[audio http://music.febuiles.com.s3.amazonaws.com/Rush%20The%20Trees.mp3|titles=The Trees|artists=Rush]
Hemispheres
You probably hate Geddy Lee’s wailing. If you listened to the guitar solo in Freewill you’d probably think Alex Lifeson is cheating with some weird shit to create those sounds. Hell, I’m pretty sure you won’t agree with Neal Peart’s libertarian views of the world. That’s fine though, I’m sure you can agree that Rush is one of the greatest bands still around. They have been around for like 40 years now, in the backstage of Rock, constantly experimenting with new sounds without thinking too much about their commercial success (even if they rank third for the most consecutive gold or platinum albums behind The Beatles and The Rolling Stones). In 1978 they released Hemispheres, their most complex album to date (with an average time track of almost 9 minutes). The first release from the album was The Trees, “a fable recounting how a forest suffers from the competition of tall oak trees and shorter maple trees for sunlight”. A lot of controversy has been stirred around this song since the writer, Neil FUCKING Peart, has mentioned several times that the idea behind the lyrics just came from a comic he was reading while working on something else. According to the Rush Fan FAQsthere’s no message behind the song and it’s just a tale, but Rush fans, being Rush fans, have looked a bit deeper into the song. I’m about to do the same. Peart, drummer and main lyricist in the band, is known for inserting his political views, libertarian ideas and fantasy topics in the lyrics. During the late 70s he paid homage to Ayn Rand’s Anthem on 2112 and he expressed some of his concerns on Anthem (another Rush song). A lot of his lyrics reflect his expression of the self against society and the rejection of the collectivization of the individual. Like most nerds, he and his partners never felt comfortable with the idea of homogenizing individuals to create a fair and equal society.
There is unrest in the forest, There is trouble with the trees, For the maples want more sunlight And the oaks ignore their pleas.
Lots of ideas have been thrown around regarding the distinction between the maples and the oaks, which supposedly represent the liberation Canadian movements (maples) vs. the American (oaks) “overlords”, the government vs. the people or the smart against the uneducated.
The trouble with the maples, And they’re quite convinced they’re right They say the oaks are just too lofty And they grab up all the light. But the oaks can’t help their feelings If they like the way they’re made. And they wonder why the maples Can’t be happy in their shade.
The maples complain about the oaks stealing all their sunlight because of their height, but the oaks can’t do anything about it, that’s just the way they grow. Although the oaks would seem to be right (they can’t change their nature), the last comment (“they wonder why the maples can’t be happy in their shade”) sounds just wrong. After reading some of Rand’s work, some people conclude that this fragment represents the differences in society: not everyone’s born the same and some people will always be above others (due to their nature, power, skills, etc). Another common interpretation is that the oaks represent “The Man”, the government, the riches and in general the powers shadowing the people. I prefer the first interpretation since Peart’s a known objectivistand it seems to fit his ideas of anti-collectivism.
There is trouble in the forest, And the creatures all have fled, As the maples scream “Oppression!” And the oaks just shake their heads So the maples formed a union And demanded equal rights. “The oaks are just too greedy; We will make them give us light.”
Rush, by "philmo"
Although the maples unite and criticize the oaks, they never do anything about it, they just stand there, complaining, without looking for a way to improve things. This could be a reflection of what Neil sees in society, way too many people yelling and marching without committing to any real purpose besides screaming a bit. They’ll form their unions and they’ll shout against the tyranny of their oppressors, but in most cases, that’s as far they’ll go.
Now there’s no more oak oppression, For they passed a noble law, And the trees are all kept equal By hatchet, axe, and saw.
The fight doesn’t matter anymore since society passed a sharp razor trying to make everybody the same. Since the maple can’t be grown taller to reach the height of the oak, the oak is cut instead to be made as short as the maple. Putting everyone at the level of the minimum denominator is the only feasible way to make an create an equal society since it’s easier to dumb down people than to make everyone achieve excellence. Remember this is only a personal interpretation, and as Peart noted, there’s no real story behind this song. If you like Rush you outta check the Rush Fan FAQs, a huge resource for understanding many of their songs. They recently released “Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage
