Hemispheres
Released Mercury, 29 October, 1978.
- Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres (18:08)
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- Prelude (4:27)
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- Apollo: Bringer of Wisdom (2:35)
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- Dionysus: Bringer of Love (2:05)
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- Armageddon: The Battle of Heart and Mind (3:06)
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- Cygnus: Bringer of Balance (4:50)
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- The Sphere: A Kind of Dream (1:05)
- Circumstances (3:41)
- The Trees (4:46)
- La Villa Strangiato (instrumental) (9:35) (An Exercise in Self-Indulgence)
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- Buenos Nochas, Mein Froinds! (0:00)
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- To sleep, perchance to dream… (0:27)
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- Strangiato Theme (2:00)
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- A Lerxst in Wonderland (3:16)
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- Monsters! (5:49)
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- The Ghost of The Aragon (6:10)
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- Danforth and Pape (6:45)
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- The Waltz of The Shreves (7:26)
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- Never Turn Your Back on A Monster! (7:52)
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- Strangiato Theme (Reprise) (8:17)
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- A Farewell to Things (9:17)
Geddy Lee - Bass/Acoustic Guitar/Mini- Moog/Bass Pedals/Vocals. Alex Lifeson - Acoustic and Electric Guitars/Bass Pedals. Neil Peart - Drums/Percussion.
Produced by Rush and Terry Brown. Engineered by Pat Moran and Terry Brown.
It came as some surprise to many fans that the second book of ‘Cygnus X-1’, introduced on ‘A Farewell To Kings’, did not continue the story of the Rocinante’s final flight (though the ill-fated starship gets a mention towards the end of the piece). The concept for ‘Hemispheres’ was taken from the book ‘Powers of Mind’ by George J. W. Goodman (better known by his pseudonym Adam Smith), which compared psychology to religion. As an allegorical framework, Neil chose a mythical dispute of Olympic proportions between the gods Apollo and Dionysus. Where both Apollo’s rule of reason and Dionysus’ rule of love led to failure by themselves, balance between the two was brought by the shapeless upstart, Cygnus.
With no embarrassment, while 1978’s punks were restricting their songs to 2-3 minutes max, ‘Cygnus X-1 Book II’ occupies the whole of the first side of ‘Hemispheres’, and while Geddy’s vocals were pushing hard at the top of his range, they capture the intensity of the ancient battle. Musically, the five- part morality play acts largely as a backdrop to Ged the Storyteller, and lyrically once again it closes like the waking from a dream. “We can walk our road together if our goals are all the same, we can run alone and free if we pursue a different aim,” repeats the unabashed mantra of collective individualism, in thinly disguised defiance of any anti-socialist accusations brought upon the band by the press.
Following the complexity of the first side, ‘Circumstances’ opens the second with an almost-audible sigh of relief. Lyrically based on Neil’s own childhood and his time in London, the song presents a hard-fought world view as a French proverb: “The more that things change, the more they stay the same.” More overtly political (and again, defiant) is the acousto-electric ‘The Trees’, which returns to the theme of two sides fighting. This time the battle is for individual rights, the upstart Maples determined not to remain in the shadow of the lofty Oaks. Sadly, no bringer of balance was available on this occasion, instead “they” – the powers that be – impose a draconian, blanket equality on both sides.
Subtitled ‘an exercise in self-indulgence’, ‘La Villa Strangiato’ is a hotchpotch of borrowed musical pieces and concepts, rejigged and woven into a complex and powerful, multilayered tapestry. The first part ‘Buenos Nochas, Mein Froinds!’ is based on the song ‘Gute Nacht, Freunde’ by the German composer A. Yondrascheck. Elsewhere the piece incorporates some old Warner Brothers cartoon themes (notably the production line section of ‘Powerhouse’ by Raymond Scott, who was later content to be offered a one-off sum for his contribution). Indulgent and influenced maybe, but packed with inspiration and goodness.