Malignant Narcissism
by Rush

Album: Snakes & Arrows (2007)
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Songfacts®:

  • Rush found inspiration for the title of the song in the lines from the Trey Parker and Matt Stone film Team America: World Police. In that film, the psychological term malignant narcissism is used in reference to Kim Jong-II. In this instrumental song, the only voice heard is from a clip taken from Team America. It appears at 1:08 in the song, and features a female voice saying, "Usually a case of malignant narcissism is brought on during childhood."
  • This song is abbreviated by Rush fans as "MalNar," which was actually developed by the band themselves.
  • This was the last song recorded during production of Snakes & Arrows. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Mike - Mountlake Terrace, WA, for all above
  • The idea for this song came when Geddy Lee was messing around with a fretless bass in between vocal takes and they recorded some riffs and thought it would be cool to make a short instrumental.
  • Neil Peart was out of the studio for a while and recorded this song on a small drum kit with 4 drums and four cymbals. The song was recorded in less than a day. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Ryan - Rochester, NY, for above 2

Comments: 4

  • Justin from Bethlehem, PaLove this song!!!!!!!!! I also like saying the name. Can't wait to see this played live!!!
  • John from Asheville, NcGood little groovy piece. Nothing as ambitious as Monkey Business, clearly, but it's catchy. And I love the homage it pays to YYZ with the bass and drum fill trade offs. Love the fretless sound. Like it when little jams like this become something fun.
  • Theartofbalance from Mary Esther, FlThe name means basically, deadly beauty. Almost, a narcissist is someone who is in love with their beauty (a lot), malignant means extremely harmful.
  • David from Port Hawkesbury, CanadaIncredible song. The bass is amazing.
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