Sanitarium

The beginning starts with a soft slow guitar melody, and gradually brings in a bass. The song Something for Nothing by the rock band Rush made a lasting impression on me after the first time I experienced its mind-stimulating instrumental orchestration. As the lyrics begin to get more spirited, the music picks up, brings in an amazing drum routine and works itself into perfection. The drum routine throughout the song, as in all other Rush music, is not a just a beat or drowned in the background, but a work of genius in itself. But more than the music, I think that Neil Peart’s (also the drummer) lyrics are what really pulled me in. The chorus really taps into that part of a person’s mind that tells them they need to work to move forward, because after all, “You don’t get something for nothing.”
As a band, Rush seems to always have a message to their poetry—songs. When I first began to really listen to music, I started off with bands like Godsmack and Metallica; they had messages, but it was always in a manner in which it drew the person more to the thunderous melodies behind the lyrics. Rush on the other hand, makes sure their vocals are heard, as well as their beautifully assembled compositions, as they did with Something for Nothing. Though its message seems so cliché, in that kids hear it from their parents and teachers constantly, but its manner of presentation is what really attracted its audience.
The song is all but 4:00 minutes long, but the lyrics keep ringing in your head. Especially the last verse, where the music slows down with a faint guitar melody and the sound of the drums and you hear Geddy Lee reminding you that this life is your own, and you will only get out of it what you are willing to put into it. The 4th line of the last verse: “What you live is your own story” really hits a person in a way that says, “You’ve been given this life, do something with it.” And the final 4 lines of the verse tell you how to make it your story: “In your head is the answer, let it guide you alone. Let your heart be the anchor, and the beat of your own song.” It tells you to follow your heart to great things, and let it’s beat live your story.
Although the end may be the most invigorating part of this masterpiece, the intro is no outlier. Lee starts off describing how so many people just sit and “Countless ways, [you] pass the days.” He goes on to say that many of us just sit and wait for “someone to call” and that we look for “an open door” rather than working and opening a door for ourselves. This is when the music picks up a bit and really draws the listener: in “You don’t get something for nothing. You wont get freedom for free. You wont get wise, with the sleep still in your eyes, no matter what your dream might be.” The listeners immediately begin to reflect on their own life to see if they are one of those who is sitting “waiting for the winds of change” or one who lives their own story.
Looking at my life thus far, I feel that my life is not a soulless canvas, but certainly no masterpiece. I consider myself to have both types of traits illustrated through these words. I unfortunately find myself doing something, but not enough to live my own story. I hope that as I grow older, I will open my own doors, make my own winds of change and create my own glory—and be able to call it my own story.