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Rush - Subdivisions

Rush - Subdivisions Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Signals
Released: 1982

Subdivisions Lyrics

Sprawling on the fringes of the city
In geometric order
An insulated border
In-between the bright lights
And the far, unlit unknown

Growing up, it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and subdivided
In the mass-production zone

Nowhere is the dreamer
Or the misfit so alone

Subdivisions
In the high school halls
In the shopping malls
Conform or be cast out
Subdivisions
In the basement bars
In the backs of cars
Be cool or be cast out

Any escape might help to smooth
The unattractive truth
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe
The restless dreams of youth

Drawn like moths, we drift into the city
The timeless old attraction
Cruising for the action
Lit up like a firefly
Just to feel the living night

Some will sell their dreams for small desires
Or lose the race to rats
Get caught in ticking traps
And start to dream of somewhere
To relax their restless flight

Somewhere out of a memory
Of lighted streets on quiet nights

Subdivisions
In the high school halls
In the shopping malls
Conform or be cast out
Subdivisions
In the basement bars
In the backs of cars
Be cool or be cast out

Any escape might help to smooth
The unattractive truth
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe
The restless dreams of youth

Writer/s: GEDDY LEE WEINRIB, ALEX LIFESON, NEIL PEART
Publisher: OLE MEDIA MANAGEMENT
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Subdivisions

This song is about how narrow-minded and judgmental people can get when they are confined to certain groups - a common occurrence in the suburbs. This is spelled out in the chorus:

Subdivisions
In the high school halls
In the shopping malls
Conform or be cast out

It tells of how when you don't meet a certain standard you are basically shunned. (thanks, Chris - Bradenton, FL)

Rush's drummer/lyricist Neil Peart said this song is "an exploration of the background from which all of us (and probably most of our audience) have sprung.'"

Peart grew up reading adventure stories and science fiction, which for him were an escape from the confines of suburbia. As he got older, he took full advantage of his freedom, embracing travel and exploring other cultures.

Mark Dailey, evening newscaster and "The Voice" of Toronto television station City-TV and also MuchMusic, is the voice that repeats the chorus line "Subdivisions."

This song marked a turning point for Neil Peart, whose early Rush lyrics were based in fantasy. "I didn't believe yet that I could put something real into a song," he told Rolling Stone. "'Subdivisions' happened to be an anthem for a lot of people who grew up under those circumstances, and from then on, I realized what I most wanted to put in a song was human experience."