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The lyrics are loosely based on a character Mark Twain created in his first novel,
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The book was published 1876.
In Twain's book, Tom finds his way into different sorts of adventurous mishaps. Throughout the novel, Tom matures and experiences many rites of passage. Due to cultural and social changes, some public school copies have been edited, removing certain parts that were deemed offensive.
Pye Dubois, who is the lyricist for the band Max Webster, collaborated on this song as well as "
Force Ten" and "
Between Sun And Moon." This song began life as a Max Webster song titled "Louis The Warrior."
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." (thanks, Mike - Mountlake Terrace, Washington, for all above)
During the first instrumental section of this song, the time signature changes to 7/8. The unusual choice in time signature is consistent with other songs by Rush, such as "Limelight," "The Trees," "Distant Early Warning," and "Freewill," among others. (thanks, Zach - Horn Lake, MS)
This song was used in an episode of Cartoon Network's Futurama when Fry (the main character) plays a video game while listening to his "All Rush Mixtape." (thanks, James - Miami, FL)
This is used in the movie Waterboy during the final game. (thanks, Cool Guy - Compton, CA)
The band chose this song as their concert opener for their 2002
Vapor Trails tour, something they had never done before. After all the trauma and tough times endured by the personal loses of Neil Peart (wife and daughter dying within a year of each other) and the possibility of the band being done for, they believed "Tom Sawyer" would send the message that they were back to stay. They usually introduced the song with a 1 to 4 count, but for Vapor Trails, there was no count, at least not in the usual sense. Peart gave the signal: he simply closed his Hi Hat cymbal pedal with his foot, and this gave the band the signal to silently count the start of the song. This can be seen in the
Rush In Rio DVD - before the concert starts you hear a muted cymbal sound that starts the count. (thanks, Sebastian - Miami, FL)
In a Family Guy clip, Chester Cheetah is seen snorting Cheetos while listening to this song. After he finishes, he yells, "There is no f--king drummer better than Neil Peart!" (thanks, Chris - Sunrise, FL)
In 2008, Rush performed this on The Colbert Report, making a rare US television appearance. Before the performance, host Stephen Colbert interviewed the band and asked if some of their songs were so long that they actually influenced themselves by the end of them. The "Rush plays long songs" bit became a joke on the show, and when Rush played "Tom Sawyer," Colbert acted like he had to go to commercial because they were going to keep playing. When they came back from commercial, Rush was still playing the song. The next night, the show opened with Colbert asleep at his desk while Rush was still playing. While Rush does have some epics, this is actually one of their shorter songs, clocking in at a mere 4:33.
Artists to cover this song include The String Cheese Incident, Deadsy and Mindless Self Indulgence. (thanks, Amanda - Amawalk, NY)
On their 2006 tour, just before Rush played this song, the jumbotron above the stage played an animated short in which the four boys of South Park try to play this song, only to argue and get the lyrics wrong. After the short was complete, the band would come out and play the song the way it was meant to be played. (thanks, Alec Thorp - Yorktown Heights, NY)
Frontman Geddy Lee said the band hated this classic track when they first recorded it. He explained: "I remember being disappointed in the studio, thinking we really didn't capture the spirit of the song. We thought it was the worst song on the record at the time – but it all came together in the mix. Sometimes you don't have the objectivity to know when you're doing your best work."
Geddy Lee told The Plain Dealer newspaper the band never foresaw the success of the song: He said: "The one song that we have to play for the rest of our lives. When we wrote it, we had no idea that it would touch such a nerve with people. In many ways, it's the quintessential Rush song."
Comments (122):
Colbie Caillat
Since emerging from MySpace with her hit "Bubbly," Colbie has become a top songwriter, even crafting a hit with Taylor Swift.
Bass Player Scott Edwards
Scott was Stevie Wonder's bass player before becoming a top session player. Hits he played on include "I Will Survive," "Being With You" and "Sara Smile."
Dr. John
The good doctor shares some candid insights on recording with Phil Spector and The Black Keys.
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(Oh, to Stunner from Oz, if you don't like them, why did you look them up? It's easy enough to avoid any artist you don't care for here.)
John Bonham of Led Zepp
Neal Peart of Rush
Danny Carey of Tool
Although having seen Danny Carey perform live in person several times does make me a bit biased towards him. he is insane and he is massive. His hands could juggle planets.
In other news, I absolutely love this song, and it's one of my favorite of all time. Moving Pictures just has so many really powerful songs (try all seven of them). Think about the message behind the lyrics, though, and you'll see that it's really deep and relevant political commentary on perception and popular thuoght.
- Mike, Ft. Lauderdale
And you forgot taurus bass pedals with his foot as well!
Bonham and Moon didn't kill themselves. Its just like taking a little too much alcohal. You might die. Its a word we call "accident". I think Peart is the 2nd best next to Bonham. And Moon is slightly overated
http://www.jimmypageonline.com/11628.html
See? There can be peace between Zep and Rush fans!
Please, you must be kidding. Peart better than Bonham!? It's like asking whose a better guitarist, Jimi Hendrix or Billy Joe Armstrong. Bonham was a great drummer, he played them so beautifully, you don't relize that he's beating the crap outta the drums. In my books, Keith Moon is first, Bonham is second, and Peart is around sixth or seventh.
But about the song, its pretty cool. I showed it to me friends once and they didn't like it. I guess they just don't appreciate good music.
And oh yeah, Bonham could have only dreamed of being as good a drummer as Peart.
Interesting space invaders thing, whoever said it (sorry about the disrespect, but I have to get off the computer to do homework.)
Peace!
-g-
catch the spirit - Coca-Cola (or Pepsi) advertising line from the early 80s
catch the spit - that game of seeing who can create the longest spit bubble?
the river - like "the ocean"(Zep) - the river of kids at concerts? The Mississippi River from Huck Finn?
the space he invades - the popular 80s video game "Space Invaders"
catch my drift?
The production here is landmark. Neither Rush nor anybody else would sound this clear and powerful ever again. Drums cannot sound any better than they do here. Moving Pictures was the first disc I heard on a CD player system and I was blown away, like that guy in the Maxell ad. Along with its contemporary, AC-DC's "Back in Black", I consider this to be the best-produced rock album in history.
This is the better that most any other song by any other bands. I think I'll go listen to is now!
Paul
Whatever, it's an interesting song and I wish you luck as a song writer and hope you can be as good as Pye or Neil someday.