Music of the Day, 19 February 2025

don't swallow the poison

I swear that the context for today’s MotD is personal, not political!¹ I’ve been working through some things that have brought up a lot of anger and while I know that anger is a valuable, informative emotion, it isn’t one I like to dwell on. But it can be challenging to work through one’s anger and reach a more balanced perspective, so some dwelling is necessary.

Anyway, enough of my blather. When this duality-filled,² heavy song started playing on the radio station in my mind this morning, my first thought was to wonder why it took so long for it to bubble up from the depths. I adored it from my first time hearing it back in 1993, on its album’s release day.

Counterparts is an interesting album for me. As the title suggests, its loose theme is duality, including some Jungian³ themes. One might think that would make the lyrics of more interest to a psychologist, but my dualistic response to it is that I like the music much more than most of its lyrics. Alex Lifeson’s brilliant guitar playing is deservedly back in the spotlight, and he takes full advantage of it. “Stick It Out” contains a crunchy riff, a searing solo, and fantastic texture that is signature Lifeson. So tasty.

“Stick It Out” has a heavy sound in both guitar and bass; Neil Peart’s cymbal work cuts through it nicely and adds a jangly element that punches up the lyrics. Since Counterparts was released in 1993, it’s tempting to think the music was influenced by grunge. I think it was just Rush being Rush: evolving to the sound that they wanted. The lyrics are equally compelling; I’m not diving in to all that today, though. I’m confident most readers can relate to at least some of them.

I didn’t know until today that “Stick It Out” was the lead single from Counterparts, nor that it debuted at number one on Billboard’s Album Rock Tracks chart. That explains why Rush released a music video for the song. It’s … interesting. I wouldn’t have predicted it as a single from the album, but I’ve never had any pretensions of understanding that game.

1. but if the lyrics fit …

2. it’s good to see that I grokked what Peart was getting at in the song

3. dude has been popping up a lot for me lately, and I’m not entirely happy about it