Presto

Presto

Released: November 21, 1989
Certified Gold by RIAA: January 11, 1990
Highest Billboard Chart Position: 16

Alex Lifeson - Electric and acoustic guitars
Neil Peart - Drums and electronic percussion
Geddy Lee - Bass guitar, vocals, synthesizers

Produced by Rupert Hine and Rush
Engineered by Stephen W. Tayler
Arrangements by Rush and Rupert Hine

Recorded June--August 1989
Le Studio, Morin Heights, assisted by Simon Pressey and Jacques Deveau
McClear Place, Toronto, assisted by Rick Andersen
Mixed September 1989 at Metropolis, London, assisted by Matt Howe

Additional keyboards by Rupert Hine and Jason Sniderman
Additional backround vocals by Rupert Hine
Preproduction work at Chalet Studio, engineered by Lerxst, assisted by Everett Ravenstein
Technical support from Liam Birt, Jack Secret, Jim Johnson, Larry Allen, and Jim Burgess, with continuing thanks to Herns, Skip, Nick, Whitey, Schatzie...and the rest.

Mastered by Bob Ludwig, Masterdisk NYC
Management by Ray Danniels, SRO Management Inc., Toronto
Executive Production by Moon Records: Val Azzoli and Liam Birt

Art Direction by Hugh Syme
Photgraphy by Scarpati
Wrabit Wrangler: Mark Demont, Fins, Feathers, and Furs
Portraits by Andrew MacNaughtan

A wave of the wind to: At Chalet Studio--David, Chad Everett C. Koop, Camille, Charles, Röb, Pâül, Chester Sight and Sound, Chop Joneson's Body Shop, Tomek, Scoozball, and the Psychedelic Shack. At Le Studio--Richard, Simon, Jacques, Ginette, Linda, Richard Raccoon, Volleyball, The Mighty Gubus, The Whingies, and the Smitty Family. At McClear Place--Bob, Rick, Robert Hinge, Stats Dooey, Ohe 2he. At Metropolis--Karen, mini-Matt, Mark, Catherine, and all the hospitable staff and management. At SRO--Ray, Sheila, Pegi, Kim, and Evelyn (A Farewell To Val).
We also offer a tip of the magical hat to Natasha and Kingsley, Red and the 2-Bar, Doug Morris and Atlantic Records, Mike Roberts for the acorn of "Superconductor," and a very special thank you to the Flemings: Peter, Jenny, Joe, and Alex, for their hospitality in London.
Brought to you buy the letter "D."

We appreciate technical contributions from Saved By Technology, Wal Basses, Signature Guitars, Ludwig Drums, Avedis Zildjian Cymbals, Solid Percussion, and--The Omega Concern.

© 1989 Atlantic Records © 1989 Anthem Entertainment

Show Don't Tell

Lyrics by Neil Peart, Music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson

how many times do you hear it?
it goes on all day long
everyone knows everything
no one's ever wrong
until later

who can you believe?
it's hard to play it safe
but apart from a few good friends
we don't take anything on faith
until later

Show Don't Tell

SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
You've figured out the score
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
I've heard it all before
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
I don't care what you say
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME

you can twist perceptions
reality won't budge
you can raise objections
I will be the judge
and the jury

I'll give it due reflection
watching from the fence
give the jury direction
based on the evidence
I, the jury

SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
Hey -- order in the court
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
Let's try to keep it short
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
Enough of your demands
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
Witness take the stand
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME

SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
Hey -- order in the court
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
Let's try to keep it short
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
I don't care what you say
SHOW ME DON'T TELL ME
Let's see exhibit A

Chain Lightning

Lyrics by Neil Peart, Music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson

energy is contagious
enthusiasm spreads
tides respond to lunar gravitation
everything turns in synchronous relation

laughter is infectious
excitement goes to my head
winds are stirred by planets in rotation
sparks ignite and spread new information

respond, vibrate, feed back, resonate

sun dogs fire on the horizon
meteor rain stars across the night
this moment may be brief
but it can be so bright

hope is epidemic
optimism spreads
bitterness breeds irritation
ignorance breeds imitation

sun dogs fire on the horizon
meteor rain stars across the night
this moment may be brief
but it can be so bright
reflected in another source of light
when the moment dies
the spark still flies
reflected in another pair of eyes

dreams are sometimes catching
desire goes to my head
love responds to your invitation
love responds to imagination

respond, vibrate, feed back, resonate

The Pass

Lyrics by Neil Peart, Music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson

proud swagger out of the schoolyard
waiting for the world's applause
rebel without a conscience
martyr without a cause

static on your frequency
electrical storm in your veins
raging at unreachable glory
straining at invisible chains

and now you're trembling on a rocky ledge
staring down into a heartless sea
can't face life on a razor's edge
nothing's what you thought it would be

All of us get lost in the darkness
Dreamers learn to steer by the stars
All of us do time in the gutter
Dreamers turn to look at the stars
turn around and turn around and turn around
Turn around and walk the razor's edge
Don't turn your back
And slam the door on me

it's not as if this barricade
blocks the only road
it's not as if you're all alone
in wanting to explode

someone set a bad example
made surrender seem all right
the act of a noble warrior
who lost the will to fight

and now you're trembling on a rocky ledge
staring down into a heartless sea
done with life on a razor's edge
nothing's what you thought it would be

no hero in your tragedy
no daring in your escape
no salutes for your surrender
nothing noble in your fate
Christ, what have you done?

War Paint

Lyrics by Neil Peart, Music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson

girl before the mirror
appraises her disguise
child become a mother
tries to fix her eyes
no more of his excuses
it has to be today
she can keep her fantasy
if she can get away

paint her name on a one-way street
painted cheeks with angry heat
wounded pride on painted eyes
paint the night with battlecries

all puffed up with vanity
we see what we want to see
to the beautiful and the wise
the mirror always lies

boy before the mirror
checks his camouflage
polishes his armor
and the charger in the garage
no more lame excuses
it has to be tonight
he can take the princess
if he can take the fight

pound the drums with martial beat
pound the streets with marching feet
wounded pride, distorted eyes
paint the night with battlecries

all puffed up with vanity
we see what we want to see
to the powerful and the wise
the mirror always lies

boys and girls together
mistake conceit for pride
-- ambition for illusion
-- dreams for self-delusion
girls and boys together
see what it is we lack
boys and girls together
let's paint the mirror black
paint it black

Scars

Lyrics by Neil Peart, Music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson

I've stood upon my mountaintop
and shouted at the sky
walked above the pavement
with my senses amplified
-- I get this feeling

all my nerves are naked wires
tender to the touch
sometimes super-sensitive
but who can care too much?
-- I get this feeling

Scars of pleasure
Scars of pain
Atmospheric changes
Make them sensitive again

each emotional injury
leaves behind its mark
sometimes they come tumbling out
like shadows in the dark
-- I get this feeling

when I think about all I have seen
and all I'll never see
when I think about the people
who have opened up to me
-- I get this feeling

snow falls deep around my house
and holds the winter light
I've heard the lions hunting
in the Serengeti night
-- I get this feeling

forests turned to factories
and river, sea, and sky
hungry child in the desert
and the flies that cloud her eyes
-- I get this feeling

Pleasure leaves a fingerprint
As surely as mortal pain
In memories they resonate
And echo back again

Presto

Lyrics by Neil Peart, Music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson

if I could wave my magic wand...

I am made from the dust of the stars
and the oceans flow in my veins
here I hide in the heart of the city
like a stranger coming out of the rain

the evening plane rises up from the runway
over constellations of light
I look down into a million houses
and wonder what you're doing tonight

if I could wave my magic wand
I'd make everything all right

I'm not one to believe in magic
But I sometimes have a second-sight
I'm not one with a sense of proportion
When my heart still changes overnight

I had a dream of a winter garden
a midnight rendezvous
silver, blue, and frozen silence
what a fool I was for you

I had a dream of the open water
I was swimming away out to sea
so deep I could never touch bottom
what a fool I used to be

if I could wave my magic wand
I'd set everybody free

I'm not one to believe in magic
though my memory has a second-sight
I'm not one to go pointing my finger
when I radiate more heat than light

don't ask me
I'm just improvising
my illusion of careless flight
can't you see
my temperature's rising
I radiate more heat than light

don't ask me
I'm just sympathizing
my illusions a harmless flight
can't you see
my temperature's rising
I radiate more heat than light

Superconductor

Lyrics by Neil Peart, Music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson

packaged like a rebel or a hero
target mass appeal
to make an audience feel
he really means it

package the illusion of persona
careful to conceal
the fact that she's only too real
she's got to screen it

hit you in a soft place
a melody so sweet
a strong and simple beat
that you can dance to

Watch his every move
SUPERCONDUCTOR
Orchestrate illusions
SUPERCONDUCTOR
Watch his every move
SUPERCONDUCTOR
Hoping you'll believe
Designing to deceive
That's entertainment

he can put a target on the market
bask in your applause
reality withdraws
now he believes it

the role becomes the actor
she's addicted to applause
the stage a world because
she never leaves it

Hit you in a soft place
With sentimental ease
They know the fantasies
That you romance to

Watch her every move
SUPERCONDUCTOR
She can manipulate reactions
SUPERCONDUCTOR
Watch her every move
SUPERCONDUCTOR
Pin the donkeys on her tail
Fantasy for sale
That's entertainment...

Anagram

(for Mongo)

Lyrics by Neil Peart, Music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson

there's a snake coming out of the darkness
parade from paradise
end the need for Eden
chase the dreams of merchandise

there is tic and toc in atomic
leaders make a deal
the cosmic is largely comic
a con they couldn't conceal

There is no safe seat at the feast
Take your best stab at the beast
The night is turning thin
The saint is turning to sin

raise the art to resistance
danger dare to be grand
pride reduced to humble pie
diamonds down to sand

take heart from earth and weather
the brightness of new birth
take heart from the harvest
shave the harvest from the earth

Reasoning is partly insane
Image just an eyeless game
The night is turning thin
The saint is turning to sin

miracles will have their claimers
more will bow to Rome
he and she are in the house
but there's only me at home

Rose is a rose of splendor
posed to respond in the end
lonely things like nights,
I find, end finer with a friend

I hear in the rate of her heart
A tear in the heat of the art

The night turns thin
The saint turns to sin

Red Tide

Lyrics by Neil Peart, Music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson

nature has some new plague
to run in our streets
history some new wrinkle
we are doomed to repeat
fugitives at the bedroom door
lovers pause to find and open store
rain is burning on the forest floor
and the red tide kisses the shore

THIS IS NOT A FALSE ALARM
THIS IS NOT A TEST

stay out of the sun
it only burns my skin
sky full of poison
and the atmosphere's too thin
bless the sun, the rain no more
river running like an open sore
black wind falling to the ocean floor
and the red tide washes ashore

THIS IS NOT A FALSE ALARM
THIS IS NOT A TEST
Nowhere we can fly away
Nowhere we can rest
The party is disrupted by
An uninvited guest

deadline approaches
for the weary land
it used to be something
but we let it run down in our hands
too late for debate, too bad to ignore
quiet rebellion leads to open war
bring a sea-change to the factory floor
as the red tide covers the shore

Now's the time to turn the tide
Now's the time to fight
Let us not go gently
To the endless winter night
Now's the time to make the time
While hope is still in sight
Let us not go gently
To the endless winter night

Hand Over Fist

Lyrics by Neil Peart, Music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson

hand over fist
paper around the stone
scissors cut the paper
cut the paper to the bone
hand over fist
paper around the stone
scissors cut the paper
and the rock must stand alone

I could disappear into the crowd
but not if I keep my head in the clouds
I could walk away so proud
it's easy enough if you don't laugh too loud

I thought I was okay alone
wait for the postman and the telephone
lost in a world of my own
I thought I could run alone
thought I could run through the night alone

Hand over hand
Doesn't seem so much
Hand over hand
Is the strength of the common touch

you talk as we walk along
you never imagined I could be so wrong
humming your favorite song
you know I've hated that song for so long

how can we ever agree?
like the rest of the world
we grow farther apart
I swear you don't listen to me
holding my hand to my heart
holding my fist to my racing heart

Take a walk outside myself
In some exotic land
Greet a passing stranger
Feel the strength in his hand
Feel the world expand

I feel my spirit resist
But I open up my fist
Lay hand over hand over
Hand over fist

Available Light

Lyrics by Neil Peart, Music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson

the restless wind
has seen all things
in every kind of light
rising with the full moon
to go howling through the night

the sleepless wind
has heard all things
between the sea and sky
in the canyons of the city
you can hear the buildings cry

oh the wind can carry
all the voices of the sea
oh the wind can carry
all the echoes home to me

Run with wind and weather
To the music of the sea
All four winds together
Can't bring the world to me
Chase the wind around the world
I want to look at life -- In the available light

play of light
a photograph
the way I used to be
some half-forgotten stranger
doesn't mean that much to me

trick of light
moving picture
moments caught in flight
make the shadows darker
or the colors shine too bright

oh the light can carry
all the visions of the sea
oh the light can carry
all the images to me

Run to light from shadow
Sun gives me no rest
Promise offered in the east
Broken in the west
Chase the sun around the world
I want to look at life -- In the available light

All four winds together
Can't bring the world to me
Shadows hide the play of light
So much I want to see
Chase the light around the world
I want to look at life -- In the available light

I'll go with the wind
I'll stand in the light