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Terms of Endearment – Galt’s Gulch Remembers Neil Peart

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To date, more than three dozen individuals have been Spotlighted as members of the Poetic Justice Warrior Society, yet none have garnered the high level of Comments and Likes, all in admiration and affection, as Neil Peart. Among many other things, Neil Peart can be described as an individualist with an active mind (redundancy intended). When he focused on something new to learn and experience, he did it. When asked in an interview if there was anything he wished he had tried, his answer was no. The world he desired, he won. It exists.

Of course he is our contemporary. Neil’s creative genius, life experiences, and profound humanity are readily available online, to all of us, and to countless others as personal memories. This adds mightily to the responses’ authenticity. A fine example is an online forum of dedicated individualists known as Galt’s Gulch, several of whom are committed fans of Peart’s influence and achievements. Here we will Spotlight some of their reactions to the passing of Poetic Justice Warrior Neil Peart. After all, EW from Wisconsin wrote in galtsgulchonline, “I often wondered if Rush, or at least the songs you mentioned, held Objectivist values, but never took the time to find out. Thanks for sharing this info.”

To understand why the perspective of Galt’s Gulch denizens matters, JB from Florida shared a link in the Gulch to Anthem Vault. It had publicized the Rush album 2112’s dedication to the “Genius of Ayn Rand,” and its progressive rock rendition of her 1938 novella Anthem. To jog memories, the album included the song The Temples of Syrinx whose chorus begins “We are the Priests.” To the priests, “All the gifts of life, Are held within our walls.” They are the philosophers of collectivism, of speech codes, of the illegalization of the word “I.” Every utterance must be couched in the words “We” and “Our.” Think of that the next time you listen to a politician on the campaign trail.

OC from Ohio elaborates, “I bought the album 2112 because I liked the cover, and it seemed to have something to do with science fiction. It just blew me away. Soon after, I looked up Ayn Rand in the library, and read Anthem. I believe that liner note introduced many of my generation to the works of Ayn Rand, and earned Rush the undying hatred of most rock critics. But I didn’t care; the music was like no others, and the lyrics espoused thought and values. Many other kids didn’t care about critics’ opinions either, and they built their fan base album by album, tour by tour, and over the period of about 20 years they became legendary.”

This attitude is essential to individualism, why active minds gravitate to Galt’s Gulch, and explained by prime protagonist John Galt himself in Rand’s magnum opus Atlas Shrugged,

The vilest form of self-abasement and self-destruction is the subordination of your mind to the mind of another, the acceptance of an authority over your brain, the acceptance of his assertions as facts, his say-so as truth.

Neil Peart was uniquely connected to the minds of his closest male friends – they would insult each other mercilessly. When asked by his wife why he talks to his friends this way, Neil would tell her that its how they communicate their mutual respect and affection. Its a guy thing. If they weren’t comfortable in their own skin as individuals, and didn’t see the same sense of life in the other, the insults would create no value. As he writes in his 1975 song Anthem,

Know your place in life is where you want to be. Don’t let them tell you that you owe it all to me. Keep on looking forward; no use in looking ’round. Hold your head above the ground and they won’t bring you down.

Elevating our spirits in the wake of Peart’s passing was CDR from Minnesota, “Thank you for an insightful, compassionate epitaph. A friend called me on the eve following Neil’s death to lament the loss of his hero. His initiation into thoughts about Objectivism were sourced from Rush (mine from Lao Tzu). “We have clients in order to build” I recall him conveying quite some time past. I’m happy that I know the origin of this and can share deeper with him on the expression.”

We are not only grateful for the achievements and influence of our Poetic Justice Warriors, they also inspire us to live the one life we have to the fullest. For example, author Robert Begley says “My top goal in 2020 is to become a world-class speaker. This 10 minute video shows I’m not there, also it shows the lasting impact of Neil Peart, whose lyrics about love, reason, and happiness have inspired me since I first heard them, back in 1977.”

But before we praise and ratify heroes, “we must properly identify them, we must understand who and what they are. And what they are not.” He explains that heroism rejects self-sacrifice as a virtue. Understood correctly, heroes rationally pursue their highest values, and shed bright light on our path for doing the same. As RR from New Hampshire related, “I discovered Rush in junior high with Moving Pictures, and ever since then they became my favorite band with tremendous influence on my life. There’s never been a rock group which more closely matches my sense of life.”

Honoring heroes is life-fulfilling when their actions are guided by noble principles, and their achievements ennoble our consciousness. On the Rush album 2112, Peart wrote about human consciousness, as it could and should be,

Through astral nights, galactic days. I see the works of gifted hands. That grace this strange and wondrous land. I see the hand of man arise. With hungry mind and open eyes.

Metaphorically, Galt’s Gulch. Peart’s active and hungry mind saw heroes to emulate in great literature, and one of his greatest was Ayn Rand’s fictional, heroic individualist Howard Roark from The Fountainhead who believed that “The truth is not for all men, but only for those who seek it.” As OC continues in galtsgulchonline, “The career of Rush parallels the career of Howard Roark. Despite the critics disapproval, they succeeded on their own terms.”

While Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism had a singular influence on Peart’s early career, his enthusiasm for it waned over the years in favor of what he called bleeding-heart Libertarianism. Interestingly, Rand is considered a godmother of Libertarianism, even though she rejected its misuse of her ideas. As poetic justice would have it, we have many great ways to remember the man whose advice was to “be your own hero,” and humorist: “When I’m riding my motorcycle, I’m glad to be alive. When I stop riding my motorcycle, I’m glad to be alive.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Introverted Drummer and Philosopher of Progressive Rock – Neil Peart Was His Own Hero

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As written in the January 1st Poetic Justice Warrior Year in Review,

Supremely independent, he was able to integrate his sense of the human condition, both heavenly and terrestrially inspired, into magnificent compositions that inspire human flourishing.

Six days later, on January 7th, we lost an exemplar of individualism’s virtues, the inspiring rock and jazz drummer, author, poet, and Poetic Justice Warrior Neil Peart. He is most widely known as the rhythm master and wordsmith for the classic Canadian rock band Rush, and as a principled champion of hard rock as a unique art form,

It’s about being your own hero. I set out to never betray the values that 16-year-old had, to never sell out, to never bow to the man. A compromise is what I can never accept.”

In the micro sense, Peart honored the musical innovators that preceded him. In the macro sense, he understood that we stand on the shoulders of civilization’s giants. He found his own inspiration in the philosophical principles of natural and humanistic beauty,

Art gives a spiritual depth to existence. I can find deeper worlds in music, paintings, and books. I can bow before the works of Man, from buildings to babies, and that fulfills my need for wonder. I can live my life as it should be, not as I’m told to by self-appointed guides.

Dirk, Lerxst and Pratt

Rush was the quintessential power trio manned by Geddy (Dirk) Lee on vocals, bass guitar and keyboards, Alex (Lerxst) Lifeson on lead guitars, and Neil (pronounced Peert, not Pratt) Peart on a prodigious drum kit. Prior to joining the band, Rush was best known in America on Donna Halper’s radio broadcasts at WMMS in Cleveland. With their rising popularity, Mercury Records gave Rush an advance on their self-titled first album and American tour in 1974.

As poetic justice would have it, Rush’s drummer was averse to touring, and Peart had just returned to Toronto from a failed music career attempt in England. He auditioned for Geddy and Alex eight years after launching his mission at age 13 with two sticks, a pad, and drum recordings to learn on his own.  Apparently they saw something in the 22 year old drummer whose performance belied his attitude, “What is a master but a master student? And if that’s true, then there’s a responsibility on you to keep getting better and to explore avenues of your profession.” With his cut of the advance, Peart bought his first Slingerland touring drum kit.

Peart’s first master instructor was the legendary jazz drummer Gene Krupa; their introduction was The Gene Krupa Story,

The opening sequence is a beautiful overhead shot of Gene actually playing. Sal Mineo mimics it so well that it really works and that was the inspiration. ‘Wow! Being a drummer is romantic and dangerous and glamorous.’ That got me curious.

Over the next 40 years, Rush’s musical style evolved from blues-inspired hard rock, to progressive rock’s composition and instrumentation, including synthesizers in the late 1970s and 80s, and back to their guitar driven roots in the 1990s. What never changed was their musicianship, complexity, and eclectic use of lyrics. In particular, the mythical folklore of Xanadu, the science fiction in The Temples of Syrinx, and the individualist philosophy of Tom Sawyer that belied Peart’s introverted nature,

Though his mind is not for rent                  No, his mind is not for rent
Don’t put him down as arrogant                To any god or government
His reserve a quiet defense                          Always hopeful, yet discontent
Riding out the day’s events                          He knows changes aren’t permanent

Accordingly, another principle of Peart’s philosophy was that “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”

The Professor

Sometimes referred to as Mr. P by Geddy Lee, the moniker evolved into the Professor – his commitment to personal and professional excellence had blossomed into the international standard for drummers. According to Rolling Stone, he was considered the world’s best rock drummer by the 1990s, decided to reinvent his style, and engaged the services of jazz drumming guru Freddie Gruber.

Peart’s dedication to self-creation is entirely consistent with Rush’s 1980 hit Freewill,

There are those who think that life           You can choose from phantom fears
Has nothing left to chance                           And kindness that can kill
A host of holy horrors                                    I will choose a path that’s clear
To direct our aimless dance                         I will choose free will

Because he couldn’t afford to replace broken sticks as a teenager, Peart developed physical methods using their heavier blunt end. After spending time in the recording studio and using click tracks to perfect his timing, he believed his artistic methods had become too stiff, too metronomic. Gruber was able to prescribe training that altered Peart’s physical and artistic methods, “He’s not the kind of teacher who teaches you how to play the drums, he teaches you how to dance on the drums.”

While preparing for the Buddy Rich Memorial Concert in 1989, Peart knew that “To play the songs exactly the way Buddy did, to learn the way he played was not the point. I had to learn the way he thought.” Like a great artist integrates some of their highest values into a philosophical theme, Peart integrated power with precision, complexity with showmanship, and earned the love and respect that he holds dear, and that he writes about for us in his books.

In the world of musical aesthetics, he took the best he could learn from The Who’s Keith Moon, Krupa, Gruber and Rich. From the world of individualist ethics, he took the best he could learn from the hero in Ayn Rand‘s novel The Fountainhead, “I think everything I do has Howard Roark in it. As much as anything, the person I write for is Howard Roark.” Even Peart’s attitude about live performances, “We just have a certain standard to get to. If you don’t get that, no matter how wonderful the audience was to you, you still know it,” was similar to Roark’s motivations, “I don’t build in order to have clients. I have clients in order to build.”

Closer to the Heart

“Playing a three hour Rush show is like running a marathon while solving equations.” In his quiet time, Neil Peart also wrote several travelogues describing his dozens of adventures astride a bicycle or motorcycle, greeting strangers, managing grief, and living the one life he had to the fullest. He was only following only his own advice, “Be your own hero.” While this may sound daunting, Peart had discovered some basic precepts for being his own hero, such as Aristotle’s Law of Identity – existence exists,

Why are we here, why does it happen, are the wrong questions. Its what can we do about it. We’re only immortal for a limited time. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.

“To be a good drummer is more than being a good timekeeper. You have to control it, not just for yourself, also the guys in the band.” Poetic Justice Warrior Neil Peart also kept time for family, friends, fans, and fellow travelers, creating value, as it should be, Closer to the Heart,

The blacksmith and the artist                   Philosophers and plowmen
Reflect it in their art                                     Each must know his part
They forge their creativity                          To sow a new mentality
Closer to the heart                                        Closer to the heart

 

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