Tom Sawyer (song)
| "Tom Sawyer" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Tom Sawyer.gif | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Single by Rush | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| from the album Moving Pictures | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B-side | "Witch Hunt" (USA) "A Passage to Bangkok" (UK) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | February 28, 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Format | 7" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | October - November 1980 at Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Progressive rock, hard rock, synthrock | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 4:33 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | Mercury | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Geddy Lee, Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson, Pye Dubois | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Producer(s) | Rush and Terry Brown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rush singles chronology | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tom Sawyer is a song by Canadian rock band Rush, originally released on their 1981 album Moving Pictures as its opener. The song relies heavily on Geddy Lee's synthesizer playing and Neil Peart's drumming. Lee has referred to the track as the band's "defining piece of music...from the early '80s".[1] It is one of Rush's best-known songs and a staple of both classic rock radio and Rush's live performances, having been played on every concert tour since its release. It peaked at #25 on the UK Singles chart in October 1981,[2] at #44 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and at #8 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart.[3] In 2009 it was named the 19th-greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1.[4] "Tom Sawyer" was one of five Rush songs inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame on March 28, 2010.[5]
Contents
Background and recording
The song was written by Lee, Peart, and guitarist Alex Lifeson in collaboration with lyricist Pye Dubois of the band Max Webster, who also co-wrote the Rush songs "Force Ten," "Between Sun and Moon," and "Test For Echo." According to the US radio show In the Studio with Redbeard (which devoted an entire episode to the making of Moving Pictures), "Tom Sawyer" came about during a summer rehearsal vacation that Rush spent at Ronnie Hawkins' farm outside Toronto. Peart was presented with a poem by Dubois named "Louis the Lawyer" (often incorrectly cited as "Louis the Warrior")[6] that he modified and expanded. Lee and Lifeson then helped set the poem to music. The "growling" synthesizer sound heard in the song came from Lee experimenting with his Oberheim OB-X.[7][8]
In the December 1985 Rush Backstage Club newsletter, drummer and lyricist Neil Peart said:
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
Tom Sawyer was a collaboration between myself and Pye Dubois, an excellent lyricist who wrote the lyrics for Max Webster. His original lyrics were kind of a portrait of a modern day rebel, a free-spirited individualist striding through the world wide-eyed and purposeful. I added the themes of reconciling the boy and man in myself, and the difference between what people are and what others perceive them to be - namely me I guess.
Alex Lifeson describes his guitar solo in "Tom Sawyer" in a 2007 interview:
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
I winged it. Honest! I came in, did five takes, then went off and had a cigarette. I'm at my best for the first two takes; after that, I overthink everything and I lose the spark. Actually, the solo you hear is composed together from various takes.[9]
"Tom Sawyer" begins in 4/4 before switching to 7/8 in the instrumental section. When the instrumental section ends, it returns to 4/4 before changing again to 7/8 for the outro.
A music video for the song was filmed at Le Studio.
In popular culture
In film
- Fanboys (also featuring "Limelight")
- Halloween (2007 remake)[10]
- I Love You, Man (also featuring "Limelight")
- Small Soldiers
- The Waterboy[11]
- Ari Gold's Adventures of Power[12]
In television
- Chuck,[13] episode "Chuck Versus Tom Sawyer".
- The band performed the song during an airing of The Colbert Report on July 16, 2008, in their first American television appearance in 33 years.[14]
- Everybody Hates Chris
- Family Guy (plays as Chester The Cheetos Cheetah snorts Cheetos dust as if it were cocaine)
- Freaks and Geeks
- Fringe episode, "The Man from the Other Side"
- In the Futurama episode Anthology of Interest II, the song plays as Fry fights off an alien invasion using a control system identical to the game Space Invaders.
- The Hard Times of RJ Berger
- Imus In The Morning
- This song replaced the original MacGyver theme in its original airing in Brazil.[15]
- In part two of The Sopranos season 6, Tony Soprano listens to the song in the episode "Walk Like a Man".
- Trailer Park Boys
- Season 2 premiere of the television show Revolution
- "Togetherness" Episode 3 Closing scene
- In Archer, Dr. Krieger is seen air drumming to Neil Peart's solo while modifying Archer's weapons.
In video games
- The song was released as a downloadable bonus track for Rocksmith on November 13, 2012.
- A cover version of the song was featured in 2007's Rock Band, with the original released as DLC later.
Covers
(Alphabetized by artist)
- The main synthesizer riff is incorporated into the breakdown of the song "Pool Party!" by The Aquabats, from their 2000 album Myths, Legends, and Other Amazing Adventures, Vol. 2
- The Bad Plus from the 2007 album Prog
- Briefly featured in "Grade 9" by Barenaked Ladies along with a brief cover of the intro riff from The Spirit of Radio.
- Heavy metal, synth rock band Deadsy from the 2002 album Commencement[16]
- Foo Fighters performed a live version of the song on their Sonic Highways tour.
- Imagine Dragons cover the song on their Into the Night tour.[17][18]
- Canadian gypsy jazz band The Lost Fingers on their album Gypsy Kameloneon
- Punk, electronica band Mindless Self Indulgence from their 2005 album You'll Rebel to Anything[19]
- The band Rage from the 1998 album XIII
- Run for Cover[20]
- Sebastian Bach[21]
- Umphrey's McGee
- Young Black Teenagers, sampled on 1994 recording "Time To Make The Dough Nutz"
- DJ Z-Trip remix on Small Soldiers[22]
- Alex Skolnick Trio on the 2007 album Last Day in Paradise
Other uses
- "Pass The Mic, Tom: Beastie Boys vs. Rush" by Melody Lanes is a mashup of "Tom Sawyer" and the Beastie Boys' "Pass the Mic."
- "All Night," a song by Mike Shinoda featuring Styles of Beyond from his mixtape We Major samples "Tom Sawyer".
- Used as entrance music by professional wrestler Kerry Von Erich.[23] He used the ring name "Modern Day Warrior" early in his career, a reference to the song.
- All-Pro Football 2K8 has the song in its soundtrack.
- The 2007-2008 Snakes & Arrows Tour included a video intro for the song featuring characters from the TV series South Park. The sequence shows Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny, referred to as "Lil' Rush," attempting to play the song, which Cartman sings incorrectly. He is told to start the song over, at which point Rush would begin playing the song.[24]
- Until late 2012, The Toucher and Rich Show on the Boston radio station 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston used the song (with alternate lyrics) as the intro to their final segment, "You Listened, Now Discuss."
- On his 2013 tour, Kid Rock used an instrumental portion of "Tom Sawyer" as the beat for his song "Forever."
See also
- List of Rush songs
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the book that is referenced in the song
References
- ↑ Rush Press Conference in Puerto Rico, April 9, 2008
- ↑ UK Charts 1981, accessed July 17, 2008
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Vintagesynth.com
- ↑ Rainycitynights.com
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Halloween Soundtrack on Amazon, accessed July 18, 2008
- ↑ The Waterboy Soundtrack on Amazon, accessed July 18, 2008
- ↑ Andrewolson.com
- ↑ Chuck Soundtrack on IMDb
- ↑ Rush to Perform for the First Time on U.S. Television in Over 30 Years on 'The Colbert Report', PR Newswire, July 15, 2008
- ↑ Rush in television Power Windows Website Accessed July 18, 2008
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Setlist.fm
- ↑ YouTube
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ List of Cover Albums on Power Windows, accessed July 18, 2008 Archived July 16, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Subdivisions on Amazon, accessed July 18, 2008
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ YouTube
