Music of the Day, 27 April 2025
the push and pull of restless rhythms
Listening to Yes the other day put a Rush song in my mind,1 and it has remained there despite some serious efforts to dislodge it. Prepare yourselves accordingly.
It isn’t true for every studio album, but overall, I seem to have a thing for Rush’s closing songs—whether that’s more a them thing or a me thing is difficult to say. And it’s impossible for me to state when I became aware of it, as after I became a Rush fan, I’d buy new releases and in between them, get older ones so I could explore their history. Heady times for me, but I can’t reconstruct the chronology of my discoveries.
While it’s conceivable that I saw today’s music video on MTV back when it was released in early 1986, I have no memory of it. Whenever I did first see it, it grabbed my attention as much as the song had.
Awwww, Neil Peart’s kit is so small compared to its final form! It’s still impressive though, and he uses it well on “Mystic Rhythms.” It was the second single2 from the 1985 album Power Windows and peaked at 21 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart.
One reason “Mystic Rhythms” has always deeply resonated with me is that it goes beyond acknowledging all that we don’t know about ourselves and the universe around us; it embraces those mysteries and encourages us to explore them with an open mind. As a cognitive psychologist, I had to come to some peace with this respecting how our brains/minds function. As a massage therapist, I had to go even deeper, as the power of touch to both harm and heal is even less understood. The vibes between therapist and client are a two-way connection: I can’t recall an instance where a client reported feeling a powerful connection to my touch and my feeling being neutral or worse.
“Mystic Rhythms” is a rare trifecta for me: great lyrics; great video; and great music too—although I could stand to hear more of Alex Lifeson’s guitar. I have as much difficulty ranking Rush albums as I do their songs, but Power Windows is reliably in the top five. I expect every song on it will appear here at some point.
With everything that’s going on around us now, I’ve made a conscious choice to resist the anger and ugliness, as well as the fear they’re intended to engender. Instead, I’m trying to project more positive energy: competent, confident, and compassionate. Even online, it seems to be making a difference. Mystic indeed.
not the one whose title appears in “It Can Happen”!
check out who directed the music vid!
Many thoughts!
First, great song.
Second, I'm reminded of your musician friend from years back who had an album or song (or book?) entitled "Refuse to Be Afraid".
Third, the story of that "final form" drum kit is pretty neat. I have a custom electric bass made in Poland from 2000-year-old bog oak (similar to that oak from the Olt River) and it's amazing.
Fourth, I wrote a semi-related post here a few days ago: https://beautifulwisdom.substack.com/p/thinking-freely
So who directed the video? It doesn't say in the video or the YT description. I love the song (especially the bass line). I don't think I'd put this album in my top 5. It's hard for me to put it up with the 6 albums before it (Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Signals, Grace Under Pressure), but I'd probably put it above the following few.