Album: Vapor Trails (2002)

License This Song 

• The city crouches, steaming
  In the early morning half light
  The sun is still a rumor
  And the night is still a threat
  
  Slipping through the dark streets
  And the echoes and the shadows
  Something stirs behind me
  And my palms begin to sweat
  
  Sometimes I freeze, until the light comes
  Sometimes I fly, into the night
  Sometimes I fight, against the darkness
  Sometimes I'm wrong, sometimes I'm right
  
  Coiled for the spring
  Caught like a creature in the headlights
  Into a desperate panic
  Or a tempest of blind fury
  Like a cornered beast
  Or a conquering hero
  
  The menace threatens, closing
  And I'm frozen in the shadows
  I'm not prepared to run away
  And I'm not prepared to fight
  
  I can't stand to reason
  Or surrender to a reflex
  I will trust my instincts
  Or surrender to my fright
  
  Sometimes we freeze, until the light comes
  Sometimes we're wrong, and sometimes we're right
  Sometimes we fight, against the darkness
  Sometimes we fly, into the night
  
  Blood running cold
  Mind going down into a dark night
  Of a desperate panic
  Or a tempest of blind fury
  Like a cornered beast
  Or a conquering hero
  
  Sometimes I freeze
  Sometimes I fight
  
  Sometimes I freeze, until the light comes
  Sometimes I fly, into the night
  Into the night
  Into the night Writer/s: Alex Živojinović,, Geddy Lee Weinrib, Neil Peart
  Publisher: Anthem Entertainment
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 9

• Scott from CanadaIts about anxiety and panic. Neil wrote in Ghost Rider that he suffered from panic attacks and anyone who has woken in the middle of the night with said malady knows you "freeze until the light comes".
• Andres from Vancouver, CanadaIt's the fourth part of the trilogy intentionally, made as a joke compared to the fourth part of "A hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" trilogy, which Neil liked or read or something, I just remember reading it in one of his books.
• Ray from Roseville, MiIt's about fight or flight. Sometimes when you should lash out or run you just stop dead in your tracks...
• Byron from Paragould, Ar, ArTheir latter-day "Camera Eye"
• Louis from Glendale, AzIt's an 'aftermath'. Freeze is basically defining how we feel when a fear moment is achieved, whether it be the 'enemy within' or something different.
• John from Asheville, NcProbably my least favorite on Vapor Trails, an album I really like...but I still enjoy it. I think the ending is a bit drawn out.
• John from Newmarket, CanadaThey've never played this song live, unfortunately.
• Rolando from Corpus Christi, Txi'm had a simalar experience, i was in the turning lane when a car was speeding behind a bus and was forced to come into the turning lane to avoid a stopping bus, almost had a head on collision. i FROZE like you wouldn't believe. i looked a t the door handle but couldn't move. in the end of it all a cyclist asked if i were alright i said yes without looking at him and went home. i was so mad because no one at home believed me that it happened.
• Will from Spokane, WaDefinantly my favorite Vapor Trails track. With its odd time signature and intensity it reminds me of older Rush. Do they play this song live? I'm 0 for 3 since the album's release.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

More Songfacts:

Knock On WoodEddie Floyd

The song "Knock On Wood" was confusing to UK listeners because the saying there is "Touch Wood."

Good TimesChic

The disco song "Good Tmes" by Chic was a huge influence on early rap, providing the bassline for "Rapper's Delight."

Our HouseCrosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Graham Nash wrote the domestic tranquility classic "Our House" about the house he shared with Joni Mitchell. It was a very very very fine house.

Freedom Of ChoiceDevo

The Devo song "Freedom Of Choice" is about mindless consumerism - how people like to make frivolous choices, but otherwise want to be told what to do.

DarlinAvril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne's 2011 song "Darlin" was written much earlier; she says it's the second song she ever wrote, composed when she was an unsigned 15-year-old living in Napanee, Ontario. The song reflects those years when she was "trying to figure it all out."

Watching The WheelsJohn Lennon

In the late '70s, John Lennon slowed his roll, becoming a househusband who baked bread and took care of his young son Sean. This inspired his song "Watching The Wheels," where he discovers the benefits of taking it easy.

Editor's Picks

Butch VigSongwriter Interviews

The Garbage drummer/songwriter produced the Nirvana album Nevermind, and Smashing Pumpkins' Gish and Siamese Dream.

Classic MetalFact or Fiction

Ozzy, Guns N' Roses, Judas Priest and even Michael Bolton show up in this Classic Metal quiz.

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Desmond ChildSongwriter Interviews

One of the most successful songwriters in the business, Desmond co-wrote "Livin' La Vida Loca," "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)" and "Livin' On A Prayer."

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.