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RUSH and Other Events
07-13-2011, 04:36 AM
RUSH has been brought up a few times. Still we've barely scratched the surface of their vast oeuvre, with hardly a mention of like-minded Canadian bands.
Limelight, by Rush
Quote:Living on a lighted stage
Approaches the unreal
For those who think and feel
In touch with some reality
Beyond the gilded cage
Cast in this unlikely role
Ill-equipped to act
With insufficient tact
One must put up barriers
To keep oneself intact
[Chorus:]
Living in the limelight
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem
Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination
The real relation
The underlying theme
Living in a fish eye lens
Caught in the camera eye
I have no heart to lie
I can't pretend a stranger
Is a long-awaited friend
All the world's indeed a stage
And we are merely players
Performers and portrayers
Each another's audience
Outside the gilded cage
[Chorus]
This doesn't have a strong sense of a power, but Psionic Empathy (like telepathy, but unable to resolve actual thoughts; the ability to detect and affect others' emotions) is a possibility.
Spirit of Radio, by Rush
Quote:Begin the day with a friendly voice,
A companion unobtrusive
Plays that song that's so elusive
And the magic music makes your morning mood.
Off on your way, hit the open road,
There is magic at your fingers
For the Spirit ever lingers,
Undemanding contact in your happy solitude.
Invisible airwaves crackle with life
Bright antenna bristle with the energy
Emotional feedback on timeless wavelength
Bearing a gift beyond price, almost free
All this machinery making modern music
Can still be open-hearted.
Not so coldly charted,
it's really just a question
Of your honesty, yeah, your honesty.
One likes to believe in the freedom of music,
But glittering prizes and endless compromises
Shatter the illusion of integrity.
Invisible airwaves crackle with life
Bright antenna bristle with the energy
Emotional feedback on timeless wavelength
Bearing a gift beyond price, almost free
For the words of the prophets were written on
the studio wall,
Concert hall
And echoes with the sounds of salesmen. Of salesmen. Of salesmen.
I'm sure somebody else can come up with something better, but my impression is this: this is a song for when Doug wants to make an impression. He targets any number of radios and similar audio apparatus with this song, and those devices play his next song, regardless of what they aught to be playing. EDIT: In other words, his next song is a Goldfish Warning in addition to its usual effect.
Raise a Little Hell by Trooper
Quote:Chorus:
Raise a little hell, raise a little hell, raise a little hell! (x2)
(repeat chorus)
If you don't like what you've got,
Why don't you change it?
If your world is all screwed up,
Rearrange it.
(Chorus)
If you don't like what you see,
Why don't you fight it?
If you know there's something wrong,
Why don't you right it?
(Chorus)
(Bridge
In the end it comes down to your thinking
And there's really nobody to blame
When you feel like your ship is sinking
And you're too tired to play the game
Nobody's going to help you
You've just got to stand up alone
And dig in your heels and see how it feels
To raise a little hell of your own!
(Chorus)
If you don't like what you've got,
Why don't you change it?
If your world is all screwed up,
Rearrange it.
(Chorus)x3
Everyone in AoE becomes one increment more (non-violently) active towards fixing what they think is wrong with the world. People sitting at home complaining get off their rears and stage a peaceful protest. People already at a protest will do something (within the bounds of ethical civil disobedience) about their issue of choice, rather than simply lobbying the government about it.
Possibly more to follow when I'm not falling asleep.
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Proginoskes Wrote:Limelight, by Rush I see this one as similar to another Rush song with an already-defined power, Free Will, except that Limelight doesn't let anyone pretend to still be affected by the emotion or mind control. ("Cast in this unlikely role / Ill-equipped to act" ... "I have no heart to lie / I can't pretend a stranger / Is a long-awaited friend")
Proginoskes Wrote:Spirit of Radio, by Rush As good a song as it is, I don't know whether it's a power song...
Proginoskes Wrote:Raise a Little Hell by Trooper If I was Doug, I wouldn't want to play this anywhere near Mara's arcade parlor, or Sunnydale... or anywhere, actually. How much of Hell is "a Little"?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Well, I get a strong impression of nonviolent civil disobedience, of satyagraha, from Raise a Little Hell: it's the song Mohandas Gandhi would've written if he were a Canadian rocker. It's as plain as can be that Trooper isn't talking fire and brimstone, so why should Doug's power call it up?
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Considering that Eye of the Tiger turns Doug into a tiger for the duration rather than giving him a massive confidence boost, Doug's subconscious can be a dick sometimes. One has to be careful about the words as well as the meaning...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Quote:Doug's subconscious can be a dick sometimes.
You know, I think that's the best way of putting it that I've heard so far.
As for the songs... let me think on them. I know I came up with something for "Spirit of Radio" some years ago, but I can't bring it mind right now.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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I don't dispute that Doug's subconscious can be a dick, but I think there's considerably more support (besides the obvious) for tiger-form in Eye of the Tiger than there is for brimstone in Raise a Little Hell.
On the other hand, I can't say what I was thinking when I said Spirit of Radio causes a Goldfish Warning, so... Hey, look! More music! *flrrd*
Lookin' Out For Number One by BTO
Quote:Every day is an endless train
You've got to ride it to the end of the line
Be a troubleshooter, blow the bad luck away
And you will make it to your station on time
And you'll find out every trick in the book
That there's only one way to get things done
You'll find out the only way to the top
Is lookin' out for number one
I mean, you keep lookin' out for number one
Every night is a different game
We gotta work for our fortune and fame
Success is a ladder take a step at a time
And the people will remember your name
Yes, I found out all the tricks of the trade
That there's only one way that you'll get things done
I found out the only way to the top
Is lookin' out for number one
Every day is an endless train
But I ride it to the end of the line
I'm a real troubleshooter
And I blow it away
Know what's gonna get me mine
I found out every trick in the book
And that there's only one way to get things done
I found out the only way to the top
Is lookin' out for number one
I mean you
Keep lookin' out for number one
And that's us
Keep lookin' out for number one
That's me
I'm lookin' out for number one
This either induces Acute Backstabbing Disorder in some target, or gives Doug the whereabouts of the nearest First Mate (or person of equivalent rank).
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Bob Schroeck Wrote:Quote:Doug's subconscious can be a dick sometimes.
You know, I think that's the best way of putting it that I've heard so far. Feel free to steal it...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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This next song is as unlike the popular image of BTO (that is, Taking Care of Business) as Lookin' Out For Number One, but where that song is lounge jazz, this is metal.
Ladies and Gentlebeings, I give you: Not Fragile.
Quote:Coming to you cross country
Hoping boogie is still allowed
You ask do we play heavy music
Well are thunderheads just another cloud, and we do
Not Fragile, straight at you
Then we vanish to the night
Still in your ears but out of sight
Not Fragile
Don't think we feel hurt or wounded
Or our egos are showing thru
It's our world that's been disrupted
And our strength reflects from you
Well its true
Not Fragile, over you
Try us when you're getting down
Feelin' high or just hangin' round
Not Fragile
The times we travel in our lives
Are hard and fast and give us drive
We may seem distant most of the time
But many thoughts are still on our minds
Not Fragile
This song reduces the fragility of Doug and his allies in all senses: they become able to soak more damage, they can tolerate greater extremity of conditions, they become more emotionally stable. As a drawback, they also become more emotionally distant, which could cause problems if his allies draw strength from their emotions.
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Oh, I like that.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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Getting back to the titular group (Rush) here:
Distant Early Warning
Quote:An ill wind comes arising
Across the cities of the plain
There's no swimming in the heavy water
No singing in the acid rain
Red alert
Red alert
It's so hard to stay together
Passing through revolving doors
We need someone to talk to
And someone to sweep the floors
Incomplete
Incomplete
The world weighs on my shoulders
But what am I to do?
You sometimes drive me crazy
But I worry about you
I know it makes no difference
To what you're going through
But I see the tip of the iceberg
And I worry about you...
Cruising under your radar
Watching from satellites
Take a page from the red book
Keep them in your sights
Red alert
Red alert
Left and rights of passage
Black and whites of youth
Who can face the knowledge
That the truth is not the truth?
Obsolete
Absolute
The world weighs on my shoulders
But what am I to do?
You sometimes drive me crazy
But I worry about you
I know it makes no difference
To what you're going through
But I see the tip of the iceberg
And I worry about you
The world weighs on my shoulders
But what am I to do?
You sometimes drive me crazy
But I worry about you
I know it makes no difference
To what you're going through
But I see the tip of the iceberg
And I worry about you
Absalom
Absalom
Absalom
The only thing that this suggests to me is supernaturally good analysis and anticipation. With this song playing, Doug can look at a situation and know what are each of the players' options, the most likely consequences of each choice, etc. to a certain depth of recursion. It also boosts his general mental faculties so that he can handle this influx of information.
Subdivisions
Quote:Sprawling on the fringes of the city
In geometric order
An insulated border
In between the bright lights
And the far unlit unknown
Growing up it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and subdivided
In the mass production zone
Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone
[Chorus:]
(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
Any escape might help to smooth the unattractive truth
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth
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
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
Somewhere out of a memory of lighted streets on quiet nights...
[Chorus]
This isn't supported by the lyrics or the title at all, but this song, to me, lets misfits "escape". I'm not sure how exactly it accomplishes this.
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Proginoskes Wrote:Getting back to the titular group (Rush) here:SubdivisionsQuote:Sprawling on the fringes of the city
In geometric order
An insulated border
In between the bright lights
And the far unlit unknown
Growing up it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and subdivided
In the mass production zone
Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone
[Chorus:]
(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
Any escape might help to smooth the unattractive truth
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth
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
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
Somewhere out of a memory of lighted streets on quiet nights...
[Chorus]
This isn't supported by the lyrics or the title at all, but this song, to me, lets misfits "escape". I'm not sure how exactly it accomplishes this. Neither does anyone else. Everything happens "Off-Screen"
In other words, It's Magic.
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Distant Early Warning.
Somehow, that song reminds me of Shinji Ikari. Summons a simulacrum of Shinji? Not sure how useful that'd be mind, unless you happened to have a Point of View Gun.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
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...and I just had an "oh shit" moment very similar to the one I had watching the Hitchhiker's Guide movie.
"Here, Shinji. Use this."
--
"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor
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To clarify the issue of the effect of Subdivisions, I don't know what "escape" means in this context. That's why I put it in scare quotes.
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Never Enuff Rush! Brought Up to Believe is cynicism distilled. Quote:I was brought up to believe
The universe has a plan
We are only human
It's not ours to understand
The universe has a plan
All is for the best
Some will be rewarded
And the devil take the rest
All is for the best
Believe in what we're told
Blind men in the market
Buying what we're sold
Believe in what we're told
Until our final breath
While our loving Watchmaker
Loves us all to death
In a world of cut and thrust
I was always taught to trust
In a world where all must fail
Heaven's justice will prevail
The joy and pain that we receive
Each comes with its own cost
The price of what we're winning
Is the same as what we've lost
Until our final breath
The joy and pain that we receive
Must be what we deserve
I was brought up to believe
This one could go in any number of directions: a kind of "roll to disbelieve" defensive effect, Induce Cynicism, Induce Blind Faith, and Induce Toxic Shame (pathologically negative self-regard, "the pain that I receive must be what I deserve") are the four options most obvious to me. Thoughts?
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Since this is the thread for Canadian music...
A Criminal Mind, by Gowan
Gives Doug the ability to think like a criminal mastermind - even the particular criminal mastermind he's going up against, as long as Doug knows he's going up against this person - but only if that mastermind is thoroughly irredeemable. (In game terms, Bob gets an honest answer from the GM for one question as to what the bad guy's doing now or is going to do next.) Doug has to listen to the entire song to get anything useful, so this isn't a combat-utility song.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Going back to the first couple of songs - Spirit of Radio. Basically, this song is about how it's nice to believe in "the power of music" like some believe in "the power of love" and such like things, but it's really just another industry aimed to entertain. My take on this is - Doug plays this song, and then the next (few?) songs he plays have no effect. Which seems counterproductive, except that it lets him listen to good music without endangering everything/one around himself.
Think about it. I know I'd go barking mad without my music playing - heck, it's HAPPENED to me when power goes out for a week or so, or my computer was out of commission.
- CD
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
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Heh. Yeah, I can see that.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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Still more Rush
10-15-2013, 09:54 PM
Another Rush song: XanaduQuote:To seek the Sacred River Alph,To walk the caves of ice;To break my fast on honey-dew,And drink the milk of Paradise;
I had heard the whispered tales of immortality,The deepest mystery;From an ancient book I took a clue:I scaled the frozen mountain tops of Eastern lands unknown,Time and Man alone,Searching for the lost Xanadu.Xanadu...
To stand within the Pleasure DomeDecreed by Kubla Khan;To taste anew the fruits of life,The last immortal man;To find the Sacred River Alph,To walk the caves of ice;Oh, I will dine on honey-dewAnd drink the milk of Paradise.
A thousand years have come and gone, but time has passed me by;Stars stopped in the sky,Frozen in an everlasting view;Waiting for the world to end, weary of the night,
Praying for the light;
Prison of the lost Xanadu.
Xanadu...
Held within the Pleasure Dome
Decreed by Kubla Khan;
To taste my bitter triumph
As a mad immortal man;
Nevermore shall I return;
Escape these caves of ice;
For I have dined on honeydew
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
This has all the feel of a power song with absolutely nothing to indicate a power. It's just an awesome piece of music.
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Those lyrics contain several references to immortality (tales of immortality, last immortal man, time passed me by), so possibly the song makes either just Doug, or those within AoE, cease aging during the song. Maybe used as a counter for accelerated aging? If discovered on the Walk, Doug may think it a null song due to already having his aging stopped.
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Here's the official music video for Criminal Mind, which in addition to not being recorded live is pretty dang superhero-comics themed:
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
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