Anthem
by Rush

Album: Fly By Night (1975)
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  • 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

    Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind
    A funeral dirge for eyes gone blind
    We marvel after those who sought
    New wonders in the world, wonders in the world,
    Wonders in the world they wrought

    Live for yourself, there's no one else
    More worth living for
    Begging hands and bleeding hearts will only cry out for more

    Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind
    A funeral dirge for eyes gone blind
    We marvel after those who sought
    New wonders in the world, wonders in the world,
    Wonders in the world they wrought

    Though I know they've always Told you selfishness is wrong
    Yet it was for me not you
    I came to write this song

    Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind
    A funeral dirge for eyes gone blind
    We marvel after those who sought
    New wonders in the world, wonders in the world,
    Wonders in the world they wrought Writer/s: ALEX ZIVOJINOVICH, GARY LEE WEINRIB, NEIL ELWOOD PEART
    Publisher: Anthem Entertainment, BMG Rights Management
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 14

  • Doug from Guelph CanadaWe are all mourning the loss of Neil Peart, here in their home province and the rest of the world. What are the odds of a 20-something writing about Objectivism with a progressive rock mindset AND being such a talented drummer. I am thankful to have grown up with Rush and that their is so much more material yet to re-discover online. RIP Neil
  • Patrick from Bedford, TxThat boy with the high voice got the words wrong.
  • Arf from Los Angeles, CaIt's kind of ironic that Rush wrote Anthem, which was inspired by Ayn Rand, but live in Canada where the taxes are higher than the United States, where they also live in pay taxes too.
  • Sunfish from Wyoming, MnThis song is an excellent example of how guys in their early 20s used to rehearse a song to near perfection and commit it to analog tape. No loops or any pre-production headaches, just 3 guys hashing it out the way they wanted everyone else to hear it. One of the all-time great jams by a great band that has been consistently overlooked by the so-called "music press" as being pretentious. They weren't pretending, they were just playing open and honest music that blew a lot of us away.
  • Fritz from Milwaukee, WiThe intro to this song is actually thought by many to have been one of the first examples of thrash metal.
  • John from Asheville, NcI really like Alex's playing here. Fine early song. I love that they progressed from this though. It's a very good song, but I don't think it's as great as a lot of the older Rush fans believe it to be.
  • Chris from Houston, TxThis song, even though it is not a depiction of Miss Rand's story, it does appear to be an "anthem" for her philosophy--Objectivism. The connections to rational self-interest can be seen in, "Live for yourself -- there's no one else more worth living for." And he denounces such ethics as altruism, like Miss Rand, when he says, "Don't let them tell you that you owe it all to me." And the last few lines of the song sum up the theme of "selfishness" when he points out that it is for him, not the listener, whom the song was written for (i.e. benefits from profit or fulfillment).
  • Deo from Annandale, VaGreat song.... always thought it was about a group of people... like an "Athem" for them.
  • Jesse from L.a., CaALex Lifeson does do some super guitar work on this song, and about every single Rush song out there, TOM!!!! LoL... Alex Lifeson is such a great guitar player. His stage presence is awesome, too (Lest we forget Neil and Geddy)...
  • Tom from Trowbridge, EnglandGreat riffing by Mr Lifeson here. Most underrated guitarist ever; where would Van Halen, Satriani, Hammett, etc have been without him?
  • Shana from Pembroke, CanadaGreat song, listening to it
  • Mike from Mountlake Terrace, WashingtonInspired by the Ayn Rand novel of the same name, I have read of the novel and it's is about escaping a kind of socialism and fighting for individualism. By what I have read and campared to these lyrics and the title being the same I would go so far as to say I am strongly compelled to believe this is at least based on the premise of the Novel. *By the way it sounds like a great novel and I want to read it now after researching it so much.
  • Mike from Emmaus, PaI go to work at 6 grab a ice cold beer when I can thats why they call me a blue collar man
  • Mike from Emmaus, PaDid you people ever see RUSH? THEY don't talk poems
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