"I think we're quite unique in that we do have our own sound and approach and we don't really care what's going on elsewhere... we've never wanted to be part of another trend or movement"
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There’s a quiet defiance in Lifeson’s phrasing: not the swagger of a scene-leader, but the stubborn calm of a band that survived by refusing to audition for anyone else’s approval. “We don’t really care what’s going on elsewhere” isn’t ignorance; it’s a strategic allergy to fashion. It frames outside trends as noise, not inspiration, and positions “our own sound and approach” as something engineered over time - a craft, not a vibe.
The subtext is a preemptive rebuttal to rock’s recurring loyalty test: are you with the movement, or are you irrelevant? Lifeson rejects the premise. By saying “we’ve never wanted to be part of another trend,” he casts trends as borrowed clothes - useful for a season, humiliating in retrospect. It’s also a sly defense against the usual accusations thrown at progressive rock and arena bands: self-indulgence, detachment, elitism. He’s not claiming superiority; he’s claiming independence, which reads cleaner and feels harder to argue with.
Context matters because Rush built a career in the crossfire of shifting taste. They emerged when hard rock, prog, punk, new wave, and later synth-pop all took turns declaring what “real” music should be. Lifeson’s line captures how Rush navigated that churn: by treating genre politics like weather. The intent isn’t to sound pure; it’s to sound durable. That’s the real flex - not trendproof cool, but the long-game confidence of artists who bet on identity over timing.
The subtext is a preemptive rebuttal to rock’s recurring loyalty test: are you with the movement, or are you irrelevant? Lifeson rejects the premise. By saying “we’ve never wanted to be part of another trend,” he casts trends as borrowed clothes - useful for a season, humiliating in retrospect. It’s also a sly defense against the usual accusations thrown at progressive rock and arena bands: self-indulgence, detachment, elitism. He’s not claiming superiority; he’s claiming independence, which reads cleaner and feels harder to argue with.
Context matters because Rush built a career in the crossfire of shifting taste. They emerged when hard rock, prog, punk, new wave, and later synth-pop all took turns declaring what “real” music should be. Lifeson’s line captures how Rush navigated that churn: by treating genre politics like weather. The intent isn’t to sound pure; it’s to sound durable. That’s the real flex - not trendproof cool, but the long-game confidence of artists who bet on identity over timing.
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| Topic | Music |
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