Neil Peart
Neil Peart
Neil Ellwood Peart, OC, is a Canadian-American musician and author, best known as the drummer and primary lyricist for the rock band Rush. Peart has received numerous awards for his musical performances, including an induction into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1983, making him the youngest person ever so honored. He is known for his technical proficiency and stamina...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionDrummer
Date of Birth12 September 1952
CityHamilton, Canada
CountryCanada
For me, drum elements are like hieroglyphics - I think of a certain physical figure, and a little three-dimensional glyph will appear in my mind as I'm playing.
With people too, you constantly think, "If I'm nice to people and treat them well, they'll appreciate it and behave better." They won't, but it's still not a bad way to live.
I'm a linear thinking agnostic, but not an atheist folks.
It is impossible to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and be a Republican. It's philosophically absolutely opposed - if they could only think about what they were saying for a minute. That's when you get caught up in the webs of what people call themselves and how they behave.
I think everything I do has Howard Roark [hero of The Fountainhead] in it, you know, as much as anything. The person I write for is Howard Roark.
When I started playing, I played in R&B bands. I played James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and all that.
Live for yourself -- there's no one elseMore worth living forBegging hands and bleeding hearts will only cry out for more
Well, I know they've always told you/Selfishness was wrong/Yet it was for me, not you, I came to write this song/
What you own is your own kingdomWhat you do is your own gloryWhat you love is your own powerWhat you live is your own story
Lessons taught but never learned,all around us anger burns.Guide the future by the past.Long ago the mould was cast.
When they turn the pages of history,when these days have passed long ago--will they read of us with sadnessfor the seeds that we let grow?
It's a test of ultimate willThe heartbreak climb uphillGot to pick up the paceIf you want to stay in the raceMore than just blind ambitionMore than just simple greedMore than just a finish lineMust feed this burning need
We don't want to be Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones. That type of thing wasn't what we were after. It was most important for each of us to be equal in input and output - each of us has to pull the same amount, musically, in composition and in every sense of being in the band.
The thing for me about Ayn Rand is that her philosophy is the only one applicable to the world today - in every sense. If you take her ideas, then take them farther in your own mind, you can find answers to pretty well everything on an individual basis.