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Rush - Counterparts lyrics



Tracks



01. Animate

Music by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee
Lyrics by Neil Peart
Polarize me
Sensitize me
Criticize me
Civilize me
Compensate me
Animate me
Complicate me
Elevate me

Goddess in my garden
Sister in my soul
Angel in my armor
Actress in my role

Daughter of a demon-lover
Empress of the hidden face
Priestess of the pagan mother
Ancient queen of inner space

Spirit in my psyche
Double in my role
Alter in my image
Struggle for control

Mistress of the dark unconscious
Mermaid of the lunar sea
Daughter of the great enchantress
Sister to the boy inside of me

My counterpart -- my foolish heart
A man must learn to rule his tender part
A warming trend -- a gentle friend
A man must build a fortress to defend

A secret face -- a touch of grace
A man must learn to give a little space
A peaceful state -- a submissive trait
A man must learn to gently dominate

02. Stick It Out

Music by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee
Lyrics by Neil Peart
Trust to your instincts
If it's safely restrained
Lightning reactions
Must be carefully trained

Heat of the moment
Curse of the young
Spit out your anger
Don't swallow your tongue

Stick it out!
Don't swallow the poison
Spit it out!
Don't swallow your pride
Stick it out!
Don't swallow your anger
Spit it out!
Don't swallow the lies

Natural reflex
Pendulum swing
You might be too dizzy
To do the right thing

Trial under fire
Ultimate proof
Moment of crisis
Don't swallow the truth

Stick it out!
Don't swallow the poison
Spit it out!
Don't swallow your pride
Stick it out!
Don't swallow your anger
Spit it out!
Don't swallow the lies

Each time we bathe our reactions
In artificial light
Each time we alter the focus
To make the wrong moves seem right
You get so used to deception
You make yourself a nervous wreck
You get so used to surrender
Running back to cover your neck

Heat of the moment
Curse of the young
Spit out your anger
Don't swallow your tongue

Stick it out!
Don't swallow the poison
Spit it out!
Don't swallow your pride
Stick it out!
Don't swallow your anger
Spit it out!
Don't swallow the lies
Stick it out
Spit it out
Stick it out
Spit it out...

03. Cut To The Chase

Music by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee
Lyrics by Neil Peart
It is the fire that lights itself
But it burns with a restless flame
The arrow on a moving target
The archer must be sure of his aim.

It is the engine that drives itself
But it chooses the uphill climb
A bearing on magnetic north
Growing farther away all the time.

Can't stop moving
Can't stop moving
Can't stop.

You may be right, It's all a waste of time
I guess that's just a chance I'm prepared to take
A danger I'm prepared to face
Cut to the chase.

It is the rocket that ignites itself
And launches it's way to the stars
Ambition is the fire
A driver on a busy freeway
Racing the oblivious cars
Action is the fire.

It's the motor of the western world
Spinning off to every extreme
Pure as a lovers desire
Evil as a murderers dream.

Can't stop moving
Can't stop moving
Can't stop.

You may be right, It's all a waste of time
I guess that's just a chance I'm prepared to take
A danger I'm prepared to face
Cut to the chase.

Young enough not to care too much
About the way things used to be
I'm young enough to remember the future
The past has no claim on me.

I'm old enough not to care too much
About what you think of me
But I'm young enough too remember the future
The way things ought to be.

Cut, Cut, Cut
Cut to the chase

You may be right, It's all a waste of time
I guess that's just a chance I'm prepared to take
A danger I'm prepared to face
Cut to the chase
Just a danger I'm prepared to face
Cut to the chase.

04. Nobody's Hero

Music by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee
Lyrics by Neil Peart
I knew he was different in his sexuality
I went to his parties as a straight minority
It never seemed a threat to my masculinity
He only introduced me to a wider reality

As the years went by, we drifted apart
When I heard that he was gone, I felt a shadow cross my heart

But he's nobody's Hero:
Saves a drowning child,
Cures a wasting disease
Hero:
Lands the crippled airplane,
Solves great mysteries
Hero:
Not the handsome actor
Who plays a hero's role
Hero: not the glamor girl
Who'd love to sell her soul
If anybody's buying Nobody's hero

I didn't know the girl, but I knew her family
All their lives were shattered
in a nightmare of brutality
They try to carry on, try to bear the agony
Try to hold some faith in the goodness of humanity

As the years went by, we drifted apart
When I heard that she was gone, I felt a shadow cross my heart

But she's nobody's Hero:
Is the voice of reason
Against the howling mob
Hero:
Is the pride of purpose
In the unrewarding job
Hero:
not the champion player
Who plays the perfect game
Hero:
Not the glamor boy
Who loves to sell his name
Everybody's buying
Nobody's hero

As the years went by, we drifted apart
When I heard that you were gone, I felt a shadow cross my heart

But he's nobody's Hero:
Saves a drowning child
Cures a wasting disease
Hero:
Lands the crippled airplane,
Solves great mysteries
Hero:
Not the handsome actor
Who plays a hero's role
Hero: not the glamor girl
Who'd love to sell her soul
If anybody's buying Nobody's hero

Nobody's hero
Hero
Nobody's hero
Hero

05. Between Sun And Moon

Music by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee
Lyrics by Neil Peart, Pye Dubois
There is a lake between sun and moon
Not too many know about
In the silence between whisper and shout
The space between wonder and doubt

This is a fine place
Shining face to face
Those bonfire lights in the mirror of sky
The space between wonder and why

Ahh yes to yes to ahh to yes
Why the sun? Why the sun?
Ahh yes to yes to ahh to yes
Why the sun? Why the sun?

There is a fine line between love and illusion --
A fine place to penetrate
The gap between actor and act
The lens between wishes and fact

This is a fine place
To hesitate
Those bonfire lights in the lake of sky
The time between wonder and why

Ahh yes to yes to ahh to yes
Why the sun? Why the sun?
Ahh yes to yes to ahh to yes
Why the sun? Why the sun?

Some need to pray to the sun at high noon
Need to howl at the mid-winter moon
Re-born and baptized in a moment of grace
Just need a break from the headlong race

This is a fine place, shining face to face
These bonfire lights in the mirrored sky
The space between wonder and why

Ahh yes to yes to ahh to yes
Ahh yes to yes to ahh to yes
Why the sun? Why the sun?
Ahh yes to yes to ahh to yes
Why the sun? Why the sun?

06. Alien Shore

Music by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee
Lyrics by Neil Peart
You and I, we are strangers by one chromosome
Slave to the hormone, body and soul
In a struggle to be happy and free
Swimming in a primitive sea.

You and I, we must dive below the surface
A world of red neon and ultramarine
Shining bridges on the ocean floor
Reaching to the alien shore.

For you and me, sex is not a competition
For you and me, sex is not a job description
For you and me, we agree.

You and I, we are pressed into these solitudes
Color and culture, language and race
Just variations on a theme
Islands in a much larger stream.

For you and me, race is not a competition
For you and me, race is not a definition
For you and me, we agree
Reaching for the alien shore.

You and I, we reject these narrow attitudes
We add to each other, like a coral reef
Building bridges on the ocean floor
Reaching for the alien shore.

For you and me, we hold these truths to be self evident
For you and me, we'd elect each other president
For you and me, we might agree
But that's just us.
Reaching for the alien shore.

07. The Speed Of Love

Music by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee
Lyrics by Neil Peart
Love is born with lightning bolts
Electro magnetic force
Burning skin and fireworks
A storm on a raging course.

Like a force of nature
Love can fade with the stars at dawn
Sometimes it takes all your strength
Just to keep holding on.

At the speed of love
A radiance that travels
At the speed of love
My heart goes out to you.

Love is born with solar flares
From two magnetic poles
It moves toward a higher plane
Where two halves make two wholes.

Like a force of nature
Love shines in many forms
One night we are bathed in light
One day carried away in storms.

At the speed of love
Nothing changes faster
Than the speed of love
My heart goes out to you.

We don't have to talk
We don't even have to touch
I can feel your presence
In the silence that we share.

Got to keep on moving
At the speed of love
Nothing changes faster
Than the speed of love.

Got to keep on shining
At the speed of love
Nothing changes faster
Than the speed of love
My heart goes out to you.

08. Double Agent

Music by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee
Lyrics by Neil Peart
Where would you rather be?
Anywhere but here
When will the time be right?
Anytime but now

On the edge of sleep,
I was drifting for half the night
Anxious and restless,
pressed down by the darkness
Bound up and wound up so tight
So many decisions, a million revisions
Caught between darkness and light...

Wilderness of mirrors
World of polished steel
Gears and iron chains
Turn the grinding wheel
I run between the shadows
Some are phantoms, some are real

Where would you rather be?
Anywhere but here
When will the time be right?
Anytime but now
The doubt and fear
I know will all disappear
Anywhere but here

On the edge of sleep,
I heard voices behind the door
The known and the nameless,
familiar and faceless
My angels and my demons at war
Which one will lose depends on what I choose
Or maybe which voice I ignore...

Wilderness of mirrors
Streets of cold desire
My precious sense of honor
Just a shield of rusty wire
I hold against the chaos
And the cross of holy fire

Wilderness of mirrors
So easy to deceive
My precious sense of rightness
Is sometimes so naive
So that which I imagine
Is that which I believe

On the edge of sleep, I awoke to a sun so bright
Rested and fearless, cheered by your nearness
I knew which direction was right
The case has been tried by the jury inside
The choice between darkness and light...

09. Leave That Thing Alone

Music by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee
[Instrumental]

10. Cold Fire

Music by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee
Lyrics by Neil Peart
It was long after midnight
When we got to unconditional love
She said sure my heart is boundless
But don't push my limits too far.

I said if love is so transcendent
I don't understand these boundaries
She said just don't disappoint me
You know how complex women are.

I'll be around
If you don't let me down too far
I'll be around
If you don't let me down.

It was just before sunrise
When we started on traditional roles
She said sure I'll be your partner
But don't make too many demands.

I said if love has these conditions
I don't understand those songs you love
She said this is not a love song
This isn't fantasy land.

Don't go too far
The phosphorescent wave on a tropical sea
Is a cold fire
Don't cross the line
The pattern of moonlight on the bedroom floor
Is a cold fire
Don't let me down
The flame at the heart of a pawnbrokers diamond
Is a cold fire
Don't break the spell
The look in your eye's as you head for the door
Is a cold fire.

I'll be around
If you don't push me down too far
I'll be around
If you don't push me down.

I'll be around
If you don't push me down to far
I'll be around
If you don't push me down.

Don't go too far
The phosphorescent wave on a tropical sea
Is a cold fire
Don't cross the line
The pattern of moonlight on the bedroom floor
Is a cold fire
Don't let me down
The flame at the heart of a pawnbrokers diamond
Is a cold fire
Don't break the spell
The look in your eye's as you head for the door
Is a cold fire.

Love is blind if you are gentle
Love can turn to a long cold burn.

11. Everyday Glory

Music by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee
Lyrics by Neil Peart
In the house where nobody laughs
And nobody sleeps
In the house where love lies dying
And the shadows creep.

A little girl hides shaking
With her hands on her ears
Pushing back the tears
'Til the pain disappears.

Mama said some ugly words
Daddy pounds the wall
They can fight about their little girl later
But right now they don't care at all.

No matter what they say
No matter what they say
No matter what they say
No matter what they say.

Everyday people
Everyday shame
Everyday promise
Shot down in flames.

Everyday sunrise
Another everyday story
Rise from the ashes a blaze
Of everyday glory.

In the city where nobody smiles
And nobody dreams
In the city where desperation
Drive the bored to extremes.

Just one spark of decency
Against the starless night
One glow of hope and dignity
A child can follow the light.

No matter what they say
No matter what they say
No matter what they say
No matter what they say.

Everyday people
Everyday shame
Everyday promise
Shot down in flames.

Everyday sunrise
Another everyday story
Rise from the ashes ablaze
Of everyday glory.

If the futures looking dark
We're the ones who have to shine
If there's no one control
We're the one's who draw the line.

Though we live in trying times
We're the ones who have to try
Though we know that time has wings
We're the ones who have to fly.

No matter what they say
Rise from the ashes
No matter what they say
Everyday glory.