In the mid-'70s, the band was driving to a show in downtown Los Angeles, at the Shrine Auditorium, and I noticed some graffiti splattered across a wall: 'Freedom isn't free,' and I adapted that for a song on 2112, 'Something for Nothing''. Neil Peart states: 'All those paeans to American restlessness and the American road carried a tinge of wistfulness, an acknowledgment of the hardships of the vagrant life, the notion that wanderlust could be involuntary, exile as much as freedom, and indeed, the understanding that freedom wasn't free. 'Something for Nothing' closes out the album. 'The Twilight Zone' was written and recorded in one day. 'A Passage to Bangkok' and 'The Twilight Zone' are songs typical of this time period of Rush. Hugh Syme, who would play keyboards on a number of Rush songs in the future, (e.g., 'Different Strings' on Permanent Waves and 'Witch Hunt' on Moving Pictures) contributes a multi-tracked Mellotron string and flute part to the track. 'Tears' would be the first Rush song to feature an outside musician. The other songs on the album stand alone from the title track, with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson writing lyrics for one song each ('Tears' and 'Lessons', respectively). He takes this discovery the World Council, who labels him a wretch for engaging in unauthorized research and subsequently seeks to punish him. The man discovers ancient technology hidden in an old tunnel from the 'Unmentionable Times,' and inadvertently rediscovers electricity.

The novel, published in 1938, follows the life of a man living within a collectivist society structured around a central religious authority, the 'World Council' who dictates all workings within the society.

On the album, Neil Peart credits 'the genius of Ayn Rand.' Rand, a Russian-born American novelist and Objectivist philosopher, wrote a novella entitled Anthem from which Peart borrowed the broad strokes of the plot. As he dies, another planetary battle begins resulting in the ambiguous ending 'Attention all planets of the Solar Federation: We have assumed control.' (This spoken section was created by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson reportedly 'messing around with a tape recorder'.) Upon awakening he becomes distraught and commits suicide. He goes into hiding and dreams of a world before the Solar Federation. When he goes to present this to the priests of the Temples, they destroy the guitar. By 2112, the world is controlled by the 'Priests of the Temples of Syrinx', who determine the content of all reading matter, songs, pictures - every facet of life.Ī man discovers a guitar and learns to play different music.

In the year 2062, a galaxy-wide war results in the union of all planets under the rule of the Red Star of the Solar Federation.

2112 cd