The Spirit of Radio

One of Rush's most iconic songs and perhaps their most perfect fusion of progressive ambition and pop accessibility. The opening guitar riff — Lifeson's cascading arpeggios over Peart's driving beat — is one of the most immediately recognizable in rock. The song celebrates the idealistic power of radio while lamenting its commercialization, with the lyrics quoting Simon & Garfunkel's observation about "the words of the prophets" being written on "the studio wall."

The surprise reggae section near the end catches first-time listeners off guard every time. As Lifeson recalled: "We've always played around with reggae in the studio and we used to do a reggae intro to Working Man onstage, so we just thought we'd do the reggae bit to make us smile and have a little fun." It was inspired by Toronto radio station CFNY and its free-format approach to programming.

The song reached the Top 30 in Canada — a first for a Rush single — and became one of their most-played songs on the very medium it both celebrated and critiqued. It opened virtually every Rush concert for years and remained in the setlist until the very end of the band's touring career.