of 'normal'- and hating it. To me, this song resonates so much. The line 'Conform or be cast out' perfectly sums it up. And to that sentiment I say, to anyone who feels out of place in a 'normal' world- keep being you, embrace being 'cast out', and just be who you are. Because there are millions of you out there, you'll find your people, and as Rush proved in their 40+ year career, the Uncool become COOL :-)
It is a song about growing up in the suburbs. Sometimes these neighborhoods are called Subdivisions. Also it is a nod to the free thinkers and and how people are excluded and divided. Smoke Dog nailed it!
Growing up in the Northeast, didn’t have subdivisions, we had neighborhoods. But I instantly got the double meaning when this song came out. High school life was nothing but subdivisions.
@@donjackson5522 I grew up in Jersey. We had them
They are clueless. Really? ....wtf
@@donjackson5522 exactly
Smokey was right on the money. It is about living in the suburbs and how your life is planned out for you. All the guys in Rush never felt like they fit in. On his book tour Geddy talked about how he would get beat up in school because he was Jewish but ended up becoming friends with Steve Shutt who became a famous hockey player in the NHL. Steve was one of the cool guys in school because he was a hockey player. Not only did he save Geddy from being bothered anymore but he also introduced him to a fellow named Alex Lifeson.
This song came out in 1981.
To hear some banger 90's Rush please check out Stick it Out official music video.
Neil's lyrics became more personal in the 80's.
Cheers 🇨🇦
This song is from Rush’s 1982 album Signals. You definitely should have watched the video for this one. It pretty much explains the whole song. Please keep the Rush coming. Happy New Year guys!
Year I graduated😂excellent year😂
A Farewell To Kings remains my favorite album of theirs though I agree, they really hit their stride in the 80s.
One of the few decent Rush videos as well.
I was a 15-year-old suburban kid when this came out, and I felt like the lyrics were written specifically with me in mind. This was the first concert I ever saw, and I saw them an additional 14 times through the years. RIP Neil.
Once upon a time being an outcast, and outlier, a nerd, would be a very difficult life in high schools/society when you were young. Getting bullied, beat up, laughed at everyday. Nowadays, society has embraced the nerdiness of media and people openly embrace it. Fortunately the bullying of nerds has dramatically decreased, though it still will happen. This song was the anthem for the nerds that needed some light in the darkness and who better to give them that than Rush, the biggest nerds on the planet who also happen to be one of the most famous bands on the planet.
I think the tv show The Big Bang Theory may have had a hand in making being a nerd more acceptable and cool.
And today they are called democrats 😀
I feel like Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures were molting albums where Rush was shedding the old trappings of the 70's and emerging as a new band. Signals is the album where the lyrics began to take center stage in their songs. Of course the music is still rocking and super technical but Neil's lyrics moved from a conceptual, fantasy, proggy form to a version more connected to the human experience. His lyrics got deeper. This song really hits you in the feels as do so many others to come in the next few decades.
Watch the music video. It'll help clarify the lyrics, Smokey is really onto them. I miss seeing this live. It was a concert staple, so they played it on every tour during the later part of their career. The opening synth hummed and vibrated, and you could feel it in your bones. Good times🥰. Have a happy, safe, and blessed New Year, fellas!
#Facts 😌 I miss live Rush. Saw them open for Kiss & never looked back. 🤔 Unless you count the Time Machine Tour! 😂🥰🐰
🎄 Happy Holidays to you and your families! 🎁 Thanks for the Rush Reaction! 😉 Think the official video would have helped. It shows literal Subdivisions and the residences who all conform to that lifestyle. Be cool or be cast out, is every student who ever grew up in a Subdivision trying to blend in to at least one HS clique. There's a scene in the video where a kid is home watching a Music Video on TV and the parent walks in, turns off the TV and throws his school books at him. Ala "study, get a good job, raise a family & forget about all that hokey music nonsense". But it's the view of the rows & rows of Subdivision Houses that really hit home every time they pan over them. Millions of people all conforming. Anything different must be squashed, deleted..... 😔 Cast out. 😂 I would have been 1 of the first tossed. 😒 I'm just saying..... 🖖🏿🥰🐰
Great song 🔥🔥
This was a change for Rush in 1982... they opted to use more synthesizers and electronic beats from the album 'Signals'... Fans were disappointed that the band was heading away from 70's rock into pop music, but they still appealed to a loyal audience... They continued to experiment w/ electronic music until 1987.
Neil Peart (drums) wrote 'Subdivisions' about his experience growing up in Canada... He was an awkward, shy kid who didn't fit in anywhere... It was like he had to be something he was not to be popular cos everyone growing up was expected to be a certain way and end up where their parents were... But that life was not for Peart; he started playing drums and dreamed of being a rock musician. When he took the spot as Rush's drummer in 1974, he was working at his dad's farm parts shop... He was desperate to succeed and Rush almost faltered in 1975 before '2112' became a hit record in 1976.
The other members of Rush had similar stories... Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were expected to graduate school... go to college... get a job... Instead, they quit school and put everything into Rush (which upset their parents back then) cos they did not want the life they were expected to have.
Released in '82 when I was 17, this song is TIMELESS. I grew up about 5-minutes north of the Bronx and my high-school had 3000 kids - so this really spoke to me! Everything about this was ME in my formative years - from "cruising for the action" to "the backs of cars," from "the far unlit unknown" to "ticking traps." I'm now 59-years old, and it brings right back to my home city of New Rochelle every single time I hear it - because that's the power of a timeless song!
BTW, my first concert ever was a Rush show in New Jersey, 1981. AND, both of my sons are *huge* Rush fans who've seen them 5 times between the both of them...yes, I'm a proud father :)
Keep going down the rabbit hole guys - you won't be disappointed!
Grew up in a suburb located about 60 miles west of Toronto. I was 14 when this song came out in 1982. It took one listen for me to become a lifelong fan.
The band celebrated the 40th anniversary of this album with a box set released earlier this year. I loved it so much that I even posted an unboxing on my (otherwise non-existent) RUclips channel!
Jeez, time sure flies eh. I still can’t believe that I’m 56, the 80s only seemed like a few years ago.
@@Whateva67 having our first and only child - a precocious, gifted boy who turns 8 in 6 weeks - has turbocharged that "time flies" phenomenon for us! He earnestly hopes Geddy and Alex tour one more time, so he can see and hear the songs he also loves for himself.
Speaking of which, I think I have a name for their reformed band: "Rush Remnants," condensed to just Remnants for promotional purposes!
@@SnowDogisVictorious I grew up in Burlington, ON... 40 miles or so west of Toronto.
This was an anthem for many of us in the 80s.
I still have the vinyl... even though I have no way to play it today!
Having reacted to every single Rush song, I can say that this is my favorite era of Rush! They got so experimental with their synth sound. Always looking forward to more Rush reactions from you guys! Keep up the good work and thank you! Happy New Year!
I think I watched all of them too! Always liked that you went from start to finish in order. So cool!!
It was a real treat to watch you go all the way through it. Hope you're keeping well.
I have seen Rush 49 times since the 'Signals' Tour in 1982 when I was 12. I have NEVER tired of this song. From the lyrical and drumming composition to the addition of keyboards as a melodic hook. there have been songs they've done tour after tour that I had grown tired of, but never this one. Growing up in the '80's, this song represented so much to those of us who were insecure, geeky or just plain.....Rush fans. One of Neil's finest moments, both "lyrically and drumistically. "
The last time I saw Rush was doing the Clockwork Angels tour in Cleveland. They opened with this song, and I swear at the beginning , the synth went straight through my body. I never felt anything like it.
Eddie Van Halen was once asked hows it feel to be the best guitarist in rock Eddie replied go ask Alex Lifeson....NUFF SAID
just saw tool in november... the 12th i believe, in toronto... alex lifeson came out and played jambi with them. i will never forget that, at least until i'm forgetting some real fundamental things. these guys are getting old. if you've never seen tool live.... _DO IT NOW._ SOOOO GOOOD. saw them ten years ago and i swear this show was even better.
How about you guys check out some of the following Rush cuts : Jacob's ladder - Analog kid - Losing it (careful for copyrights) - Witch hunt - Marathon - Middletown dreams- Show don't tell, and one of my favourite - Available light. Not many people react to these tracks for they are not the typical ''hit songs'' or Like grabbers but they are all absolutely brilliant in their own right and should be shared with non Rush fans. You guys can change all that !!!! I just subscribed to your channel so why not make one of these songs my welcome to channel gift !!!!! 🤣😂🤣
Amazing way to end the year! RIP Neil.
This song is a great example of the noticeable shift their music took going away from the sound of the 70s and embracing what was possible with keys and synth in the 80s. As others have mentioned, watching the OMV will provide clarity to the meaning of the song. After Rush finished the era of their epic prog songs featuring elements of fantasy and science fiction, Neil began to write extensively on the human condition. Subdivisions doesn’t really describe a plight or conflict, but serves more as an observation of the restlessness felt by young people growing up in the homogenous suburbs of cookie cutter neighborhoods, as well as the “subdivisions” of the social hierarchy and the feeling of loneliness or searching for an identity for those who feel like misfits or otherwise on the outside of the cool kids club. Great song and always a staple of their live shows.
Very well said @pablozee6359!
The brainwashing we endure in society influences the decisions we make. Some become conflicted with their thoughts and behaviors. Living comfortably in a quiet place is deemed boring and "not living life" to it's fullest. Against better judgement, we're sucked into the bustling city life. However, many who choose that lifestyle are often unhappy, chasing impossible dreams and eventually realize there's something to be said for life in a small, organized and calm place like the suburbs. That's why they exist and should be appreciated, not mocked.
Neil is simply making another observation about human nature.
Simply, Neil was writing about growing up in a typical subdivision life, but in schools, malls, basement bars, etc, unless you were one of the "cool kids", you were an outcast. All the Rush band members related to this. As always, RIP to Neil (Peeer-tuh) THAT is how it's pronounced.....period. Oh, and you should watch (or react to) the documentary "Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage". It will explain a lot about the band members, their families, etc.
Thanks to lyric video for letting me know what parts were instrumental.
Greetings to the people of 2023 from Australia in the future of 2024, a time in which Rush is still considered one of the greatest bands in history. Watch the video. It's a great one.
Another example of Neil Peart's lyrical and rhythm genius. Love the facial expressions throughout almost the whole song. lol Happy New Year, you two. 💜
This album came out after Moving Pictures. Geddy decided to go more with a synth keyboard sound and Neil incorporated electric drums with acoustic. That's why it sounds like Rush but also different. Eventually they went back to their original sound on the Presto album around 1996.
Cruising in the 80's cranking this rolling in my jacked up lift kit 35" tires '86 Ford Bronco Eddie Bower Edition! So long ago, been listening to rush since 1981...
OMG!!! 🤦
Guys, how many times do I have to say this?
"Roll the Bones" is the song you need to do. It's tailormade for you. Your jaws will jaw and your eyes will be huge. Ask anyone.
The best song off thier best album. Every song on Signals was fantastic.
There’s no way Signals is better than Moving Pictures…
I like MP and Signals equally
I worked at my friends Auto shop and we were talking about trying to get tickets to see Rush that night. Another friend of ours worked there too and he was a drummer for a Death Metal band and had never heard of Neil Peart. At that moment we said "We are going to see them tonight and you're coming with" he said he was broke so we said we would pay for his ticket. When we got to the arena the show was sold out. About ready to leave a ticket window opened up right in front of us the ticket guy said a few extra seats were available. We ended up in the front row on the side of the stage so close we could almost touch Geddy. Our Drummer friend was blown away by Neil and was a rush fan from then on.
One of my favorite lines in a song. The suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth. Chef’s kiss
I'm reading his autobiography right now. he and the band are amazing
Hilel Slovak was the Red Hot Chili Peppers original lead guitarist. You guys should dive into their first 3 albums featuring him.
(1982) I related to this song so much…. Being a junior in high school at this time… this came after “Moving Pictures” (1981)
When I was learning to play the drums this was an excellent one to play along with. NOt crazy complex, but tons of these sweet, tasty challenges. Love it. RIP Neil.
I think "Headlong Flight" is an underappreciated monster Rush track.
Very good song off their 'Signals' album. You should listen to "The Weapon" and "Losing It from that album.
We all know the top five greatest drummers of all time are as follows:
- Stewart Copeland - The Police
- Dave Lombardo - Slayer
- Danny Carey - Tool
- Keith Moon - The Who
- Neil Peart - Rush
Danny Carrey has said that Neil Peart was an inspiration and roll model to him.
The song is about the subdivisions of Toronto…namely Brampton, Markham, & North York, where Geddy and Alex grew up!
These are now busy cities…in the 80’s they were still bedroom communities!
"Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone." I felt it every single time I heard those lyrics growing up. RIP Professor
You MUST watch the Drum Cam video of Neil Pearts great drumming to this song. This is one of my favorite Rush songs. 👍👍👍
ruclips.net/video/T9-bh9kmpWk/видео.htmlsi=yHSMcUSwiZY_Wo-Y
Finally the Goat of all Rush songs!!!! We all know how good Alex and Neil are but Geddy on the Bass , Keyboard and Vocals on this one is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Hey Guys, when you finish with Rush, check out another 3-man Canadian rock band Triumph!
The 3 man bit is a lie. In this song alone you have a guitar, bass, drums and keyboard/synthesizer. Only 3 men are credited to the band, but more instruments are played. They just hire temps for tour. The three man thing is a lie.
I grew up in the Toronto suburbs in the late 70's early 80's and I swear this song was written for us!!
Ahhhh Rush, can we ever get enough… fun fact…in grade 10 here in my school in New Brunswick Canada, Rush was a grade 10 elective. The class was over flowing with eager students and another class was created. On this song…Smokey nailed it. All the subsections of youth, you’re in or you’re out, the bullying, etc. Moving away from the inner city core to the outside fringes( subdivisions )where the belief is that everything is safer, very structured and limited in life experiences and creates a loss of freedom and expression for the youth. Outside always looking in and trying to fit. The struggles of youth in a boxed in way of life on quiet streets with lampposts at night. ;)
Yes! Well said!:)
Sad thing is the subdivisions they built way back then didn't really box in a safe way of life and now there's a lot of gang activity instead.
@@christinec4919 Ahhhhhh the illusion of it all……the apparent safeness of it all, created its own issues. I’m from way back when lol, grew up a subdivision kid just out side Toronto. We didn’t have those issues in my town then. Moved to New Brunswick with my Maritime parents and never had that issue here either. Boredom, kid cliques, and smoking behind the school was the norm. No creative outlets, just kids loose in a subdivision making up our own rules to hide and seek and driving around in cars, usually our parents that we quietly pushed out of the driveway late at night lol. Underage drinking and house parties, went to school dances to see Rush and Max Webster and smoked a lot of pot. The fitting in with cliques was our biggest issue. Finding our identity and where we belonged filled with hopes and dreams of escaping the mundaneness of it all and no direction to take us…….awwwwww the freedom of the 70’s…..lol.
This song is most likely something you guys would understand thru high school. Needed to see the vid with this one guys.
There's no drummer / percussionist / Songwriter like Neil Peart, Best of all time.
Intersting that you mention Danny Carey. He has stated on multiple occasions Neil Peart was one of his biggest influences on his drumming style.
this one is from the early 80's. if i'm correct it was the opening track on signals, which was 1982. 2112 was released in 1976.
One of the few songs I recommend seeing the video.
Man so many Rush songs to do still lol , You really need to do working man Live in Cleveland, see how the boys in their 50s end a three hour show , even though you may have done the original one this is fire 🔥
It’s interesting watching young folks get confused by the lyrics, but it makes perfect sense to me, growing up in the 80s.
I like that you pick up on how perfectly the players mesh. Rush is one of the rare few groups that wouldn’t work without one of its parts. No one was replaceable because of how perfectly they all worked/sounded together.
Now on to the song…this was the one that did it for me. I was liking what I’d heard on the radio and then this dropped. I wasn’t an outcast, but I deliberately shied away from anything/one I thought was too popular or mainstream. Here was this group who already didn’t sound like anyone else singing about being an outcast in the suburbs. That subject matter alone was enough, but that keyboard solo, Geddy’s voice, the incredible drumming, etc. I was hooked and here we are, 40+ years later (13 tours and 50 shows from ‘84 to ‘15) and I’m still just as hooked. They were the greatest band ever and there will never be another like them. Ever.😜
This was a big radio hit when it came out.... This and Big Money
Always loved this song! RIP Neil ❤️
HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS!!🎉❤🔥
Great reaction guys, greeting from a Rio de Janeiro!
The plight is that putting people in boxes stifles creativity.
It's the peer pressure of living in the tight knit suburbs as kids you crave the action of the night life😂Rush lived in my hometown of Thornbill and recorded in the factory right near our house. We were standing on the big dumpsters watching them record.We were like 10 years old and they knew we were watching them they came out and gave us guitar picks and Neil gave us drumsticks it was the best day ever. ❤😂
I was 16 in 1982 in Toronto when this song came out. They could have been writing about my friends and I. Subdivisions were being built all around Toronto and they all looked the same. We lived right in Toronto but in a decent area. In school they were showing us a certain track that our lives would follow and what to think that was very bland. On weekends, we would take a bus and the subway downtown to Toronto's Yonge and Dundas Streets. Back then it was much seedier and you got to see more of what real life was like. Sometimes we could talk our way into places but mostly just walked up and down and took in the energy. We also played a lot of pinball and video games or went roller skating at The Terrace a couple blocks away. Only rule we had was not to miss the last subway train home.
The official Rush video shows Toronto, the subdivisions and Yonge St back in the early 80's. Now it's all touristy and the edginess is long gone.
They bring up a good point about Rush songs. Almost every one of their songs need to be listened to at least once in a darkened room reclined in your favorite chair with a Bitch'n set of headphones that allows every nuance to be heard. Their songs are an experience unto themselves.
Thanks Guys and have a Happy New Year.
Happy new year to you both.
RIP Professor. 😢
I love when younger folks actually HEAR the music I grew up with!!! 😊
Quite simply three geniuses at the peak of their creativity and masters of their art. Happy New year one and all.🎉
A great song to end the year! Keep the Rush coming in 2024! Happy New Year and a prosperous 2024 to you both 🎉🎉🎉😊
Its never a bad time to tell that Neil was called "The Professor", he is the favorite drumer of your favorite drumer, thats how important he is for the rock music.
My favorite song from my favorite band. I love seeing folks reactions to the greatest band ever.
Oh yeah, nothing like hearing some good Rush music to start the day😂thanks. Enjoy.❤❤
Definitely needs to watch the official video. Greatest band of all time ❤
Doesn't get any better than this. Written in the 80s for today.
One of my favorite Rush songs!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR FELLAS 🎉
🤘🏻🤘🏻🔥🔥🤘🏻🤘🏻
Be cool or be cast out….
One of the most powerful lines
With me being a nerd and geek growing up, beaten up and outcasted, this song just hits home, very relatable to many people
Great reaction guys. Best wishes on the upcoming year.
Watching the video adds some clarity to what they're saying. Basically, you grow up in the suburbs wishing for the excitement of the city and as you get older and have experienced it, you yearn to move back to the suburbs where it's simpler and "safer".
Smoke nailed it
It’s about life in the suburbs and the subdivisions of life, and if you don’t fit in to the narrative you are cast out for being different than the norm
The song is about cliques/bullying, etc. Everyone, every year, goes through it.
Use to run into Geddy and Alex on their walks. Fine gentlemen with that great Canadian sense of humour. Never bought a Rush album because they were constantly on the radio. Saw them 3 times in our hometown of Toronto. 🙏🍁
Personally I think it is about the struggle to be an individual and not conform. The flight refers to the flight from the suburbs to the city looking for excitement and different experiences.
"Conform or be cast out", "Be cool or be cast out"... this song is about what it's like to be in the world if you can't or don't want to follow the crowd. The line "Some will sell their dreams for small desires and lose their race to rats" can be taken on a larger level, in that people will trade their youthful idealism for peace and quiet and a comfortable life in the burbs, and will follow politicians who promise these things and seldom deliver; or on smaller level, where the desire to keep up with the Joneses and appear prosperous gradually results in having to take jobs your youthful self would never have pictured doing in order to support your "lifestyle", and all it's doing is making the Jeff Bezos's of the world more rich. It's not a musically complicated song (at least not for Rush), but the lyrics make me evaluate myself every time I hear it. It's one of their best songs, in my opinion.
yes i’ve heard of the word plight 😂.
great reaction and funny 👍🏻 it’s my favourite rush song of all🤘🏻
These guys were a big part of my teenage year they always had message you just had to fell the jams to hear it and Intake the vibe
My Favorite Rush Track EVER! It's ALL About Life!
Rush was only 8 years into their career when this came out, so it's pretty much old Rush.
He's talking about both. Some of us can relate to growing up in small towns or suburbs and wanting more experiences and excitement. Going to college in a great city opened my eyes up to all sorts of things, the best being meeting people from all over the world. Rush captures the feeling of being trapped intellectually and otherwise if you don't expand your horizons.
Neil is basically saying that subdivisions and those ordered and structured neighbourhoods in general breed conformity and those who walk to the beat of their own drum (as he did in his youth) are outsiders.
This song is very popular to self admitting Geeks with their own dreams
Neil is the greatest drum composer in history.
Good reaction...I had to laugh out loud when hollywood said this was either before or after 2112, good hearted laugh! Loved the "rave" comparison....Smokey was all over it with interpretation. Glad you did a lyric video...after 40yrs as a fan this is my 2nd fave tune of all Rush🤘
HERE AGAIN off their first album! It’s fantastic and my favorite RUSH song!
Plight is a great word. Used it many times in my life :)
This one dropped when I was a sophomore/junior in high school. I was that kid! Neil understood! He got us!
This song is about growing up in the suburbs and all the cliques that come with being in school….hence the attraction of the city…it’s all in the lyrics.
Neil thought of himself as an outsider in high school not in the clicks , this is why he wrote the song , Geddy and Alex considered the selfs outsiders also in school
A genius song from 3 musical geniuses…. You guys are great as usual. This may be one of their top 3 songs.The video will explain a lot of it better.
Have you watched Danny Cary play with Geddy & Alex at the tribute for Taylor Hawkins?
Probably my favorite Rush song, and hey, the instrumental from 7:38 - 8:00 is my alarm clock sound. "Drawn like moths, we drift into the city..."
Great RUSH song, one of my favorites! This band had many lyrics that so many could relate to. Very inspirational!
You guys do some great reactions to Rush, and many others. Keep it up guys!
Guys
This song is about social cliques mainly in high school. Jocks and cheerleaders. Cool kids while some are considered as "outcasts or misfits" I think that late great Professor Neil Peart was a misfit or an outcast growing up. So, he wrote the lyrics based on his experiences. It is reported that Neil likes to alone except with his family. Neil like to ride motorcycles on long trips. While Neil doing this, Alex and Geddy Lee hang around together.
Suburban life and subdivisions were a brand new paradigm when these guys were kids. 'In between the bright lights'(of the city) 'and the far unlit unknown'(out in the countryside) was a new thing called subdivisions (suburbs)
Also the subdivisions of groups(like in high school-athlete, nerds, misfits)
Smokey got it...
This is an incredibly relatable song. The prime conflict lies between the ‘restless’ hearts of young people and, at first, that feeling that there is no adventure, no future, in the suburbs. In the second verse the young people move to the big cities, where we become caught up, like Smoke said, in the ‘rat race’, or, otherwise, we might choose to ‘sell [our] dreams for small desires’-I.e., we lose sight of our original visions for our lives in favour of instant gratification: drugs, meaningless sex, etc., and it wears us down. The secondary conflict lies between the ‘subdivided’ classes of people that one finds throughout the culture of middle-class America (USA AND Canada). The title of the song IS a double-entendre. ‘Subdivisions’ as in the neighbourhoods in which these restless youth live, and the ‘subdivisions’ between social strata, especially amongst those young, middle-class kids that live in ‘subdivided’ neighbourhoods in the suburbs.
Got to see this live! Epic is an understatement
Having just started high school when this song came out - it was an anthem of my youth - being a nerdy Rush fan - the social subdiviisons were quite distinct - living in suburbia - it all made sense. We are all subdivided from our communities to our social circles, and in all the ways we are catergorized in life.