Songfacts®:

• There is some Greek Mythology in the lyrics. The line, "If we burn our wings flying too close to the sun" is a reference to Icarus, a hero who made wings out of wax, which melted when flying too close to the sun.
• Geddy Lee ("RTB CD Launch radio broadcast"): "That's a pretty emotional song for me. It's one of my favorites that I think we've ever written. Just because it's quite a change.... it's quite a different song on the album. It's stands out on the record as being a different texture than most of the other tracks. That line to me says really says so much about the people, really that move the world, you know, the people that go out there and do what has to be done. And they're not worrying about what it's going to cost them personally down the road, they're doing what has to be done, and they're prepared to pay the price for it without worrying about.... the payment that comes later."
• Alex Lifeson (Roll The Bones Radio Special): "That's a special song for me, that's one of the songs that we lifted some of the guitar parts off the demo tapes we used on the finished record. The solo is a thrown away solo that was just a one-take solo. That song and "Roll The Bones" and "Ghost Of A Chance", but "Bravado" and "Ghost Of A Chance", those two solos I feel are probably among the best that I've done -- the most emotive and the most spontaneous, and they were both one-take solos. And we just got used to hearing them and they fit so perfectly, and the bass and the drums kind of fit into what the solo was doing, there was really no reason to re-record it. You could never capture that innocence and emotion in it. And that's what it really boils down to; sound doesn't really matter, you can get a half-decent sound on anything and enhance it and make it a little better, but at the cost of losing the emotion. It's not worth it."
• Lifeson (Guitar Player, November 1991): "The solos in 'Ghost of a Chance,' 'Bravado' and 'Roll the Bones' are basically one- or two-take solos played all the way through. When we're developing the arrangement in the writing stages, I toss a solo on tape so we have something to listen to. It's late at night, the lights are down low, and I'm by myself. These were supposed to be throwaway solos, but when it was time to do the "real" solos, Neil had already adjusted his parts to fit what I'd played. So it came down to me trying to recreate everything - which doesn't work. You might improve the sound, but even if you play exactly the same notes you'll never capture that magic feel. The solos in "Ghost of a Chance" and "Bravado" are certainly my favorites on the record, if not among my favorite solos ever. When I listen to them, I heart the way I felt at that time. That's really the key."
• Geddy Lee (Guitar Player, November 1991): "Neil's parts are complex, too. Listen to the end of "Bravado". There's an example of limb independence that rivals any drummer, anywhere. The fact that he nailed that in one take blows my mind. In only four days, Neil and I had all the drums and bass parts down. When you record that quickly, you wonder if maybe some ugliness will rear its head two weeks down the road. There were only a couple of little moments that sounded a tad unsteady over all that work; we're able to live without them. Alex did almost all the guitars in about eight days." Alex Lifeson: "In the past, it took three to five weeks."
• Lifeson (from Guitar Player): "I think it was a first take. I played my Tele through the GK preamp direct to tape. The solo has a particular character and personality that's uncommon for me. If I'd erased that and gone with something else, then it would have been just another solo I put together in the studio, rather than something that happened at a special moment."
• In the Roll The Bones Tourbook, Neil Peart explained the line, "We will pay the price, but we will not count the cost":
  
  "A line from John Barth's The Tidewater Tales (he said I could use it) which echoed around inside me for a long time after I read that book. To me, it just means go for it. There are no failures of talent, only failures of character. I think that's often true too. Sure there a lot of talented people who don't achieve artistic or worldly success, but I think there's usually a reason - a failure inside them. The important thing is: if you fail once, or if your luck is bad this time, the dream is still there. A dream is only over if you give it up - or if it comes true. That is called irony. We have to remember the oracle's words, from Nike, the Greek goddess of victory and lumpy athletic shoes: Just do it. No excuses." >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Mike - Mountlake Terrace, Washington, for all above