Rush is a Band
A blog devoted to RUSH:
Neil Peart, Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson
Tue, Nov 26, 2024
Album Discography and Lyrics
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Vapor Trails
Released May, 2002
Atlantic/AnthemUS Billboard Peak: 6
Album Credits
Geddy Lee - bass guitar, Vocals
Alex Lifeson - electric and
accoustic Guitars, mandola
Neil Peart - drums and cymbalsMusic by Lee and Lifeson
Lyrics by PeartProduced by Rush and Paul Northfield
Brought to you by the letter "3"
Atlantic/Anthem, May 14, 2002
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Track List
[Show All Lyrics]Track List
[Hide All Lyrics]1) One Little Victory (5:08)
1) One Little Victory (5:08)
A certain measure of innocence
Willing to appear naive
A certain degree of imagination
A measure of make-believeA certain degree of surrender
To the forces of light and heat
A shot of satisfaction
In a willingness to risk defeatCelebrate the moment
As it turns into one more
Another chance at victory
Another chance to scoreThe measure of the moment
Is a difference of degree
Just one little victory
A spirit breaking free
One little victory
The greatest act can be
One little victoryA certain measure of righteousness
A certain amount of force
A certain degree of determination
Daring on a different courseA certain amount of resistance
To the forces of the light and love
A certain measure of tolerance
A willingness to rise above2) Ceiling Unlimited (5:28)
2) Ceiling Unlimited (5:28)
It's not the heat
It's the inhumanity
Plugged into the sweat of a summer street
Machine gun images pass
Like malice through the looking glassThe slackjaw gaze
Of true profanity
Feels more like surrender than defeat
If culture is the curse of the thinking class
If culture is the curse of the thinking classceiling unlimited
world so wide
turn and turn againfeeling unlimited
still unsatisfied
changes never endThe vacant laugh
Of true insanity
Dressed up in the mask of Tragedy
Programmed for the guts and glands
Of idle minds and idle handsI rest my case -
Or at least my vanity
Dressed up in the mask of Comedy
If laughter is a straw for a drowning man
If laughter is a straw for a drowning manceiling unlimited
windows open wide
look and look againfeeling unlimited
eyes on the prize
changes never endwinding like an ancient river
the time is now againhope is like an endless river
the time is now again3) Ghost Rider (5:41)
3) Ghost Rider (5:41)
Pack up all those phantoms
Shoulder that invisible load
Keep on riding north and west
Haunting that wilderness road
Like a ghost riderCarry all those phantoms
Through bitter wind and stormy skies
From the desert to the mountain
From the lowest low to the highest high
Like a ghost riderKeep on riding North and West
Then circle South and East
Show me beauty, but there is no peace
For the ghost riderShadows on the road behind
Shadows on the road ahead
Nothing can stop you nowThere's a shadow on the road behind
There's a shadow on the road ahead
Nothing can stop you nowSunrise in the mirror
Lightens that invisible load
Riding on a nameless quest
Haunting that wilderness road
Like a ghost riderJust an escape artist
Racing against the night
A wandering hermit
Racing toward the lightFrom the White Sands
To the Canyonlands
To the redwood stands
To the Barren LandsSunrise on the road behind
Sunset on the road ahead
There's nothing to stop you now
Nothing can stop you now4) Peaceable Kingdom (5:23)
4) Peaceable Kingdom (5:23)
A wave toward the clearing the sky
All this time we're talking and sharing our Rational View
A billion other voices are spreading other news
All this time we're living and trying to understand
Why a billion other choices are making their demandsTalk of a Peaceable Kingdom
Talk of a time without fear
The ones we wish would listen
Are never going to hearJustice against The Hanged Man
Knight of Wands against the hour
Swords against the kingdom
Time against The TowerAll this time we're shuffling and laying out all our cards
While a billion other dealers are slipping past our guards
All this time we're hoping and praying we all might learn
While a billion other teachers are teaching them how to burnDream of a Peaceable Kingdom
Dream of a time without war
The ones we wish would hear us
Have heard it all beforeA wave toward the clearing sky
A wave toward the clearing skyThe Hermit against The Lovers
Or the Devil against the Fool
Swords against the kingdom
The Wheel against the rulesAll this time we're burning like bonfires in the dark
A billion other blazes are shooting off their sparks
Every spark a drifting ember of desire
To fall upon the earth and spark another fireA homeward angel on the fly
A wave toward the clearing sky5) The Stars Look Down (4:28)
5) The Stars Look Down (4:28)
Like the fly on the wheel, who says
"What a lot of dust we're raising"
Are you under the illusion
That you're part of this scheme?
Seems like a lifetime ago
You could look with pride
On your world of dreamsWhat is the meaning of this?
And the stars look down
What are you trying to do?
And the stars look down
Was it something I said
And the stars look downLike the rat in a maze who says,
"Watch me choose my own direction"
Are you under the illusion
The path is winding your way?
Are you surprised by confusion
When it leads you astray?
Have you lived a lifetime today -
Or do you feel like you just got carried away?What is the meaning of this?
And the stars look down
What are you trying to do?
And the stars look down
Was it something I said?
And the stars look down
Something you'd like me to do?
And the stars look downThe stars look down
6) How It Is (4:05)
6) How It Is (4:05)
Here's a little trap
That sometimes catches everyone
When today's as far as we can see
Faith in bright tomorrows
giving way to resignation
That's how it is - how it's going to beIt's such a cloudy day
Seems we'll never see the sun
Or feel the day has possibilities
Frozen in the moment -
the lack of imagination
Between how it is and how it ought to beHere's a little trap
That sometimes trips up everyone
When we tire of our own company
Sometimes we're the last to see beyond the day's frustrations
That's how it is - how it's going to beIt's such a cloudy day
Seems we'll never see the sun
I feel the day is all uncertainty
Burning in the moment - trapped by the desperation
Between how it is and how it ought to beFoot upon the stair
Shoulder to the wheel
You can't tell yourself not to care
You can't tell yourself how to feelThat's how it is
Another cloudy day7) Vapor Trail (4:57)
7) Vapor Trail (4:57)
Stratospheric traces of our transitory flight
Trails of condensation held
in narrow paths of white
The sun is turning black
The world is turning gray
All the stars fade from the night
The oceans drain awayHorizon to Horizon
memory written on the wind
Fading away, like an hourglass, grain by grain
Swept away like voices in a hurricaneIn a vapor trail
Atmospheric phases make the transitory last
Vaporize the memories that freeze the fading past
Silence all the songbirds
Stilled by the killing frost
Forests burn to ashes
Everything is lostWashed away like footprints in the rain
In a vapor trail
8) Secret Touch (6:34)
8) Secret Touch (6:34)
The way out
Is the way in
The way out
Is the way in...Out of touch
With the weather and the wind direction
With the sunrise
And the phases of the moon
Out of touch
With life in the land of the loving
With the living night
And the darkness at high noonYou can never break the chain
There is never love without pain
A gentle hand, a secret touch on the heartOut of sync
With the rhythm of my own reactions
With the things that last
And the things that come apart
Out of sync
With love in the land of the living
A gentle hand, a secret touch on the heartA healing hand, a secret touch on the heart
There is never love without pain
Life is a power that remains9) Earthshine (5:38)
9) Earthshine (5:38)
On certain nights
When the angles are right
And the moon is a slender crescentIts circle shows
In a ghostly glow
Of earthly luminescenceEarthshine
A beacon in the night
I can raise my eyes to
Earthshine
Earthshine
A jewel out of reach
Form a dream to rise to
EarthshineFloating high
In the evening sky
I see my faint reflectionPale facsimile
Like what others see
When they look in my directionEarthshine
Stretching out your hand
Full of starlit diamonds
EarthshineReflected light
To another's sight
And the moon tells a lover's storyMy borrowed face
And my third-hand grace
Only reflect your gloryYou're still out of reach
Form a dream to rise to
Earthshine10) Sweet Miracle (3:40)
10) Sweet Miracle (3:40)
I wasn't walking on water
I was standing on a reef
When the tide came in
Swept beneath the surface
Lost without a trace
No hope at all
No hope at allOh - sweet miracle
Oh - sweet miracle
Of lifeI wasn't walking with angels
I was talking to myself
Rising up to the surface
Raging against the night
Starless nightOh - sweet miracle
Love's sweet miracle
Of lifeOh salvation
Oh salvationI wasn't praying for magic
I was hiding in plain sight
Rising up from the surface
To fly into the light11) Nocturne (4:49)
11) Nocturne (4:49)
Did I have a dream?
Or did the dream have me?Set off on a night-sea journey
Without memory or desire
Drifting through lost latitudes
With no compass and no chartFlying through hallucination
Distant voices, signal fires
Lighting up my unconscious
And the secret places of the heartDream - Temporary madness
Dream - A voice in the wilderness
Dream - Unconscious revelations
The morning says, the answer is yesFloating through a darkened mirror
Deep reflections in disguise
Soaring through lost altitudes
Without wonder, without fearSymbols on a field of visions
Behind the curtain of sleeping eyes
On the instant of waking
Another world of dreams appearsDream - A walk in the wilderness
Dream - Unconscious recreation
The morning says, the answer is yes12) Freeze (Part IV of "Fear") (6:21)
12) Freeze (Part IV of "Fear") (6:21)
The city crouches, steaming
In the early morning half-light
The sun is still a rumor
And the night is still a threatSlipping through the dark streets
And the echoes and the shadows
Something stirs behind me
And my palms begin to sweatSometimes 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 rightCoiled for the spring
Or caught like a creature in the headlights
Into a desperate panic
Or a tempest of blind fury
Like a cornered beast
Or a conquering heroThe menace threatens, closing
And I'm frozen in the shadows
I'm not prepared to run away
And I'm not prepared to fightI can't stand to reason
Or surrender to a reflex
I will trust my instincts
Or surrender to my frightSometimes 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 nightBlood 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 heroSometimes I freeze
Sometimes I fight
Sometimes I fly
Into the night13) Out Of The Cradle (5:03)
13) Out Of The Cradle (5:03)
It's not a place
It's a yearning
It's not a race
It's a journeyIt's not an act
It's attraction
It's not a style
It's an actionIt's a dream for the waking
It's a flower touched by flame
It's a gift for the giving
It's a power with a hundred namesSurge of energy, spark of inspiration
The breath of love is electricity
Maybe Time is bird in flight
Endlessly mocking
Here we come out of the cradle
Endlessly rocking
Endlessly rockingIt's a hand
That rocks the cradle
It's a motion
That swings the skyIt's method on the edge of madness
It's a balance on the edge of a knife
It's a smile on the edge of sadness
It's a dance on the edge of lifeEndlessly rocking