P.J.'s Ultimate Playlist #2: "Natural Science" by Rush
(Originally published on WordPress on October 4th, 2020)
On this edition of P.J.'s Ultimate Playlists, I want to pay tribute to one of rock and roll's most recent fallen heroes. On January 7th of this year (that is, the year I originally published this article), Neil Peart, drummer for the illustrious prog-rock power trio Rush, died at 67 after a three-and-a-half-year battle with glioblastoma. True, that isn't nearly the worst thing that has happened this year...
…but for someone who considers these guys some of the best musicians of all time, it wasn't easy news to hear. Still, I think the band ended their tenure in the best way they possibly could have. Their final album, 2012's Clockwork Angels, was one hell of a swansong, in my opinion, and while I haven't seen any footage from their final tour, R40, from what I've heard, it was a fitting celebration of the band's history.
Still, Peart tends to get criticism for the writing quality of his lyrics and his affinity for Ayn Rand in his younger days. As an anarcho-communist, I definitely get the Rand criticism, but Neil had grown out of that phase by the late '80s, if his lyrics are anything to go by. In fact, not only has the band long since removed the shout-out they gave to Rand in the liner notes of 2112, but Peart also stated that "it is impossible to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and be a Republican" in a 2012 interview with Maclean's magazine.
As for the "bad lyricist" criticism, I realize this is a pretty subjective opinion, but I'd have to strongly disagree there. Kevin Smith, in his Tweet memorializing Peart, called him a "brilliant lyricist" and pointed to this passage from "The Spirit of Radio," the opening song from 1980's Permanent Waves:
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.
Here, however, I want to focus on the song that closes the album; a tale of science, nature, and humanity's unending struggle to preserve their natural surroundings in an era of relentless industrialization. So join me as we deconstruct the meaning behind "Natural Science."
The Song
Running just shy of 9 1/2 minutes, this song is divided into three movements.
The first movement, "Tide Pools," features Geddy Lee softly singing the opening lyrics over audio samples of waves splashing over a rocky shoreline and Alex Lifeson's soothing acoustic guitar. The lyrics introduce a theme running throughout the song, comparing our society on Earth with a tidal pool just beyond the reach of an ocean representing the universe's vastness.
In the lyrics, Neil outright states that he is using the tidal pool as "a simple kind mirror to reflect upon our own." That is, a metaphor to communicate his opinion on humanity's place in the universe. He describes "the busy little creatures chasing out their destinies. Living in their pools, they soon forget about the sea..."
After a short instrumental break, in which the music transitions from a lonely acoustic piece to the full-throated progressive hard rock the band is famous for, we get something of a semi-chorus with this passage:
Wheels within wheels in a spiral array,
A pattern so grand and complex.
Day after day we lose sight of the way;
Our causes can't see their effects!
The song then transitions into the second movement, "Hyperspace," which begins with a short passage full of spacey sound effects before exploding into a fast-paced hard rock section in 7/8 time that makes up the bulk of the song. The music's chaotic nature reflects the lyrical theme of the chaos resulting from humanity's attempts to alter the natural world in ways it wasn't meant to be.
Peart describes the inhabitants of this "mechanized world out of hand" as "superior cynics who dance to a synthetic band." This most likely refers to the corporate overlords of the modern age. Their hubris is criticized in the following lyrics: "In their own image, the world is fashioned. No wonder they don't understand!"
The "wheels within wheels" verse is repeated, and the song transitions into the final movement, "Permanent Waves." A much more relaxed rhythm starts in common (4/4) time and then switches between 6/8 and 12/8. It offers a much more optimistic lyrical picture than the previous movement.
Science, like nature, must also be tamed
With a view toward its preservation.
Given the same stage of integrity,
It will surely serve us well.
Peart seems to say that science must be pursued with a purpose other than transient short-term gains, like profits.
That means you, Elon.
Alongside science, Peart lists “art as expression, not as market campaigns” as a similarly vital force in preserving society. He also assures us that:
The most endangered species, the honest man,
Will survive annihilation,
Forming a world, state of integrity,
Sensitive, open, and strong!
Finally, the song ends as it began, with the tidal pool swallowed as the sea slowly rises.
Wave after wave will flow with the tide
And bury the world as it does;
Tide after tide will flow and recede,
Leaving life to go as it was.
Thus, the snake eats its tail, and the cycle begins anew.
Personal Feelings
This song certainly gives us a lot to chew on in terms of philosophical ponderings.
While I’m unsure if this was intentional, the lyrics seem to have distinctly Nietzschean overtones. This isn’t the first time Rush has dealt with Nietzsche; many have noted the apparent influence of his 1872 work The Birth of Tragedy on the 18-minute opus “Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres,” from their previous album Hemispheres. “Natural Science,” on the other hand, brings to mind this passage from On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense:
Once upon a time, in some out of the way corner of that universe which is dispersed into numberless twinkling solar systems, there was a star upon which clever beasts invented knowing. That was the most mendacious and arrogant moment of "world history," but nevertheless, it was only a minute. After nature had drawn a few breaths, the star cooled and congealed, and the clever beasts had to die.
-Friedrich Nietzsche, On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense (1873)
While this may seem to be the epitome of fatalistic cynicism, Nietzsche actually wanted to show people that by recognizing this truth, they would make the most of their life on Earth instead of just waiting to die and go to a possibly nonexistent paradise.
Indeed, that seems to be what Peart intended to communicate with this song. Humanity has the capacity to create a true paradise on Earth if only we can allow ourselves to move beyond the selfish need to control nature and subjugate it for profit. Given my far-left political views, I tend to view this song through an anti-capitalist lens, even if I’m pretty sure that wasn’t Peart’s intention.
I also can’t help but notice some echoes of Daoism in the “wheels within wheels” verse, especially in the third line (“Day after day, we lose sight of the way”) since the word Dao literally means “way” in Chinese. In Daoism, the Dao is described as the universe’s natural order. The Dao cannot be rationally understood; it can only be grasped intuitively by living the way nature intended. Indeed, founder Lao Tzu, in his seminal work, the Tao Te Ching, warns against the rule of small-minded individuals like the ones portrayed in the second movement of this song, who try to bend the world to their whims instead of just letting it exist in its natural state. “In their own image, the world is fashioned. No wonder they don’t understand!” Compare this to Chapter 30 of the Tao Te Ching:
If you used the Tao as a principle for ruling, you would not dominate the people by military force.
What goes around comes around.
Where the general has camped, thorns and brambles grow. In the wake of a great army come years of famine. If you know what you are doing, you will do what is necessary and stop there.
Accomplish but don't boast. Accomplish without show. Accomplish without arrogance. Accomplish without grabbing. Accomplish without forcing.
When things flourish they decline.
This is called non-Tao. The non-Tao is short-lived.
Should we choose to live in a world where nature has an equal footing with man, Lao Tzu (and Peart) argue, then life would be all the more joyful. So what do you say we kick all the corrupt politicians and corporate overlords out of their positions of power and make our own paradise in the great sages’ memory? We have nothing to lose but our chains.
But in all seriousness, I would like to thank Neil Peart for giving us such wonderful music before his untimely passing. I hope I see him jamming with John Bonham and Keith Moon when I get to Heaven.
“In the fullness of time, a garden to nurture and protect”- “The Garden,” Clockwork Angels
