Song 82 ( Rush - Tom Sawyer )

I am picking songs this week that have three things in common: 1. I like them, 2. I discovered the songs by myself without anyone introducing me to them, and 3. Almost every person that I know hates the song. I am doing this theme because this is what I view as the most sincere and true form of fanhood that a person can show: going against the grain and loving something in the face of everyone's contrariness around you. I want to make clear here is that these song are ones I like because I like them, not in spite of someone else hating them. These would be songs that I would like even if everyone around me liked them.



For today, the final day of my theme week, I'm choosing the Rush's Tom Sawyer. I figured that I would end this week with a band that I like a lot, but gets me quite a bit of flack. Where do I start with this song?
The musicianship is beyond incredible for all three members, not one excluded. I noted that it seems that all Progressive Rock bands have an incredible drummer; Rush has one of the best. The fun part of this song is the instrumental break, when the song goes into a 7 beat meter and flawlessly goes back to the 4 beat meter without the listener really noticing. There is really nothing that I dislike about this song except for the fact that it gets too much airplay.
Most people don't like the song because of that fact or that they just hate the band itself. Most individuals who hate the band usually are grasping at straws to hate them and use generic criticisms such as "I hate Geddy Lee's voice" as a reason why. I myself find his vocals similar to that of Robert Plant's, sans the British accent. Rush seems to be a band that you either love or hate, however, when I wear my Rush shirt out I get a lot compliments from complete strangers and almost always end up talking about the band.

Here is the music video on YouTube.
Here is a live performance from Stage Left on YouTube.

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