Album: Hemispheres (1978)

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• [I. Prelude]
  
  When our weary world was young
  The struggle of the ancients first began
  The gods of love and reason
  Sought alone to rule the fate of man
  
  They battled through the ages
  But still neither force would yield
  The people were divided
  Every soul a battlefield
  
  [II. Apollo / Dionysus]
  
  [Apollo: Bringer Of Wisdom]
  'I bring truth and understanding
  I bring wit and wisdom fair
  Precious gifts beyond compare
  We can build a world of wonder
  I can make you all aware
  I will find you food and shelter
  Show you fire to keep you warm
  Through the endless winter storm
  You can live in grace and comfort
  In the world that you transform'
  
  The people were delighted
  Coming forth to claim their prize
  They ran to build their cities
  And converse among the wise
  But one day the streets fell silent
  Yet they knew not what was wrong
  The urge to build these fine things
  Seemed not to be so strong
  The wise men were consulted
  And the Bridge of Death was crossed
  In quest of Dionysus
  To find out what they had lost
  
  [Dionysus: Bringer Of Love]
  'I bring love to give you solace
  In the darkness of the night
  In the Heart's eternal light
  You need only trust your feelings
  Only love can steer you right
  I bring laughter, I bring music
  I bring joy and I bring tears
  I will soothe your primal fears
  Throw off those chains of reason
  And your prison disappears'
  
  The cities were abandoned
  And the forests echoed song
  They danced and lived as brothers
  They knew love could not be wrong
  Food and wine they had aplenty
  And they slept beneath the stars
  The people were contented
  And the gods watched from afar
  But the winter fell upon them
  And it caught them unprepared
  Bringing wolves and cold starvation
  And the hearts of men despaired
  
  [III. Armageddon: The Battle Of Heart and Mind]
  
  The universe divided
  As the heart and mind collided
  With the people left unguided
  For so many troubled years
  In a cloud of doubts and fears
  Their world was torn asunder into hollow
  Hemispheres
  
  Some fought themselves, some fought each other
  Most just followed one another
  Lost and aimless like their brothers
  For their hearts were so unclear
  And the truth could not appear
  Their spirits were divided into blinded
  Hemispheres
  
  Some who did not fight
  Brought tales of old to light
  'My Rocinante sailed by night
  On her final flight'
  To the heart of Cygnus' fearsome force
  We set our course
  Spiralled through that timeless space
  To this immortal place
  
  [IV. Cygnus: Bringer Of Balance]
  
  I have memory and awareness
  But I have no shape or form
  As a disembodied spirit
  I am dead and yet unborn
  I have passed into Olympus
  As was told in tales of old
  To the city of Immortals
  Marble white and purest gold...
  
  I see the gods in battle rage on high...
  Thunderbolts across the sky...
  I cannot move, I cannot hide...
  I feel a silent scream begin inside...
  
  Then all at once the chaos ceased
  A stillness fell, a sudden peace
  The warriors felt my silent cry
  And stayed their struggle, mystified
  
  Apollo was atonished
  Dionysus thought me mad
  But they heard my story further
  And they wondered, and were sad
  
  Looking down from Olympus
  On a world of doubt and fear
  Its surface splintered
  Into sorry Hemispheres
  
  They sat a while in silence
  Then they turned at last to me
  'We will call you Cygnus
  The god of Balance you shall be'
  
  [V. The Sphere: A Kind Of Dream]
  
  We can walk our road together
  If our goals are all the same
  We can run alone and free
  If we pursue a different aim
  Let the truth of love be lighted
  Let the love of truth shine clear
  Sensibility
  Armed with sense and liberty
  With the heart and mind united in a single
  Perfect
  Sphere Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 18

• Matt from Statesboro"With the heart and mind united in a single, perfect, sphere..." We could use the god of Cygnus in this world today.
• Rick from AnaheimThis song is perfection! Geddy's vocals and melody lines are at their best. I never get tired of listening to this song.
• Rrradam from Denver, NcLike Ayn Rand's Anthem inspired 2112, Book 2 was inspired by Fredrick Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music, in which he espouses on what he calls the Apollonian and Dionysian philosophical concepts. Certainly my favorite literary composition, ever written, in any form... Both beautiful and profound. Even clever, where the Hero, after having being ripped apart (atom by atom) when entering the black hole in Book 1, reemerges as Cygnus in Book 2.
• Christopher from Coweta, OkI know they've said they were done with songs like this, but just one more.... It blows my mind how good this song is.
• Diego from São Paulo, Brazil"Apollo was atonished /Dionysus thought me mad" I personally found this passage to be really interesting ...The contrasting adjectives to each god .
  Asnonishing the god truth and prophecy and being considered mad by who some considered to be the god of madness !
• Larry from Ft. Pierce, FlWOW! Even Homer would have been amazed with this song! The streets of Athens would echo with its sounds.
• Moose from Chicago, IlRush is arguably the best story-telling band ever. Their ability to write an engaging, epic story and combine it with stellar accompanying music is unparalleled. While plenty of other bands come to mind (The Who's 'Tommy' :)), Rush has a plethora of epic's - The Necromancer, The Fountain of Lamneth, 2112, Xanadu, Cygnus X-1, the 'Fear' series (The Weapon, Witch Hunt, The Enenmy Within, & Freeze), and more.
• Moises from Mexico, Mexicoi am also astonished about this song... its a dream song.. the beautiful mithology made song... the eternal battle between reason and love.... and finally that battle is in ourselves, in our hemispheres, in our beautiful and complex mind...and all joined with that professional music...
  thats really beautiful, i have just listened to it and thats my opinion
• Devon from Uniontown, Pai believe that dionusus was the god of wine and revelry, not love. that would be aphrodite, who is a goddess.
• Travis from Calgary, AbActually Chuck, their second longest song I believe is Fountain of Lamneth from Caress of Steel, with 2112 as the longest.
  
  Though if you count both parts to Cygnus X-1 then it would be quite a deal longer.
• John from Asheville, NcI like this song quite well, though I'm not a fan of album-length epics. One of their better ones though and light years stronger than the close to the Kings album. Much better effort this go 'round.
• Chuck from Houston, TxIf I'm not mistaken, this is the second longens rush song the band ever made.
• Kent Lyle from Cincinnati, OhAlex's richly harmonic 12-string electric defines his sound as much as anything he's ever done.
• David from N.providence, RiArguably one of the best Rush songs ever. I'm not sure how well Countdown fits as a closer to Cygnus X-I and X-II, but it's a thought I suppose.
• Tj from Chicago, IlThis could be my number 1 rush song along with xanadu (exit... stage left/live) & the camera eye. The way Geddy's shrieking, high pitch tone swings with the music is simply ASTOUNDING.
• Wil from Milwaukee, WiListen to this IMMEDIATELY after Cygnus X-1 from A Farewell To Kings!!! Then finish up with Countdown fron Signals!! What a trilogy!!!
• Chris from Spencerport, NyThis has to be one of my favorite Rush songs. The story flows so well and the music fits perfectly.
• Paul from Spring, TxTotally awesome song, I love the story, with its extremelly moving lyrics, and a melody that fits perfectly with the mood and sounds great.

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