SUBDIVISIONS

When I was twelve, Signals was one of the vinyls (owned by my big brother) that I got interested in, thus being not only my introduction to RUSH but also among a handful of albums to shape my music taste. Naturally Signals is still among my dearest in the Rush catalogue. 'Subdivisions' is its first track and the very central role of synthesizers comes clear right away. Some Rush fans may despise their 80's synth period, but I like it much more than the more recent, synthless Heavy Prog Rush. This song isn't really either heavy or prog, you could even say it's pop. But it's just fantastic. The lyrics deal with social pressures especially among young people; "be cool or be cast out". In the album the melody, or the synth riff, reappears in the final song 'Countdown' which is also great.

On the B-side there's 'Red Barchetta' from the succesful album Moving Pictures (1981). Peart was inspired by a futuristic short story "A Nice Morning Drive", by Richard Foster (originally published in 1973 in a magazine) and he attempted to contact the author with no results. BTW the two finally met in 2007. Anyway, the lyrics describe how the protagonist and his uncle take the Red Barchetta - a roofless sports car - out of the barn and enjoy the ride with it. I hadn't paid close enough attention to the lyrics to spot the little details hinting at the Science Fiction aspect, until a friend told me how he has used the song on his English lessons. But there are several words to mark the differences to the present time. The broad air-car is left behind by driving over a narrow bridge!

Great songs both, but also both from great albums, which means this is not a 5-star single.