2112: Эпическая сюита Rush о свободе и музыке

Rush song from the album of the same name

"2112" (pronounced twenty one twelve) is a song by the Canadian rock band Rush. It was released as a 20 minute song on their 1976 album of the same name and is the longest single song by the band. The overture and the first section, "The Temples of Syrinx", were released as a single and have been featured in most of Rush's setlists since. Starting with the 1996 97 Test for Echo Tour, when any parts of the song were performed live, they were transposed down one full step, as heard on every live album and DVD from Different Stages forward, due to Lee's decreased vocal range. The song was adapted into a comic booklet, which used the lyrics of the song as lines for the characters and the narrations from the cover as intros.

The "sci fi" sounds in the beginning of the song were created using an ARP Odyssey synthesizer and an Echoplex tape delay. On the "2112 / Moving Pictures" episode of the documentary series Classic Albums, producer Terry Brown states the synth intro is composed of various parts played by Hugh Syme that were put together in a collage. This part musically foreshadows the rest of the song—incorporating movements from "The Temples of Syrinx", "Presentation", "Oracle: The Dream", and "Soliloquy"—as well as a guitar adaptation of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Its sole lyric, at the end, "And the meek shall inherit the Earth", is a reference to the Beatitudes of the New Testament and Psalm 37:11.

The song introduces life within the "Solar Federation" under control of the "Priests of the Temples of Syrinx". The computerized nature of The Priests' system was a concept envisioned by Neil Peart in the 1970s. It was released as a single, and Record World said that Rush's "brand of hard, heavy metal, as put forth in this rocker, should soon find a place on the pop airwaves."

The Protagonist finds a guitar in a cave by a waterfall. He figures out how to tune and play it, enabling him to make his own music. He states "How different it could be from the music of the Temples." He decides to perform it before the Priests, believing they will "praise my name" for letting "[the people] make their own music". In this song, guitarist Alex Lifeson builds up from simple open string guitar playing into increasingly complex patterns and chords, showing the man's progress as he teaches himself to play the guitar. Printed on the album were the lyrics "Chords that build high like a mountain" and Geddy sang it this way for the 1996 live album, but the original recorded lyrics were "sounds" instead of "chords" ("sounds that build "). On the Classic Albums episode on 2112 and Moving Pictures, Lee comments on the ambiguity of the ending, but Peart states that his intent was that the Elder Race successfully deposed the Solar Federation. As the Grand Finale ends, the lines "Attention, all planets of the Solar Federation" followed by "We have assumed control" are spoken three times each. It has been pointed out that the closing lines of seven words said three times and four words said three times results in two groups of 21 and 12 words respectively, thus 2112, but Alex Lifeson said that this was unintentional.

This song is on Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock where it is used within the game's storyline (four band warriors find Demigod's Battle Axe Guitar and must play all parts of "2112" on basic controllers). The level is narrated by Rush. The song was made available to download on December 31, 2011 as both 3 pieces and as the complete 20 minute track, for play in Rock Band 3. Along with the basic gameplay offered with similar games in its series, the song also allowed players to utilize the Rock Band 3 exclusive Pro mode. Which made use of MIDI guitars and a MIDI compatible electronic drum kit to simulate playing the real song. It is the longest song available for the Rock Band series. The song and its universe feature in the novel Ready Player One by Ernest Cline as fundamental plot elements, and also got a visual reference in its film adaptation.