[The Word and the Pictures (Volume 1)]

Andrew Olson is a writer, musician, photographer, Rush fan and owner of AndrewOlson.com; an eclectic website with all sorts of neat Rush-related items including a great section devoted completely to Neil Peart. He recently posted several facsimiles of Neil Peart's original lyrics sheets obtained from the now out of print The Word and the Pictures (Volume 1); a two-volume book published in England around 1979. From the site:

The Word and the Pictures (Volume 1) is a two-volume book published in England around 1979. I believe it was a supplemental tour book for the Hemispheres tour. In this book are pictures of Rush, along with facsimiles of Neil Peart's original lyrics sheets for select songs. Some of the lyrics sheets have appeared in Rush tour books and CD sleeves, but usually as small images that were hard to see.

These lyrics sheets are an interesting window into Peart's creative process. They are much like his drumming: intricate, creative, and structured. From interviews I've read, Neil stopped creating these handwritten lyrics sheets around Hold Your Fire, when he started to compose lyrics on the computer. When Neil delivered the Hold Your Fire lyrics sheets to Geddy, Geddy found them cold and difficult to work with. So Neil went back and printed out the lyrics in a warmer font.

If you're looking to buy these books, they're long out of print. You can occasionally find them on eBay. A friend loaned me this one. Perhaps this book will be reissued at a later date.

These are definitely worth checking out.

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