Freewill - Rush
1980
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnxkfLe4G74
There are those who think that life has nothing left to chance take,
A host of holy horrors to direct our aimless dance.
A planet of playthings,
We dance on the strings
Of powers we cannot perceive
"The stars aren't aligned,
Or the gods are malign..."
Blame is better to give than receive.
Chorus
You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;
I will choose a path that's clear
I will choose freewill.
There are those who think that they were dealt a losing hand,
The cards were stacked against them; they weren't born in Lotusland.
All preordained
A prisoner in chains
A victim of venomous fate.
Kicked in the face,
You can't pray for a place
In heaven's unearthly estate.
Chorus
Each of us
A cell of awareness
Imperfect and incomplete.
Genetic blends
With uncertain ends
On a fortune hunt that's far too fleet.
Another musical statement that religion stops the mind and sucks the life right out of a person by not allowing it to mature and evolve. Bishop Spong says, religion is in the guilt producing and control business. He says, the people need to grow up and take responsibility for themselves in the world. No wonder Christian fanatics hate him. They want to take your choices away to control you and keep you stunted. This song communicates that idea in its own way and affirms taking responsibility for one's self.
76:What is "Free Will" about?
"The song is about freedom of choice and free will, and you believing in what you decide you believe in." - Geddy Lee, in the December 4, 1989 "Rockline" interview
79:Where is "Lotus-Land?"
"Lotus-land as it appears in 'Free Will' is simply a metaphor for an idealized background, a 'land of milk and honey.' It is sometimes also used as a pejorative name for Los Angeles, though that was not in my mind when I wrote it." - Neil Peart
Lotus-land is mentioned in an episode in "The Odyssey" where Odysseus goes to the land of the lotus-eaters, where the people hang out and eat lotus petals or some such and are perfectly happy but are basically brainless. http://www.nimitz.net/rush/faq2ans.html#76
Do you think freewill exists? Is it a choice? Isn't it a choice to choose no choice? So very Zen isn't it? Taking no action is an action. You can't escape the logic. You will choose and there is no way to avoid it.
So when you choose to follow choices already made for you by bronze age writers and those who interpret them you have given away control of your mind to someone else. Dogma eaters who are basically a brainless sort of people. The type whose ambition it is to cease using knowledge, logic and reasoning in their lives. The type whose beliefs are not based on thinking or feeling but of blind faith. Prisoners in chains. Those are their choices.
John Milton: Free will, it is a bitch
- The Devil's Advocate
 
[Edited on 11/7/2009 12:04 PM]
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