YYZ (song)
| "YYZ" | |
|---|---|
| Instrumental by Rush | |
| from the album Moving Pictures | |
| Released | February 12, 1981 |
| Recorded | 1980 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:25 |
| Label | Mercury |
| Songwriter(s) | |
| Producer(s) |
|
| Audio sample | |
| Music video | |
| "YYZ" on YouTube | |
"YYZ" (natively pronounced wye-wye-zed) is an instrumental rock composition by the Canadian rock band Rush from their 1981 album Moving Pictures. The live album Exit... Stage Left (1981) and the concert video recording A Show of Hands (1989) both include versions in which Neil Peart incorporates a drum solo – as an interlude on the former, and as a segue out of the piece on the latter.[2][3]
Title and composition
[edit]YYZ is the IATA airport identification code of Toronto Pearson International Airport, near Rush's hometown. The band was introduced to the rhythm as Alex Lifeson flew them into the airport. A VHF omnidirectional range system at the airport broadcasts the YYZ identifier code in Morse code. Peart said in interviews later that the rhythm stuck with them.[4] Peart and Geddy Lee have both said "It's always a happy day when YYZ appears on our luggage tags."[5]
The piece's introduction, played in a time signature of 10
8, repeatedly renders "Y-Y-Z" in Morse Code using various musical arrangements.[6][7]
| "YYZ" rendered in Morse code | ||
|---|---|---|
| Y | Y | Z |
| - . - - | - . - - | - - . . |
Music video
[edit]An official animated music video was released on YouTube on March 11, 2022 to coincide with the release of the 40th anniversary edition of Moving Pictures. The video contains elements from the parent album cover, and depicts a heist in Toronto. It also contains various easter eggs referencing Rush's other work, such as a fast food chain named Fried by Night, based on their album Fly by Night.
Recording
[edit]The recording of YYZ took place at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec, in the summer of 1980[8]. The rhythm of the song is inspired by a IATA airport identification code of Toronto Pearson International Airport, thought of by Neil Peart, who recalls:
"The rhythm stuck in my head and I said, ‘Guys!’ So then, thematically we said, ‘We’ll let’s use that airport — so much a part of our lives in those days and after — let’s use that as a metaphor in a sense. Again, in a playful way. There was no sense of ‘Okay, this part is this part’ and all that. But there is a sense of bustling and coming and going and the grand emotion of that middle section of what airports can be. In our lives, airports were rich with symbolism. Departures and comings and goings; departures and arrivals. Separations and meetings. That was kind of woven into the song. The exotic nature of travel, too, and Alex’s guitar solo for sure too. He wove in that kind of eastern mode."[9]
Neil Peart’s used the crotales for the Morse code-inspired rhythm. The crashing noise heard between the breaks in the guitar solo are the sound of windchimes tied to a 2x4 plywood sheet slapped against a wood table[10].
Awards and nominations
[edit]"YYZ" was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Rock Instrumental category in 1982. It lost to "Behind My Camel" by The Police, from their album Zenyatta Mondatta.[11]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ Popoff, Martin (January 5, 2024). "The Top 20 unlikely Progressive Rock hits, ranked". Goldmine. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- ^ "Neil Peart Solo Number 4 – Exit... Stage Left, 1981". theparadiddler.com. Retrieved 2018-10-28.
- ^ "Neil Peart Solo Number Six – A Show of Hands, 1988". theparadiddler.com. Retrieved 2018-10-28.
- ^ Martin Smith (2010). Rush: Classic Albums: 2112 & Moving Pictures (DVD). Eagle Rock Entertainment. Event occurs at 122 minutes.
- ^ "Rush by Brian Harrigan from Power Windows". 2112.net. Archived from the original on 2004-06-17. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
- ^ Raggo, Michael T.; Hosmer, Chet (31 December 2012). Data Hiding Exposing Concealed Data in Multimedia, Operating Systems, Mobile Devices and Network Protocols (1st ed (Online-Ausg.). ed.). Rockland, MA: Elsevier Science. ISBN 978-1597497411.
- ^ Berti, Jim; Bowman, Durrell, eds. (2011). Rush and philosophy : heart and mind united. Popular Culture & Philosophy. Vol. 57. Chicago: Open Court. ISBN 978-0812697162. OCLC 670481677.
- ^ ""Moving Pictures" linernotes and more from Power Windows: A Tribute To Rush". www.2112.net. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ Popoff, Martin (2004). Contents Under Pressure: 30 Years of Rush at Home and Away. Montreal: ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-55022-678-2.
- ^ ""'Twenty-Five Questions' by Neil Peart" - Backstage Club Newsletter, December 1985". www.2112.net. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ "24th Annual Grammy Awards Final Nominations". Billboard. Vol. 94, no. 3. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. January 23, 1982. p. 90. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
