MOVING PICTURES
Released: February 12th, 1981
Certified Platinum by RIAA: April 27, 1981
Certified 2x Platinum by RIAA: October 12, 1984
Certified 4x Platinum by RIAA: January 27, 1995
Certified 5x Platinum by RIAA: April 19, 2021
View All Album Certifications
Highest Billboard Chart Position: 3
| Comments | -- | Lyrics | -- | Liner Notes | -- | Articles | -- | Singles | -- | Album Artwork | -- | Album Review | -- | Tour Dates | -- | Purchase | 
Liner Notes
Geddy Lee - Bass guitars, Oberheim polyphonic; OB-X; Mini-Moog; and Taurus pedal Synthesizers, vocals
Alex Lifeson - Six and twelve string electric and acoustic guitars, Taurus Pedals
Neil Peart - Drums kit, timbales, gong bass drums, orchestra bells, glockenspiel, wind chimes, bell tree, crotales, cowbells, plywood
Produced by Rush and Terry Brown
Arrangements by Rush and Terry Brown
Recorded and mixed at Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec, during October and November, of 1980
Engineered by Paul Northfield
Assisted by Robbie Whelan, and our computerized companions: Albert, Huey, Dewey, and Louie
Digital mastering engineered by Peter Jensen
Hugh Syme is the featured guest performer once again, playing synthesizers on 'Witch Hunt'
Art direction, graphics and cover concept by Hugh Syme
Photography by Deborah Samuel
Mastered at by Bob Ludwig and Brian Lee at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, Maine
Management by Ray Danniels, SRO Management, Inc., Toronto
Executive Production: Moon Records
Road Manager and Lighting Director: Howard Ungerleider
Concert Sound Engineer: Ian Grandy
Stage Manager: Michael Hirsh
Stage Right Technician, and Crew Chief: Liam Birt
Stage Left Technician: Skip Gildersleeve
Centre Stage Technician: Larry Allen
Guitar and synthesizer Maintenance: Tony Geranios
Stage Monitor Mixer: Greg Connolly
Projectionist: Lee Tenner
Personal Shreve and Factotum: Kevin Flewitt
Concert Sound by National Sound
All-Stars: Tom Linthicum, Fuzzy Frazer, Dave Berman
Concert Lighting by See Factor International
Easy Co.: Nick Kotos, George Guido, Bob Kniffen, Bob Cross
Concert Rigging: the daring Bill Collins
Transportation expertly guided by Tom Whittaker, Billy Barlow, Kim Varney, Arthur MacLear, Pat Lines, Bill Fuquay, Mike and Linda Burnham
Fabulous Persons: at Le Studio: André, Yaël, Pam, Paul, Robbie, Roger, Harry, Claude & Gisele, André et Le Bouffe en Broche, Ted (Theo) McDonald, Irv Zuckerman & Associates (The Beords), Brain (Vings) Laski, George Vis, Ted Veneman, Max Lobstors, Saga & crew, 38 Special & crew (27-24), Drexel, Gerry, Griffin & Family, Terri at the Hawkins farm, Asteroids, volleyball (the Retardos & the Frantics 21-8!), the Greenie (you must be drinking!), Bill Ward, Loveman, Lovewoman & The Lovemachine, Scar & The Ignorant Wildfire Game, Top Secret, the Montreal Canadiens, Steven Shutt, Screvato, Robin & Phase One, Bill Elson, Cliff Burnstein, Jim Sotet, Sherry Levy, and the Oak Manorians.
Special British Supplement: Wild Horses; Jimmy & Sophie, Brian & Dee, Clive, Dirk (no relation), Mr. & Mrs. Robinson, Fin Costello, Bill Churchman, Alan Philips, Barry Murfet, Tex Yodell, Lofty & Stage Crew, Steve Tuck, Robbie Gilchrist
Dept. of Above-And-Beyond: Ray, Rhonda, L.B., Dear Olde Broon (a great mind thinks alike), Happy Birthday Ms. Broon (wrong again, eh, Hovis!)
Featuring Daisy as 'Ski Bane'
Our continuing appreciation to the people and products of Tama, Avedis Zildjian, and Rickenbacker
Coolidge Dog Painting from the Archives of Brown & Bigelow, St. Paul, Minnesota
Correspondance: P.O. Box 640, Thornhill, Ontario, Canada L3T 4A5
Red Barchetta inspired by "A Nice Morning Drive" by Richard S. Foster
© 1981 Mercury Records © 1981 Anthem Entertainment
Articles
Inside Rush's Moving Pictures - Music Express Magazine, January 1981 Deviation elevates metal warriors - The Meliorist of Lethbridges Alberta, February 1981 Moving Pictures: a Rush of fantasy - The Ohio State Lantern, February 1981 Rush Gains Fans in Hard Times - The Milwaukee Sentinel, February 1981 Moving Pictures (Review) - Cashbox USA, February 1981 Moving Pictures (Review) - New Musical Express, February 1981 Rush Cover Story - Cashbox Newspaper, March 1981 Neil Peart & Rush Go Public on 'Moving Pictures' - Circus Magazine, March 1981 Rush Job - Melody Maker, March 1981 Moving Pictures (Review) - The Michigan Daily, March 1981 Rush To Glory - Hit Parader Magazine, April 1981 Moving Pictures: Tight and Tough - Beaver County (PA) Times, May 1981 Sometimes Rush Is In A Hurry - Philadelphia Inquirer, May 1981 Rush: Power From the People - Rolling Stone Magazine, May 1981 Rush: But Why Are They In Such A Hurry? - Creem Magazine, June 1981 There's a Rush on Platinum - Cashbox Newspaper, June 1981 Rush Enjoys Fruits of Seven Years' Labor - The Tuscaloosa News, June 1981 Heavy-Metal Band Rush Draws Heavy Teen Crowd to Met Center - Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 1981 Rush Wrap Up Five-Month Tour - Circus Magazine, August 1981 Rush: The How And Why Of Their Long Climb To The Top - Record Review Magazine, August 1981 Rush: Pop Star of the Month - Song Hits, August 1981 Caught In the Act: Rush - Hit Parader Magazine, October 1981 Alex Lifeson: The Making of a Killer Sound - Guitar World Magazine, November 1981 Rush - Canadian Musician Magazine, November 1981 Closer to the Heart - Kerrang!, November 1981 Notes on the Making of Moving Pictures - Parts 1&2 - Modern Drummer Magazine, December 1982
Singles
Tom Sawyer b/w Witch Hunt Limelight b/w YYZ Vital Signs b/w In The Mood
Track Listing
1. Tom Sawyer (4:33) 2. Red Barchetta (6:06)
3. YYZ (4:24)
4. Limelight (4:19)
5. The Camera Eye (10:56)
6. Witch Hunt (Part III of Fear) (4:43)
7. Vital Signs (4:43)
Tom Sawyer
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart and Pye Dubois
A modern-day warrior
Mean mean stride
Today's Tom Sawyer
Mean mean pride
Though his mind is not for rent
Don't put him down as arrogant
His reserve, a quiet defense
Riding out the day's events -
The river
What you say about his company
Is what you say about society
-Catch the mist - Catch the myth
-Catch the mystery - Catch the drift
The world is the world is
Love and life are deep
Maybe as his skies are wide
Today's Tom Sawyer
He gets high on you
And the space he invades
He gets by on you
No, his mind is not for rent
To any god or government.
Always hopeful, yet discontent
He knows changes aren't permanent -
But change is
What you say about his company
Is what you say about society
-Catch the witness - Catch the wit
-Catch the spirit - Catch the spit
The world is the world is
Love and life are deep
Maybe as his eyes are wide
Exit the warrior
Today's Tom Sawyer
He gets high on you
And the energy you trade
He gets right on to
The friction of the day
Red Barchetta
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
My uncle has a country place, that no-one knows about
He says it used to be a farm, before the Motor Law
Sundays I elude the 'Eyes', and hop the Turbine Freight
To far outside the Wire, where my white-haired uncle waits
Jump to the ground
As the Turbo slows to cross the borderline
Run like the wind
As excitement shivers up and down my spine
Down in his barn
My uncle preserved for me an old machine -
For fifty-odd years
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream
I strip away the old debris, that hides a shining car
A brilliant red Barchetta, from a better, vanished time
Fire up the willing engine, responding with a roar!
Tires spitting gravel, I commit my weekly crime...
Wind in my hair -
Shifting and drifting -
Mechanical music
Adrenalin surge -
Well-weathered leather
Hot metal and oil
The scented country air
Sunlight on chrome
The blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware
Suddenly ahead of me, across the mountainside
A gleaming alloy air-car shoots towards me, two lanes wide
I spin around with shrieking tires, to run the deadly race
Go screaming through the valley as another joins the chase
Drive like the wind
Straining the limits of machine and man
Laughing out loud
With fear and hope, I've got a desperate plan
At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded
At the riverside
Race back to the farm
To dream with my uncle
At the fireside...
YYZ
Music: Geddy Lee and Neil PeartInstrumental
Limelight
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Living on a lighted stage
Approaches the unreal
For those who think and feel
In touch with some reality
Beyond the gilded cage
Cast in this unlikely role,
Ill-equipped to act
With insufficient tact
One must put up barriers
To keep oneself intact
Living in the Limelight
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem
Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination
The real relation
The underlying theme
Living in a fisheye lens
Caught in the camera eye
I have no heart to lie
I can't pretend a stranger
Is a long-awaited friend
All the world's indeed a stage
And we are merely players
Performers and portrayers
Each another's audience
Outside the gilded cage
The Camera Eye
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
I
Grim-faced and forbidding
Their faces closed tight
An angular mass of New Yorkers
Pacing in rhythm
Race the oncoming night
They chase through the streets of Manhattan
Head-first humanity
Pause at a light
Then flow through the streets of the city
They seem oblivious
To a soft spring rain
Like an English rain
So light, yet endless
From a leaden sky
The buildings are lost
In their limitless rise
My feet catch the pulse
And the purposeful stride
I feel the sense of possibilities
I feel the wrench of hard realities
The focus is sharp in the city
II
Wide-angle watcher
On life's ancient tales
Steeped in the history of London
Green and grey washes
In a wispy white veil
Mist in the streets of Westminster
Wistful and weathered
The pride still prevails
Alive in the streets of the city
Are they oblivious
To this quality?
A quality of light
Unique to every city's streets.
Pavements may teem
With intense energy
But the city is calm
In this violent sea
Witch Hunt
(Part III of Fear)
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
The night is black
Without a moon
The air is thick and still
The vigilantes gather on
The lonely torchlit hill
Features distorted in the flickering light
The faces are twisted and grotesque
Silent and stern in the sweltering night
The mob moves like demons possessed
Quiet in conscience, calm in their right
Confident their ways are best
The righteous rise
With burning eyes
Of hatred and ill-will
Madmen fed on fear and lies
To beat, and burn, and kill
They say there are strangers, who threaten us
In our immigrants and infidels
They say there is strangeness, too dangerous
In our theatres and bookstore shelves
That those who know what's best for us -
Must rise and save us from ourselves
Quick to judge,
Quick to anger
Slow to understand
Ignorance and prejudice
And fear
Walk hand in hand
Vital Signs
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson / Lyrics: Neil Peart
Unstable condition:
A symptom of life,
In mental,
And environmental change
Atmospheric disturbance -
The feverish flux,
Of human interface
And interchange
The impulse is pure -
Sometimes our circuits get shorted,
By external interference
Signals get crossed -
And the balance distorted
By internal incoherence
A tired mind become a shape-shifter
Everybody need a mood lifter
Everybody need reverse polarity
Everybody got mixed feelings
About the function and the form.
Everybody got to deviate
From the norm
An ounce of perception -
A pound of obscure
Process information
At half speed
Pause:
Rewind - replay -
Warm memory chip
Random-sample -
Hold the one you need
Leave out the fiction
The fact is;
This friction
Will only be worn by persistence
Leave out conditions
Courageous convictions
Will drag the dream into existence
A tired mind become a shape-shifter
Everybody need a soft filter
Everybody need reverse polarity
Everybody got mixed feelings
About the function and the form
Everybody got to elevate
From the norm...
