Cygnus X-1 duology
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| “Cygnus X-1” | |||||
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| Song by Rush | |||||
| Album | A Farewell to Kings (Book I) / Hemispheres (Book II) | ||||
| Released | August 18, 1977 October 8, 1978 |
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| Genre | Progressive rock | ||||
| Length | 28:30 (10:25, 18:05) | ||||
| Label | Mercury Records | ||||
| Writer | Lee & Lifeson Lyrics by Peart |
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| Producer | Rush & Terry Brown | ||||
| A Farewell to Kings track listing | |||||
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| Hemispheres track listing | |||||
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Rush's Cygnus X-1 Duology consists of Book I: The Voyage and Book II: Hemispheres. Book I is the last song on the A Farewell to Kings album, while Book II is the first song on Hemispheres. Book I clocks in at ten minutes and twenty-five seconds (10:25), and Book II is eighteen minutes and five seconds (18:05).
[edit] General storyline
In the constellation of Cygnus lies a mysterious black hole that is simply titled "Cygnus X-1" (Cygnus X-1 is believed to be an actual black hole). An explorer aboard the ship "Rocinante" (pronounced ross-in-ahn-tay) is curious about the black hole and begins to investigate, wondering if an old tale might be true: "Atomized at the core/Or through the astral door/To soar..." As he moves closer, it becomes increasingly difficult to control the ship and he is evendually drawn in by the pull of gravity. His final words in Book I are: "Sound and fury drowns my heart/Every nerve is torn apart."
The explorer re-enters the story midway through Book II. His body has been destroyed by the black hole, but his spirit is intact and has emerged in a mysterious land, where he witnesses a society caught up in the struggle between Heart and Mind. Prior to his arrival, the logical thinkers are led by Apollo and the emotional people are ruled by Dionysus. Apollo had shown the people how to build cities and explore the depths of science and knowledge, but Dionysus had lured many of them into the wild forests and provided love, which many felt that Apollo's society was missing. A civil war now breaks out as the two different ways of life clash. Short snippets of Book I are heard in the background to mark the point at which the explorer's spirit arrives in this land.
When he reflects on what he sees, he becomes tormented in the lack of balance of the people who insist on one extreme or the other. His silent scream of terror is felt by the warriors and causes the people to cease their struggle and unite together. The gods regard the explorer as a hero and name him Cygnus, the God of Balance.
[edit] Allusions and allegory
Although the storyline revolves around this science fiction world, it uses Greek mythology to explain the double meaning. "Cygnus X-1" is primarily about the discovery of two conflicting ways of life, and two vastly different ways in which the human mind thinks (logic and emotion are separated into separate sides, or hemispheres, of the brain). The balance point (Cygnus) allows the mind to think with some logic and emotion at the same time, allowing people to be analytical, but not unemotional. This concept is similarly explained in Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy, though without the Cygnus figure.
It may be worth noting that the name of the ship, "Rocinante", is the name of Don Quixote's horse, in the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. It is also the name John Steinbeck gives to the modified camper truck in which he travelled the country in his book Travels With Charley.
[edit] Live Performances
Cygnus X-1 Duology was played live as a whole (Book I followed by Book II) on the Hemispheres Tour and the Permanent Waves Tour. They also played it on the Permanent Waves Warmup Tour with the absence of parts 2 (Apollo: Bringer of Wisdom) and 3 (Dionysus: Bringer of Love) from book two. After then, an abbreviated version of book one is occasionally played live with only the instrumental section, as is seen on Rush in Rio and R30. They never played the whole book two after the Permanent Waves Tour, however the "Prelude" is occasionally performed.
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