Tears

A gentle ballad notable for its use of mellotron — one of the earliest uses of keyboards in Rush's music and a hint of the synthesizer-heavy direction they would eventually take. Hugh Syme, the artist who designed the "Starman" logo, played the mellotron on this track, making it one of the first outside musician contributions to a Rush record.

The song is a straightforward love ballad with Geddy Lee delivering one of his most tender vocal performances. One reviewer noted Lee's bass playing here had an almost "Rutherfordian" quality, referencing Genesis' Mike Rutherford — a fitting comparison given Rush's growing prog-rock ambitions.

While it might seem out of place on the album that launched Rush into the progressive stratosphere, it showed the band's emotional range and their willingness to explore softer territory. As one listener noted, it was apparently even effective as a romantic song — at least one fan reported that "Tears" could be quite persuasive given the right partner.