Anyone Else Know How Libertarian Rush (band) Is?

Has anyone ever truly listened to the words in the song “Tom Sawyer” by Rush? It is an interesting piece both lyrically and musically, and I happened across this song on Y103 earlier today at work. Sure, I have heard it before plenty of times, and even have seen Chester Cheeto get high to this song on Family Guy (see the clip towards the bottom because it is just one of those things worth seeing over again). I am not exactly sure Neil Peart is the best drummer ever by the way, but the lyrics to the song just seem interesting to me.

I did not realize how libertarian Rush was until I actually sat down and looked at some of their lyrics. The statements being made in songs like “Tom Sawyer” are very powerful stances.
“Tom Sawyer” is about a very independent person, defined as the “modern day warrior”. Lyrics like “His mind is not for rent, to any god or government, always hopeful yet discontent, he knows changes aren’t permanent, but change is” are very interesting to me, because these kinds of stances are not something typical in the music scene.

A lot of rock bands are anti-establishment, and a lot of the music scene in the 60s was from a very liberal perspective, but Rush falls into a unique category. Rush is not necessarily what you would call anti-establishment, but certainly it is playing up to a libertarian philosophy. “Tom Sawyer”, “Freewill”, “The Trees”, and so forth are only a few examples that illustrate this.

Some will say Green Day, Blink-182, and Metallica to an extent are close to libertarian in their lyrics, and to a certain extent they are. Just some of these bands walk a fine line between being simply anti-establishment for the hell of being anti-establishment and libertarian, and a lot of these anti-establishment bands are from the punk rock genre. Rush is not punk rock by any stretch, and though lyrically their music deals with interesting themes and ideas, it is not something that is as in your face as some of the earlier mentioned bands.

I will say Rush is an acquired taste, and this kind of statement is not uncommon. Rush even has said they are either loved or hated depending on who you ask. I just find some of their music quite fascinating, which of course is why I took a little time to discuss them here tonight.

Of course for the Family Guy fans, enjoy Chester Cheeto and Rush.




Alex Mangie
The Mang
Candidate for Canfield Trustee and Conservative Capo of Youngstown