Wednesday: Rush - Closer to the Heart

     OK, fair warning: even though it's actually Tuesday the 7th out here in meatspace, this post is supposed to make up for last Wednesday the 1st, which was Canada Day, and by now you should know what that means. If you answered anything other than "something Canadian for Canada Day, Alex", you need to head back to the dojo, Daniel-san, because you're not ready to face Cobra-Kai yet.

     The aforementioned warning, however, pertains more to my choice of Canada Day tune than its country of origin. Yes, that's right fellow 'nucks, I'm once again showing my nation pride and wishing this greatest of countries a happy birthday in style with a classic cut from Canadian legends Rush. Sorry Geddy haters.

     And what's more, I'm going full sentimental Rush-head and going with the 1977 classic "Closer to the Heart" from A Farewell to Kings for my Canada Day selection. Grab a loved one, grab a bevvy, and sing along with this one like it's last call at some Canadian-themed bar somewhere. Happy belated Canada Day everybody.

Rush - Working Man

     It's Thanksgiving here in Canada, so I'm going to shift Commonwealth gears a bit a go from a weekend of British tracks to a Thanksgiving that's proudly Canadian. And while there are a ton of great Canadian bands, regular readers will know that an occasion like this can only mean one thing: Rush.

     Yes, the Holy Triumvirate is the perfect way to cap of your evening of turkey and trimmings, and since tomorrow it's back to the grind for all us Canucks who enjoyed the day off today, I think "Working Man" from Rush's 1974 self-titled debut album is the perfect tune to get us back into this shortened work week.

     So Happy Thanksgiving Canada, and good luck working off all the pie you've eaten this weekend. You'll need it.

Song of the Day: Rush - Red Barchetta

     I've been watching a lot of the show Archer lately, and one of the many reasons for my love of Krieger is his own love of Neil Peart and Rush.

Song of the Day: Rush - The Spirit of Radio

     Both because Mike from Mandroid mentioned them in his responses to my Twenty Questions (which you should of course check out if you haven't done so already) and because it's a Canadian long weekend, I'm going full Canuck tonight and featuring by everybody's favourite princes of prog.

Song of the Day: Rush - YYZ

     At work we have the local classic rock station on the radio all the time, as I know I've mentioned before, and one of the many interesting things I've noticed is that you don't get a lot of instrumental tracks in the world of classic rock radio.

     Don't misunderstand me, as I know there's lots of instrumental classic rock tracks out there. I'm just saying you don't hear many of them on the regular, non-satellite radio on a regular basis. However, given that I'm Canadian, there is at least one classic instrumental cut I can count on hearing at least every once in a while.

     Your song tonight, while not metal, is Rush's "YYZ" from the 1981 prog classic Moving Pictures. You might be familiar with this song and not know it, since it's a) instrumental (and therefore lacking that special Geddy Lee something) and b) just one of those songs nobody knows the name of or who it's by, but even if you're not familiar with it at all I defy you to listen to it and then not want to hear it covered by your favourite metal band. Leave any especially interesting suggestions for possible cover artists in the comments below.

Song of the Day: Rush - Tom Sawyer

     Song of the Day, day 2, and today's going to be kind of a sequel to yesterday (you'll get it in a second). I am indeed Canadian, and since I didn't start Song of the Day until after Canada Day, today's going to be a Canada Day song. But unlike yesterday's "4th of July" for the 4th of July, I know of no songs about or entitled Canada Day, metal or otherwise, so it's going to have to just be a song by a Canadian band. Now I know some of you are going to decry my choice, largely because of Geddy Lee's voice, but I don't care.

     Today's song is "Tom Sawyer" by Rush. Yeah, it's not the most metal song, but even if you don't like Geddy you can't deny the incredible musicianship regularly displayed by all three members of the prog-tastic entity that is Rush. So Happy (belated) Canada Day everyone, and enjoy.