{"id":7652,"date":"2024-05-29T00:03:17","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T05:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/?p=7652"},"modified":"2024-06-10T23:32:53","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T04:32:53","slug":"review-hall-of-fame-finalist-the-trees-a-fantasy-themed-rock-song-by-rush-resonates-as-cautionary-tale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/review-hall-of-fame-finalist-the-trees-a-fantasy-themed-rock-song-by-rush-resonates-as-cautionary-tale\/","title":{"rendered":"Hall of Fame finalist review: \u201cThe Trees,\u201d a fantasy-themed rock song by Rush, resonates as cautionary tale"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Even though they\u2019re eligible for nomination, no songs have ever been inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Neal Peart, Rush drummer and songwriter of “The Trees.” Credit: Creative Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I can\u2019t imagine a good song more deserving of that honor, and that fits the distinctive focus of the Prometheus Awards better, than \u201cThe Trees,\u201d a 1978 song by the Canadian rock group Rush.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Recorded as part of the group\u2019s 1978 album \u201cHemispheres\u201d and inspired by Dr. Seuss\u2019s fantastical tale of The Lorax<\/em>, according to an online annotated list of Rush songs, \u201cThe Trees\u201d clearly fits our awards.<\/p>\n

Propelled by a melodic but mournful progressive-rock sound evoking a ballad or elegy, the song has been selected by Prometheus Hall of Fame finalist judges among this year’s four Best Classic Fiction finalists.<\/p>\n

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

WHY \u201cTHE TREES\u201d FITS AS SF\/FANTASY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Written by Neil Peart with music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, \u201cThe Trees\u201d first of all falls within the broad category of speculative fiction, including science fiction and fantasy.<\/p>\n

The song conjures a world in which trees are intelligent and emotional creatures that we can recognize as very much like ourselves \u2013 part of a social and hierarchical community, capable of nobility, but also subject to internal conflicts and the very human weaknesses of envy and malice.<\/p>\n

With just a few deft strokes of fantastical but plausible world-building and in remarkably few words, Rush songwriter Neil Peart sets up the imaginative premise of its story while introducing its characters and their central dramatic conflict:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThere is unrest in the forest
\nThere is trouble with the trees
\nFor the maples want more sunlight
\nAnd the oaks ignore their pleas…\u201d<\/p>\n

Now imagine if you read a full-fledged novel or novella that imagines a similar future, perhaps on an alien planet where the plants and trees had evolved to full human-level sentience and self-awareness.<\/p>\n

Wouldn\u2019t that story obviously fall into the sf\/fantasy category? Of course it would; yet, somehow, we tend not to categorize and recognize songs as easily when they fall within the sf\/fantasy genre.<\/p>\n

HOW \u201cTHE TREES\u201d DEVELOPS ITS LIBERTARIAN THEME
\n<\/strong>
\nLet\u2019s further imagine that such a fantasy or science-fiction story revolves around a central conflict in which some tree creatures simply wish to peacefully exercise their rights to life and liberty, free from aggression or destruction by others.<\/p>\n

Yet, other trees refuse to let them alone. Instead, these other shorter trees, motivated in part by envy or malice or a warped sense of \u201csocial justice,\u201d threaten to violate such basic libertarian rights.<\/p>\n

The shorter trees plot to impose a radical dictatorship that would cut down \u2013 even kill \u2013 the taller trees, all in the name of a deranged, coercive and radical egalitarianism.<\/p>\n

Sound familiar? It should.<\/p>\n

When that perennial libertarian and anti-authoritarian theme surfaces in a novel (such as Lionel Shriver\u2019s recently published Mania<\/em>)<\/a> or even in a classic novella or story, such as Kurt Vonnegut\u2019s \u201cHarrison Bergeron,\u201d<\/a> we don\u2019t have any trouble recognizing it via the Prometheus Awards. (Vonnegut\u2019s story was inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame in 2019.)<\/p>\n

Yet, within the even more compressed and concise format of lyrics to a song, are such themes, so elegantly dramatized, any less worthy of Prometheus Awards recognition?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Rush in performance (Creative Commons license)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

THE SONG\u2019S ARTISTRY AND RELEVANCE
\n<\/strong>
\nAs the sf\/fantasy scenario unfolds in the eloquent lyrics to \u201cThe Trees,\u201d the artistry of Rush and the song\u2019s relevance to Prometheus Award themes couldn\u2019t be clearer:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trouble with the maples
\nAnd they’re quite convinced they’re right
\nThey say the oaks are just too lofty
\nAnd they grab up all the light…<\/p>\n

…\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201c…There is trouble in the forest
\nAnd the creatures all have fled
\nAs the maples scream ‘oppression!’
\nAnd the oaks, just shake their heads<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the maples formed a union
\nAnd demanded equal rights
\n‘The oaks are just too greedy
\nWe will make them give us light’<\/p>\n

HOW THE SONG IS ROOTED IN HISTORY
\n<\/strong>
\nBack in the real world of human beings right here on Earth, history suggests that such scenarios rarely end well.<\/p>\n

After all, to quote a common catchphrase, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And when self-righteous zealots, convinced of their goodness and moral purity, demonize the Other, stigmatize those they fear and view those not within their “tribe” as evil and even subhuman, normal civilized restraints are eviscerated.<\/p>\n

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

George Orwell understood this well, and warned us of the consequences in both Nineteen Eighty-Four<\/em> <\/a>and Animal Farm<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0two of the most important works inducted over the decades into the Prometheus Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

From the Reign of Terror in 1790s France to Lenin\u2019s concentration camps and Stalin\u2019s Ukraine famine killing millions during the Communist regime of the Soviet Union to the rise of Adolf Hitler\u2019s German National Socialist Workers Party (better known as the abbreviated “Nazi” party) in the 1920s and 1930s, seductive but false ideologies of collectivism and statism have unleashed mass murder, torture, tyranny, oppression and scapegoating of minorities, and world war, time after tragic time.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I find the sad, rueful ending of \u201cThe Trees\u201d to be so haunting:<\/p>\n

\u201cNow there’s no more oak oppression
\nFor they passed a noble law
\nAnd the trees are all kept equal
\nBy hatchet,
\nAxe,
\nAnd saw.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Hans Christian Andersen\u2019s enduring anti-authoritarian fable \u201cThe Emperor\u2019s New Clothes,\u201d<\/a> the first non-novel inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame (in 2000), Rush\u2019s \u201cThe Trees\u201d offers a powerful cautionary tale that continues to resonate today.<\/p>\n

* Check out Rush performing “The Trees” on Youtube.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

UPCOMING REVIEWS PLANNED FOR HALL OF FAME FINALISTS
\n<\/strong>
\nStay tuned, because the Prometheus Blog aims to publish reviews of all four 2024 finalists in the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction.<\/p>\n

Besides \u201cThe Trees,\u201d the other Hall of Fame finalists<\/a> are Orion Shall Rise,\u00a0<\/em>a 1983 novel by Poul Anderson; The Truth<\/em>, a 2000 novel by Terry Pratchett; and\u00a0Between the Rivers<\/em>, a 1998 novel by Harry Turtledove.<\/p>\n

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

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

* Prometheus winners:\u00a0<\/strong>For the full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees \u2013 including 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 explaining why each of more than 100 past winners since 1979 fits the awards\u2019 distinctive dual focus on both quality and liberty.<\/p>\n

* Read \u201cThe Libertarian History of Science Fiction,\u201d<\/strong><\/a>an essay in the international magazine\u00a0Quillette<\/em>\u00a0that favorably highlights the Prometheus Awards, the Libertarian Futurist Society and the significant element of libertarian sf\/fantasy in the evolution of the modern genre.<\/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

* Check out the Libertarian Futurist Society\u2019s Facebook page<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0for comments, updates and links to Prometheus Blog posts.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0Join 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 imagining better visions of the future incorporating peace, prosperity, progress, tolerance, justice, positive social change, and mutual respect for each other\u2019s rights, individuality and human dignity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg Even though they\u2019re eligible for nomination, no songs have ever been inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame. I can\u2019t imagine a good song more deserving of that honor, and that fits the distinctive focus of the Prometheus Awards better, than \u201cThe Trees,\u201d a 1978 song by the Canadian rock group Rush.<\/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":[2423,8,35],"tags":[2391,437,2400,2189,710,113,273,112,2310,1980,141,1066,266,2389,270],"class_list":["post-7652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantasy","category-review","category-selected-book-reviews","tag-alex-lifeson","tag-animal-farm","tag-best-classic-fiction-finalist","tag-geddy-lee","tag-hall-of-fame","tag-harrison-bergeron","tag-hemispheres","tag-kurt-vonnegut","tag-mania","tag-neil-peart","tag-orwell","tag-radical-egalitarianism","tag-rush","tag-the-lorax","tag-the-trees"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-1Zq","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7652","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=7652"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7687,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7652\/revisions\/7687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}