They cannot choose not to decide
March 5, 2016 4:28 PM Subscribe
The Girl Who Listened To Rush is a new song by Nerf Herder, full of love and references for the titular trio.
meh. For me it's back to Parry Gripp's fake jingles instead, I guess.
posted by bigendian at 4:42 PM on March 5, 2016
posted by bigendian at 4:42 PM on March 5, 2016
As a once-and-always Rush fan, this song warms my heart.
That said: it's pronounced "wye-wye-ZED", ya damn yankee heathens!
posted by spoobnooble II: electric bugaboo at 6:43 PM on March 5, 2016 [7 favorites]
That said: it's pronounced "wye-wye-ZED", ya damn yankee heathens!
posted by spoobnooble II: electric bugaboo at 6:43 PM on March 5, 2016 [7 favorites]
I've seen Rush a zillion times across the decades. Over the past 10 years or so, I have seen sometimes 3 generations of a family attending a concert together. I assume this is evidence that there have been girls listening to Rush for a long time.
posted by hippybear at 7:52 PM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 7:52 PM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
I've always enjoyed Rush, since my teens in the 80s. It was not a deal. I wish it didn't have to become this weird gender/coolness/whatever marker.
posted by Miko at 8:38 PM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Miko at 8:38 PM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
I love Nerf Herder! I am very excited to listen to this!
posted by gingerest at 10:59 PM on March 5, 2016
posted by gingerest at 10:59 PM on March 5, 2016
I loved them before they wrote and performed the Buffy theme song! Also I grew up in Canada in the 70s and 80s which means I have nonconsensually listened to a lot of Rush! I am very excited!
posted by gingerest at 11:02 PM on March 5, 2016
posted by gingerest at 11:02 PM on March 5, 2016
In the band portraits Parry has posted on Facebook in the past few days, the three members of the once notable 90s geek rock band whose names I do not know look as you would expect them to, and Parry looks a lot like a guy who's made a living in Santa Barbara writing ditties about tacocat, space unicorn, and lazy harp seal.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 2:07 AM on March 6, 2016
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 2:07 AM on March 6, 2016
The music is okay, but ugh, those lyrics.
posted by peppermind at 4:17 AM on March 6, 2016
posted by peppermind at 4:17 AM on March 6, 2016
I wish it didn't have to become this weird gender/coolness/whatever marker.
Rush is a coolness marker? When did that happen?
Also, everyone knows that ladies don't listen to prog, for lots of reasons.
posted by effbot at 5:16 AM on March 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
Rush is a coolness marker? When did that happen?
Also, everyone knows that ladies don't listen to prog, for lots of reasons.
posted by effbot at 5:16 AM on March 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
Rush is a coolness marker?
Among a particular type of person for whom it is, sure; people who think they they are deep and profoundly insightful etc. It's a shibboleth type of thing for some people. That last 12 days thing about "challenging" conventional structures "in the way mainstream music never manages to" is a good example. Also, that was painful.
ladies don't listen to prog, for lots of reasons .
Yes, this is what I object to because it's BS. "Ladies," or women, do listen to prog rock and always have, but tend to either feel excluded by the cultural accretions around it or just not place it at the center of their being as an identity marker. It's annoying to be told "you don't do [thing]!" when I do and can easily point to dozens of others who do. Saying "women don't listen to Rush" is just another way of rendering women invisible or dismissing them, drawing boundaries around an entire musical territory and declaring it a boyzone.
posted by Miko at 8:14 AM on March 6, 2016 [5 favorites]
Among a particular type of person for whom it is, sure; people who think they they are deep and profoundly insightful etc. It's a shibboleth type of thing for some people. That last 12 days thing about "challenging" conventional structures "in the way mainstream music never manages to" is a good example. Also, that was painful.
ladies don't listen to prog, for lots of reasons .
Yes, this is what I object to because it's BS. "Ladies," or women, do listen to prog rock and always have, but tend to either feel excluded by the cultural accretions around it or just not place it at the center of their being as an identity marker. It's annoying to be told "you don't do [thing]!" when I do and can easily point to dozens of others who do. Saying "women don't listen to Rush" is just another way of rendering women invisible or dismissing them, drawing boundaries around an entire musical territory and declaring it a boyzone.
posted by Miko at 8:14 AM on March 6, 2016 [5 favorites]
just not place it at the center of their being as an identity marker.
But I don't think that's a thing that prog fans (male or female) do, at least not once they're grown up. The Rush shows I've been to have had plenty of women, most of them singing along or air-drumming and geeking out along with everyone else. I think that prog in this day and age just isn't culturally significant enough to make those kinds of stereotypes barriers. Unlike say, sci-fi fandom, where you get the stereotype of the "Fake Geek Girl" who's just pretending to like the stuff so she can be cool. I'm pretty sure nobody thinks that women at Rush shows pretend to like Rush so they can be cool.
Now, when you're talking about teenagers, that's a horse of a different color. My son is 13 and is the most insufferable prog person in the world right now. Like, it seems to cause him physical pain when he hears somebody say they like Katy Perry and he can't understand how they can not see the inherent superiority of Dream Theater. That particular brand of geek superiority complex (wrt music, movies, books, or any other cultural artifacts) is definitely a teenage guy thing. Maybe this thing about girls not listening to Rush is coming from people around our age who aren't Rush fans but who remember the (guy) Rush fans from their high school days, when sure enough it was a clubhouse with a No Girls Allowed sign.
posted by Daily Alice at 9:32 AM on March 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
But I don't think that's a thing that prog fans (male or female) do, at least not once they're grown up. The Rush shows I've been to have had plenty of women, most of them singing along or air-drumming and geeking out along with everyone else. I think that prog in this day and age just isn't culturally significant enough to make those kinds of stereotypes barriers. Unlike say, sci-fi fandom, where you get the stereotype of the "Fake Geek Girl" who's just pretending to like the stuff so she can be cool. I'm pretty sure nobody thinks that women at Rush shows pretend to like Rush so they can be cool.
Now, when you're talking about teenagers, that's a horse of a different color. My son is 13 and is the most insufferable prog person in the world right now. Like, it seems to cause him physical pain when he hears somebody say they like Katy Perry and he can't understand how they can not see the inherent superiority of Dream Theater. That particular brand of geek superiority complex (wrt music, movies, books, or any other cultural artifacts) is definitely a teenage guy thing. Maybe this thing about girls not listening to Rush is coming from people around our age who aren't Rush fans but who remember the (guy) Rush fans from their high school days, when sure enough it was a clubhouse with a No Girls Allowed sign.
posted by Daily Alice at 9:32 AM on March 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
Greg Kot just posted an interview with Lee/Lifeson in his Sound Opinions podcast. Geddy points out that the largest Rush fan convention is organized completely by women.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:35 AM on March 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:35 AM on March 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
at least not once they're grown up
That's certainly the key, but I still encounter it from grown men. Otherwise this song would not exist - there would not be anything remarkable about it.
posted by Miko at 9:41 AM on March 6, 2016
That's certainly the key, but I still encounter it from grown men. Otherwise this song would not exist - there would not be anything remarkable about it.
posted by Miko at 9:41 AM on March 6, 2016
Rush is a coolness marker? When did that happen?
March 20, 2009.
posted by AndrewInDC at 10:17 AM on March 6, 2016
March 20, 2009.
posted by AndrewInDC at 10:17 AM on March 6, 2016
There was a fairly long stretch of Rush's career where it was nothing but boys. That's not unusual for hard or prog rock. Roger Daltrey once said that in the 70s he could see nothing in American crowds of nothing but boys in blue jean jackets.
My wife, who has come with me to several Rush shows, has made cracks about them being the only concerts where there's no line at the women's restroom. At the Vapor Trails show at the Target Center in Mpls, we were seated in the first row, on the side, right by the stairs. The stage must have been only ten feet away. "Roll the Bones" kicks in. Many Rush fans have issues with that song, particularly because of the rapped bridge in the middle and it's 4/4 beat. My wife however moves into the empty stairway landing and begins dancing. A few pre-show glasses of wine might have been involved. The aging boys behind us stopped the air-drumming and slapping-de-bass long enough to go slack-jawed at the sight of a woman dancing. At a Rush show. To THAT song. Geddy was walking in our direction, saw her, and gave a nod of approval.
But the demographic had steadily changed over the years. Still no crowded restrooms but it had changed. They're done with the massive tours now so we'll never know if it would have continued.
posted by Ber at 12:29 PM on March 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
My wife, who has come with me to several Rush shows, has made cracks about them being the only concerts where there's no line at the women's restroom. At the Vapor Trails show at the Target Center in Mpls, we were seated in the first row, on the side, right by the stairs. The stage must have been only ten feet away. "Roll the Bones" kicks in. Many Rush fans have issues with that song, particularly because of the rapped bridge in the middle and it's 4/4 beat. My wife however moves into the empty stairway landing and begins dancing. A few pre-show glasses of wine might have been involved. The aging boys behind us stopped the air-drumming and slapping-de-bass long enough to go slack-jawed at the sight of a woman dancing. At a Rush show. To THAT song. Geddy was walking in our direction, saw her, and gave a nod of approval.
But the demographic had steadily changed over the years. Still no crowded restrooms but it had changed. They're done with the massive tours now so we'll never know if it would have continued.
posted by Ber at 12:29 PM on March 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
At first I thought: "What a sad, sad child she must be!". But then I realized they weren't talking about Limbaugh.
posted by TDavis at 1:47 PM on March 6, 2016
posted by TDavis at 1:47 PM on March 6, 2016
There's a big difference between "women outnumbered men at Rush concerts, for a variety of cultural reasons" and "women don't listen to Rush."
posted by Miko at 2:24 PM on March 6, 2016
posted by Miko at 2:24 PM on March 6, 2016
That last 12 days thing about "challenging" conventional structures "in the way mainstream music never manages to" is a good example.
It's a bunch of prog musicians making fun of themselves and common prog tropes/stereotypes. You seem to think music is way too important to be allowed to be silly, though, so apologies for dropping that distraction in this very serious thread.
posted by effbot at 4:25 AM on March 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's a bunch of prog musicians making fun of themselves and common prog tropes/stereotypes. You seem to think music is way too important to be allowed to be silly, though, so apologies for dropping that distraction in this very serious thread.
posted by effbot at 4:25 AM on March 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's a bunch of prog musicians making fun of themselves
Of course, but the way they mock themselves reveals common attitudes by pointing them out. If it didn't, it wouldn't make sense as humor.
posted by Miko at 8:02 AM on March 7, 2016
Of course, but the way they mock themselves reveals common attitudes by pointing them out. If it didn't, it wouldn't make sense as humor.
posted by Miko at 8:02 AM on March 7, 2016
In college, I dated a woman who was a HUGE Rush fan, starting when I was about 20 and ending when I was about 23.
One of my early wooing attempts -- which was hilariously successful -- was that when I heard she was on my hall, but visiting a friend next door, I put on "2112" in my room super loud.
C. burst in moments later. We didn't get together immediately, but it wasn't long after that. ;)
Consequently, the notion of "girls don't like Rush" seemed weird to me when I first encountered in years later. (The copy of 2112 I used in my hilariously transparent ploy was borrowed. I've never really been a fan.)
posted by uberchet at 4:10 PM on March 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
One of my early wooing attempts -- which was hilariously successful -- was that when I heard she was on my hall, but visiting a friend next door, I put on "2112" in my room super loud.
C. burst in moments later. We didn't get together immediately, but it wasn't long after that. ;)
Consequently, the notion of "girls don't like Rush" seemed weird to me when I first encountered in years later. (The copy of 2112 I used in my hilariously transparent ploy was borrowed. I've never really been a fan.)
posted by uberchet at 4:10 PM on March 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
I guess I should give more of a listen to the new album; it was much delayed but they finally delivered it to their indygogo (or whatever the hell funding op they used; I forget) last month. But my verdict so far is that they still haven't surpassed Sorry.
posted by phearlez at 5:43 AM on March 8, 2016
posted by phearlez at 5:43 AM on March 8, 2016
We Opened For Weezer is better. I quite like this one. No chill, no chill whatsoever. Go ahead and nostalgize your 90s track that nostalgized the 80s.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 10:45 AM on March 10, 2016
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 10:45 AM on March 10, 2016
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posted by grumpybear69 at 4:38 PM on March 5, 2016