Tom Sawyer (song)
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| “Tom Sawyer” | |||||
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| Single by Rush from the album Moving Pictures |
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| Released | February 28, 1981 | ||||
| Recorded | October - November 1980 at Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec | ||||
| Genre | Progressive rock | ||||
| Length | 4:33 | ||||
| Label | Mercury Records | ||||
| Producer | Rush and Terry Brown | ||||
| Rush singles chronology | |||||
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| "Vital Signs" (1981) |
"Tom Sawyer" (Live) (1981) |
"Closer to the Heart" (Live) (1981) |
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| Moving Pictures track listing | |||||
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| Exit...Stage Left track listing | |||||
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"Tom Sawyer" is a 1981 song by Canadian progressive rock band Rush named for Mark Twain's literary character. The song relies heavily on Geddy Lee's synthesizer playing and the techniques of drummer Neil Peart. Geddy Lee has referred to the track as the "quintessential Rush song".[citation needed] It is one of Rush's best-known songs and is a staple of classic rock radio. Notably, it reached Number 24 in the UK singles chart in May 1981 as a follow-up to their breakthrough hit "The Spirit of Radio".[citation needed]
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[edit] Origin
The song was written by Lee, Peart, and guitarist Alex Lifeson in collaboration with Canadian lyricist Pye Dubois (the lyricist of Max Webster), who also co-wrote other Rush songs such as "Force Ten," "Between Sun and Moon," and "Test For Echo." According to the US radio show In the Studio with Redbeard (which devoted an entire episode to the making of Moving Pictures), "Tom Sawyer" came about during a summer rehearsal holiday that Rush spent at Ronnie Hawkins' farm outside Toronto. Peart was presented with a poem by Dubois named "Louis the Warrior" that he modified and expanded. Lee and Lifeson then helped set the poem to music. The unique growling sound heard in the song came from Lee's fiddling with his Oberheim synthesizer.
[edit] Structure and fan reaction
Fans of Rush cite "Tom Sawyer " as an example of Rush's distinctive songwriting, blending intelligent lyrics with an intricate pattern of multiple time signatures[citation needed]. The middle section of the song is built around a simple riff that was originally a 'little melody' Geddy Lee used to test his synthesizers: A - F# - G# - E - F# - D - A - F# - G# - E - F# - B - as it is 'passed over' from one instrument to another. During the synth part, an 7/8 time signature is used.
As a Twain reference, "Tom Sawyer" can be considered an abstract commentary on a free-thinking "modern day warrior".[who?] Beyond this, in the December 1985 Rush Backstage Club newsletter, drummer and lyricist Neil Peart said: "Tom Sawyer was a collaboration between myself and Pye Dubois, an excellent lyricist who wrote the lyrics for Max Webster. His original lyrics were kind of a portrait of a modern day rebel, a free-spirited individualist striding through the world wide-eyed and purposeful. I added the themes of reconciling the boy and man in myself, and the difference between what people are and what others perceive them to be - namely me I guess."
[edit] Album appearances
The song was released on Mercury Records and PolyGram in 1981 on the Moving Pictures album and numerous compilations thereafter, such 1990's Chronicles. It has also appeared on several live albums and bootlegs.
[edit] See also
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the book that is referenced in the song
[edit] External links
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