And they continue to be very talented musicians whose influence on rock music is enshrined in history.

They are touting the fact that they are pro-American manufacturing and they use a Canadian Band to prove it

It's like Wal-Mart didn't even do their homework there . . .

They are a band. They make music. Why are they expected to be more than that?

Rush is endorsing Walmart and making money with them. They are truly Ayn Rand zealots after all.

but glittering prizes and heinous compromises
shatter the illusion of integrity


or something like that <- look, it's a permanent wave

Now you'll definitely never hear the song in the same way again.

then you suffer along with them. Lie down with dogs, get fleas. It is not as if they were hurting for cash.

Then again, this is something I will savor as I remember how many Canadians acted so self righteous, only to vote Harper into office.

from the people complaining about the multilingual Coca Cola ad that "desecrated America the Beautiful".

One sign that your generation is getting older is when your musicians get turned into advertising jingles and elevator muzak...and this is just the latest one

Last edited Mon Feb 17, 2014, 01:52 PM - Edit history (1)

At their best they are occasionally great at heavy metal hooks and occasional brilliant lyrics.

But their worldview and much of their music is often not much more that pretentious adolescent angst.

Last edited Mon Feb 17, 2014, 02:30 PM - Edit history (1)

I've loved Rush for a long time now, and don't have any plans to stop liking their music because some publication says they're bad. They still have more talent than the majority of musicians out there. Neil Peart was always the libertarian of the band. I suspect that was tempered after he lost his wife and daughter within the space of a year.

My purpose with this post: to say something positive about the band in a thread where they're mostly being trashed. Thanks.

It looks more like the purpose of this post was to call attention to/heap shame on a reply with typos in it. Something that could just as easily be done in private, you know?


In any event, I've always thought Rush sucked too.

But hey...that's no reflection on you.


I like Nickelback. Lots of people think they suck. Doesn't bother me.

You've chosen a hard life for yourself and I don't wish to add to your woes.

I don't feel my life is any harder because I like Nickelback.

I just wanted to put a plug in for one of my old favorites.

Nothing wrong with you if you like Rush.

It just looked like you were being snotty to someone who thinks they suck, by unnecessarily pointing out spelling errors.


That goes on way too often here at DU. Someone says something we don't like, so we attack any way we can, by bringing up typos or grammatical errors.


I always feel sorry for people who end up on the receiving end of something like that.

Anyway...finis

Until this commercial.

does not change the libertarian crap they spewed earlier

when they were still being played on the radio and selling lots of albums to impressionable young 'uns.

I had to delete a good part of "Retrospectives: volume 1" when I started hearing the lyrics on my ipod. Now I only include
1,2,4,9,10,11,13 and 14

That's the attractive part of the libertarian mindset. Then you grow up and understand that this pure idealism doesn't scale in the real world. I will freely admit that in my early 20s, I read and enjoyed Atlas Shrugged, and I know I'm not the only liberal to have done so. People grow up. People change. This was 40 years ago, and Rush's epic hero's return phase ended in about 1979. They're different people now, like all of us are.

Aside from that, Rush has never been very overtly political. Their political expression was always in the abstract. And they're Canadian. I don't believe they ever particularly cared whether their US fans were Democrat, Republican, or Libertarian. By the same token, I'm sure they don't care that their rabid Brazilian fans are in large part rabid leftists. And why should they? They still sing a fairly progressive set list, none of it right wing, so why should they care about the political affiliation of their fan base? Canadian bands aren't required to vet their music with the DNC.

of selfishness



Of course they don't care who gives them their money. And hell, if I am selling a progressive message, then I WANT conservatives to buy it, and listen to it.

And American bands are not required to vet their music with the DNC either. Nor with the RNC.

But if they make rightwing music, like some of their "hits" which I deleted then they have done some work for "the other side".

But what the heck, I am sure I gave them a little bit of money when I bough Retrospectives some twenty years ago.

The problem with typing fast on an iPad.

I like some of Rush's music a lot. But much of it is overblown in my opinion.

But I do think allowing their music to be used by a bad company that is shilling and being deceptive does taken them down several pegs in the personal integrity department.

Wal Mart has done everything it could to undermine the very values of "hard working Americans" that they claim to care about in the ad. Read about how they bully their suppliers to move operations out of the US sometime.

I'm trying to find who actually owns the rights to the song...so far no luck. And I'm not saying that they're angels, even if someone else sold the rights to Wal Mart. But this blog that's linked in the OP attempts to completely discredit the lads, and in my opinion, that's a little over the top. In the end, the joke may be on Wal Mart, since they're using a Canadian band for their Made in the USA push.

By the way, I'm also on an ipad, and in contradiction to what another poster said, I wasn't trying to be mean-spirited. I make typos all the time on this thing.

I suppose its always possible that their song got hijacked in the world of publishing rights, etc.

After all, Limbaugh's theme song to his radio show is the opening chord to Ohio by the Pretenders, which has lyrics that are just the opposite of the crap Limbaugh espouses...I think they tried to get him to stop, but couldn't.

changing from an ayn rand follower as a teen.
haven't heard about Lee or Lifeson's world view, but they've been together for 30 some odd years, so its probably a safe bet that they're all in the same boat.

they do have a website where you can make your feelings known, & you never know, they just might quit the malwart thing if there's enough of a push back, they do after all, still want to sell records and concert tickets

has no rights to the song since he was written by Lee and the music was composed prior to him joining the band.

It is a dark day though. What do they need to buy with the money to piss off their fan base so much. As far as Rush's lyrics they speak about social responsibility often especially in putting profits over people and using our terrible weapons. They are not way left wing, but their biggest criticism, the album paying homage to Rand's Anthem could just as easily been dedicated to Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron since both stories cover the same theme regarding a collectivist dystopia. Anthem except for the end was actually not a bad novel. It is okay to criticize despotic collectivism - just ask George Orwell and the animals on his Animal Farm.

The song is well over 20 years old.

Working Man was 1974 or so.

It touches on pre-78 law, and provides a link to more info.

The way artists get fucked over by record companies with payment of residuals, it could be a purely financial decision.

It's often record companies, through contracts, who determine what will be sold and when.

Big business is known for stealing the music and paying the fine. About as much as the license would be. The doors never licensed their music but its been stolen plenty.

I've always liked rush but nothing since counterparts. Didn't care for their midlife stuff like presto and roll the bones.

Rock on.

http://vimeo.com/76798015

Damn. Just realized this video is of a 40 year old performance.

I've arrived at geezerdom.

Commenter elsewhere said they'd forgive if rush also convinced Walmart to raise their minimum wage to $21.12.

It was a dark, dark day indeed.

Basically if you need to distribute to all major outlets you can only do it through Warner.

No sense of humor, those Canukistanis.

... free will!

Fine company to keep, I must say.

actually that is a line from a Rush song? And I meant it in the context of not listening to them...

I did not pick up on the "not listening to them" bit. Thanks for explaining.

he sells cars, after all.

...and then we'll talk.

Buying local is one of the best investments we can make in our communities, our country, and our planet.

ESCORT HIM OUT OF HERE.