Neil Peart News, Weather, and Sports Update - April 2014 - "Telescope Peak Revisited"

Neil Peart News, Weather, and Sports Update - April 2014 - Telescope Peak Revisited
Neil Peart has just posted a new update to his "News, Weather, and Sports" website blog. His April 2014 entry is titled "Telescope Peak Revisited", a reference to the highest summit in Death Valley National Park, at 11,049 feet.

Neil has made many pilgrimages to Death Valley throughout his life, and its backdrop has served as an inspiration to him for many years. In fact, when composing lyrics for Rush's 2002 album Vapor Trails, Neil wrote the lyrics to a song titled "Telescope Peak":
Looking back to the lowest low from the highest high
Way down to the burning white desert from the clear blue sky
On Telescope Peak, salvation just a day away
On Telescope Peak, I could have said goodbye to yesterday
— On the last lonely day

So many dreams are buried there
In ghost towns and abandoned mines
So many dreams are carried there
In the sound of the wind in the pines
— On the last lonely day

It’s the end of something
It’s the start of something too
It’s the end of something
It’s the start of something new
The last lonely day
While the song was never recorded, some lyrical components did make their way into Ghost Rider. Later in the entry, Neil discusses a visit to the Drum Channel studios:
The previous week I spent an afternoon at Drum Channel, borrowing a little drumset in the studio for some casual “explorations.” It was gratifying to learn that my technique remained “ingrained” (I said to Don Lombardi, “The machine still works!”), and that having stepped away from the routine of it allowed me to think in surprisingly fresh ways. It was an enjoyable, rewarding few hours—but after, I thought about doing that every day, like rehearsing for a tour. The idea did not appeal. The same with the 950-mile motorcycle ride to Death Valley and back, and all the packing and unpacking—it did not make me want to go back to doing that every day, like on tour.

But that decision is far in the future—we’ll see which way the wind blows then. Perhaps, as the man said, “longing to do so is certain to recur.”
Perhaps not the most encouraging statement with regards to the immediate future of Rush, but not an uncommon sentiment coming from Neil.

You can read the entire entry via this LINK.

And to check out every News, Weather, and Sports entry Neil has made dating back to 2005, they are all available at the News, Weather, and Sports Archives.


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