{"id":6761,"date":"2024-02-02T00:14:44","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T06:14:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/?p=6761"},"modified":"2024-05-21T17:35:57","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T22:35:57","slug":"new-autobiography-by-rush-rock-star-geddy-lee-sheds-light-on-the-libertarian-and-anti-authoritarian-roots-of-the-canadian-prog-rock-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/new-autobiography-by-rush-rock-star-geddy-lee-sheds-light-on-the-libertarian-and-anti-authoritarian-roots-of-the-canadian-prog-rock-band\/","title":{"rendered":"New autobiography by Rush rock star Geddy Lee sheds light on the libertarian roots of the Canadian prog-rock band"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg<\/a><\/p>\n

For Rush fans, the recent publication of Canadian rock star Geddy Lee’s autobiography should spark interest.
\n\"\"<\/a>LFS members, currently weighing this year\u2019s slate of Prometheus Hall of Fame finalists including the Rush fantasy song \u201cThe Trees,\u201d should find My Effin\u2019 Life<\/em> (Harper) especially timely and intriguing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

An Associated Press review by Mark Kennedy of Lee\u2019s book mentions quite a few influences on him, which Geddy discusses in his memoir.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Among the most significant influences discussed in the memoir are three major writers, each of whom has been recognized by the Prometheus Awards: Robert Heinlein<\/a>, Ayn Rand<\/a> and J.R.R. Tolkien.<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an excerpt from the review,<\/a> which was published in newspapers across North America:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThe band \u2013 considered the patron saints of brainy, technical, ambitious rock \u2013 leans on all kinds of sources, from the sci-fi of Robert A. Heinlein and J.R.R. Tolkien, to Ayn Rand, Rod Serling and Jean-Paul Sartre,\u201d Kennedy writes.<\/p>\n

\u201cLee\u2019s writing is a lot like his band\u2019s songs \u2013 deep, gloriously nerdy, sometimes wandering and wonderfully thoughtful. It\u2019s a 400-page narrative from a perfectionist who calls himself \u201cMr. Bossypants.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a compulsion to exhaust every possibility to make the perfect record,\u201d he writes. \u201cI don\u2019t want to have to live with errors. Impossible, I know, what\u2019s the effin\u2019 point of not shooting for the moon?\u201d<\/p>\n

THE EVILS OF TOTALITARIANISM
\n<\/strong>
\nPerhaps the most intriguing revelation in Lee\u2019s autobiography \u2013 and something I had not known about – is a full chapter about what his parents went through in Eastern Europe during World War II.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The chapter, and what Lee learned from his parents’ horrific experiences in Hitler’s National Socialist concentration camps, seems to shed significant light on the libertarian and anti-authoritarian roots of so many of Lee’s art and Rush\u2019s songs:<\/p>\n

\u201cChapter 3 \u2013 Lee says you can skip it but you mustn\u2019t \u2013 is a meticulous examination of the horrific paths his parents took into hell, a 40-page indictment of Nazi evil that starts in Poland and ends with his mom rescued at Bergen-Belsen and dad from Dachau. Lee\u2019s laser-focus on details is put to astounding use here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Rush performing in 2004. Left to right: Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, Neil Peart (Creative Commons license)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The review\u2019s overall verdict of the book is extremely positive:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Effin\u2019 Life<\/em> is an engrossing tale of a \u201cclassic underachiever\u201d who became a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame vocalist, bassist and keyboard player. It\u2019s a great read for anyone interested in the brilliant prog-rock trio or the music scene from the 1970s onward.\u201d<\/p>\n

THE 2023 PROMETHEUS HALL OF FAME FINALISTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Note: Rush\u2019s 1978 song \u201cThe Trees\u201d is one of four finalists for the 2023 Prometheus Hall of Fame, which will be selected by Libertarian Futurist Society members in an all-membership balloted vote between late May and July 4.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The other finalists include Poul Anderson\u2019s 1983 novel Orion Shall Rise,<\/em> Terry Pratchet\u2019s 2000 novel The Truth<\/em> and Harry Turtledove\u2019s 1998 novel Between the Rivers.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a capsule description of the Rush song:<\/p>\n

“The Trees,” a 1978 song by Rush was released on the Canadian rock group’s album “Hemispheres”. The lyrics are by Neil Peart and the music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. The song warns against coerced equality in a beast fable \u2013 or in this case, a \u201ctree fable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peart poetically present a Nature-based fable of envy, \u201coppression\u201d and misguided revolution motivated by a true-believer ideology of coercive egalitarianism.<\/p>\n

The survival and individuality of different kinds of trees \u2013 both agitating Maples and lofty Oaks \u2013 are threatened when a seemingly \u201cnoble law\u201d is adopted in the forest to keep the trees “equal by hatchet, axe and saw.”<\/p>\n

For a capsule description of all four Hall of Fame finalists and why LFS members believe each one fits the Prometheus Award\u2019s distinctive focus, see the recent LFS press release.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE LFS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

* Prometheus winners:\u00a0<\/strong>For the full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees \u2013 for the annual Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) categories and occasional Special Awards \u2013 visit the enhanced\u00a0Prometheus Awards page<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>on the LFS website, which now includes convenient links to all published essay-reviews in our Appreciation series of more than 100 past winners since 1979.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0Watch <\/strong>videos of past Prometheus Awards ceremonies (including the recent 2023 ceremony with inspiring and amusing speeches by Prometheus-winning authors Dave Freer and Sarah Hoyt), Libertarian Futurist Society panel discussions with noted sf authors and leading libertarian writers, and other LFS programs on the Prometheus Blog\u2019s\u00a0Video page.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>* Join us! <\/em><\/strong>To help sustain the Prometheus Awards and support a cultural and literary strategy to appreciate and honor freedom-loving fiction,\u00a0join<\/a> the Libertarian Futurist Society, a non-profit all-volunteer association of freedom-loving sf\/fantasy fans.<\/p>\n

Libertarian futurists believe that culture matters! We understand that the arts and literature can be vital in envisioning a freer and better future – and in some ways can be even more powerful than politics in the long run, by sparking innovation, better ideas, peace, prosperity, positive social change, and mutual respect for each other\u2019s rights, individuality and human dignity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg For Rush fans, the recent publication of Canadian rock star Geddy Lee’s autobiography should spark interest. LFS members, currently weighing this year\u2019s slate of Prometheus Hall of Fame finalists including the Rush fantasy song \u201cThe Trees,\u201d should find My Effin\u2019 Life (Harper) especially timely and intriguing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2353,37],"tags":[2190,167,2189,1606,2191,1420,21,266,270],"class_list":["post-6761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-memorial-tributes","tag-autobiography","tag-ayn-rand","tag-geddy-lee","tag-jrr-tolkien","tag-my-effin-life","tag-prometheus-hall-of-fame-finalists","tag-robert-heinlein","tag-rush","tag-the-trees"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-1L3","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6761"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7594,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6761\/revisions\/7594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}