Rush - Before And After Lyrics

LOVE, LOVE this song! So awesome!

Still teenagers at this point.

Geddy Lee's bass is already a stunning trademark here!

RIP Neil Peart. VVhat happens after, I dread to ponder on that.

How has this drum break not been sampled more

Those first two minutes kinda lull you into a prog rock dream, until... *BOOM!* (And yes, my FUNKY BASS METER went to 11 on this song!)

Was my first experience with RUSH...and dudes...it was the beginning of a real deep love of their music. I have to thank em for sharing decades of my life and for giving me a deep, deep breath of fantastic ROCK...

Its not "workin man" but it should have been the second single.

Najebany Leszek!

Don't know why they don't play this one more!? So.. funky!

Beautiful progressions!

3:16 Tasty ass drum break

Love the song and the music...never really knew all the lyrics. Just looked them up. Good thing Neil came in! lol Still an awesome song.

Close to my FAVOURITE Rush tune all-time! No dis-respect to John Rutsey, the original drummer on this album...how ironic is this tune ‘BEFORE AND AFTER’?!? Still can’t believe Neil Peart...wasn’t there for this hard core rock song ..let alone a remix/make with Neil’s talent! It’s kinda hard to find these days..luv it forever, Canadian ROCK ICONS!!

best three piece band ever absolute class...

Love rush. But they should've mentioned Rutsey at hall of fame induction

Something about this song is just so Canadian. And I mean in a great way

Old school rush tunes are the best!!!!

This song has always been one of my favorite Rush tunes, very progressive

Yeahhhhh, Yeahhhhh Yeahhhhh yeah

one of the best hard rock albums ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

timeless classic..

I remember thinking how I was a Rush fan when I got Permanent Waves and then Moving Pictures. Then a buddy turns me onto this and it's like holy shit rock and roll! Who even knows this side of Rush?

You know working man is on this album, right?

I think john was let go because they wanted Neil in. I am sure they scouted Neil and knew john was in a little different musical mindset then Geddy and Alex. Alex pretty much said john was more of a straight up rock guy. They didn't wanna go the bad company route. Neil was their man.

No. John was let go because of a case of diabetes he wasn't managing; They didn't think he'd survive the road. Neal was a total stranger they had to audition. THis is all in the film 'Beyond the Lighted Stage.'

They let Rutsey go because he was diabetic and not taking care if himself. And yes, Alex and Geddy wanted to take it to the next level and John was not the drummer who could launch them in that direction. Hence, the Master, Mr. Peart.

One of Rush's best tunes..

uwaga polscy fani, swojski akcent 2:32 !!!!

"Rush" you couldn't have chosen a better name. Cause that's exactly what you get while listening to em'.

I'm 53 years old first time I heard Rush was in 1978 scene them nine times in concert the last Rush concert I seen was moving pictures I'm a big fan of early Rush quarter barrel parties 20 of my best friends still talk to most of them to day and I'm still listen to Rush on a weekly basis Rock on this is Firebird John peace out people.

I'm 53 years old first time I heard Rush was in 1978 scene them nine times in concert the last Rush concert I seen was moving pictures I'm a big fan of early Rush quarter barrel parties 20 of my best friends still talk to most of them to day and I'm still listen to Rush on a weekly basis Rock on this is Firebird John peace out people

Yes, I'm just like you my friend. 53, and still a big rush fan. These bass and drum parts are just unbelievable.... greatings from Munich, Germany

The intro reminds me of Caviar and Meths by Judas Priest. I beliee both albums came out the same year.

judas priest rocka rolla is earlier than this-

I was wrong- you are right-it was the same year, 1974- I thought caviar and meths came out on Rocka Rolla in 1971, but it was 1974-

Rutsey was damn good

He was alright, but was nothing too special at the time, if it wasn’t for peart, you wouldn’t have gotten the lyrical genius of the later albums

@The Breadcraft Agreed. He wasn't great but he was no slouch. In fact, I've had to defend him against friends who were so fanatic for Peart that they'd lost sight of what Rutsey had given to the band.

Driven2Beers allow me to reiterate, that first album was probably one of, if not my absolute favorite album. Though my point was that some of Rush’s more progressive stuff may not have happened if it weren’t for Peart’s lyrics and overall presence in the band. In my honest opinion, I’m not a fan of any of the albums past signals mostly because they were too 80’s driven, hip-hop or too opposed to my musical tastes; and many would argue (including Pearl himself) that it was what the band was trying to move towards ultimately since Fly by Night. So in no way am I dissing Rutsy, I’m just saying that the band was not better or worse, just different than what it became with Neil. Also it’s good to note that there were more songs written by Alex and/or Geddy on that album than in any other Rush album.
Edit: grammor

@The Breadcraft Make no mistake... I _never_ thought you were dissing Rutsey! And I agree that without Peart, we'd never have had 2112.

BEST SONG off this entire ALBUM!!!

I'd love to see Foo Fighters do this one

OMG,that would ROCK^^^

menom7 for sure..and you know Dave is a huge fan...and Taylor

menom7 that would SO rock!!!!!

Lynx Antares definitely!

They would spoil the song...get real.

The intro is the best

Dane👍

That's RUTSEY, baby !!

From Mellow Waves to Heavy Lift-off! Passing Pluto...

playing this at my funneral

Is Geddy your Brother ?

Still alive?

Play it now while your on the top side of dirt

this album is the rawest, fun, and loose one's they made. followed by A Fairwell To Kings. first time I saw RUSH was in Boston on their Hemispheres tour on Acid. what a fun time.

+Scott Murphy No, this album was followed by Fly By Night

+Gaul Centurion11 I think what Scott is saying is that he thinks that A Fairwell [sic] To Kings is the second rawest, fun and loose album that Rush made. I hope I clarified things. :-)

You were on acid? Kinda like how my step-dad said he was on acid when he went to a blizzard of Oz show with Randy Roads. Or was it the first time he saw Iron Maiden?? It was one of those.

Thank you Driven2Beers..exactly what I was saying. Its ashame how concert ticket prices are now. I wanted to get some Black Sabbath tickets close to the front and they wanted over a thousand dollars for one.

This is my favorite Rush album. Rutsey's style of playing drums was very similar to John Bonham. Peart is an incredible drummer but I prefer Rutsey. Pure rock and not so technical or polished. Would have been interesting to see how Rush would have been if Rutsey would have stayed in the band.

They wouldn't have lasted

They wouldn't have lasted

Way False!

I personally am not a big fan of their first album. I really only like this song, Here Again and Working Man. Neil's lyrics are one of the main attractors for me. This is not certain but I think Alex and Geddy's style of writing music changed with the arrival of Neil. It's hard to say if Rush would have gone down the prog metal path they did had it not been for Neil. In my opinion, things turned out pretty good.

3:15 one of coolest solos. kind of along the lines of Train Kept a Rollin by Aerosmith, that bluesy pentatonic minor. Rush's first album is my personal favorite by these guys, it is so raw. they weren't as technical as later albums.a different drummer had a lot to do with it. I love Neal Peart but theres still something I really like about John Rutsey's drumming.

neil even

Very True....AND This came out waay B4 Train Kept a Rollin (although released in the same year)
Plus as the years continued it became BEYOND apparent that Lifeson had WAY MORE to offer as a guitarist than Perry/Aerosmith.
Regardless of whom opened for who.
FUCKIN' RUUUUSSSSH!!!
\m/ >< \m/

This is one of Rush's hidden gems. Before and After is a precursor to what would later define their progressive rock sound.

Excellent point. This was a foreshadow of their progressive rock.

Love the harmonics by Alex and the bass by Geddy, then all of a sudden it goes full hard rock. Great song!

YEAH YEAAAAAAH YEAH😉

I would love to hear a live version of this with Neil on it.

ME TOO!!!!! :-)

Awesome tune by an awesome band!!! As music progressed do did this great band

Wonderful.

First 2 minutes are very progressive. It's their first progressive song. You can exactly hear what they really wanted to play

@LSDizzys I agree. I think their first real epic was By tor and the snowdog though.

Yes, but I think they really started to live and to love what they were doing. You can hear it and feel exactly in the interpretation of real rock. I have to give em all my respect and I will never forget how my love for them started...exactly with this album.... Thanks

awesome track from the rock legends from canada rush, love the slow rock groove in this one, the kind of track that makes you want to hold on to your lady. #rusharerockgods  

Best song on this album.. hands down

Damn straight. Working Man gets all the buzz but the true standout is this, the one that precedes it on the album.

working man is better

Here again?

Finding my way

Yeah oh yeah!!!

john rutsey was let go by management;because of his problems with diabetes. they did'nt feel he would survive the heavy touring. not because of his talent

Indeed. In my opinion Rush had two Great drummers. Honestly I don't like listening to Neil drum to Working Man. Rutsey had the groove for that 1st album.

He died young from it.

@Victor Johnson thats sad .. from what i gather this album was to be his but he didnt like his lyrics? so ged repennd them and we got a one of a kind rocking Rush album

He was an excellent drummer

spiralacrobat so true. Management thought he was gonna go home in a box during a tour and the man lived to be 55. The band speaks very fondly about him and on Johns passing spoke dearly those magical years during their teens how one day they will be famous rock stars and hold him dear to their hearts. Rutsey's part in the band's early history is acknowledged in the 2010 documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage.

When is the new Zepplin album coming out?

@Mud Sh-sh-shark That's what callers were saying about "working man." You can hear lots of "Led Zeppelin Jr." in this first album though.

+Mud Sh-sh-shark HA! the year this came out led zep didn't release an album

Mud Sh-sh-shark stop sleeping in the fetal position and your brain won't roll out of your ear no I did not stutter LOL

Clearly you haven’t been paying attention lol

Getting a massive Zeppelin vibe here.

reminds me of YOU OUGHTA KNOW by Alanis Morrisette.

James Lehr how?

James Lehr ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

XLNT!!!!

Exactly: nothin' wrong with Rutsey! People need to give him his due!

Agreed, this man was no slouch. Just stop comparing him to "the new guy"!

Though not as good as Neil is, there was nothing wrong with John’s drumming!

LOVE this song!!

and also the wonderful intro on In The End... and Tears on 2112.and so on.....beautiful stuff..........

what a really lame comment.and look at all the thumbs up...pathetic..............that slow intro is beautiful.........I still remember the first time I heard it........those wonderful sweet chords and then the distortion comes in at 1:10 and those two lush chords that repeat.......I always play that part on my electric guitar ...

They really need to do this song live

Actually, Rush have slow songs. Try Here Again or Rivendell.

Whats this about John Rutsey being crap? The band sounds DIFFERENT without Neil, the being bad or good is in the ear of the listener at this case. Rush sounds here more Rock than Prog, simple.

Just great rock n roll

Yeah, drumming is pretty weak.

All I have to say is.. I'm glad Neil Peart joined the band.

Not much of a drummer are you.....

And I personally like CA a lot, in fact I like some of their new stuff even more than their old stuff

I wonder what would happen if Rush and Terry Brown were to work on an album together again? Maybe recapture some of that magic of their 70's work? I am a die hard Rush fan, but I'm not sure if I care for their direction with Nick Raskuliniks (I don't care if I misspelled it). Let's be honest. Terry Brown was to Rush, what Mutt Lange was to Def Leppard, and Bob Rock was to Metallica and Motley Crue. That's just my opinion.

Great song by Rush, from their first album.

One of the greatest songs ever written ....ut oh there it is in your face

and this wus frm thr FIRST ALBUM , fellow zanies...

They have a few slow songs.

Najebany Leszek!
2:30

i always thought it was a solo to , when he goes from a clean guitar to the distorted one . but it is recorded with 2 guitar parts . one is doing a slow arpegio . the other is doing these pull offs . together they sound great . even the begining has a clean guitar doing arpegios , and the other is doing harmonics . Alex is a great fan off Page . and i love both there styles . i almost have this song down on guitar .

2:30 NAJEBANY LESZEK

if you use a good overdrive pedal with the gain all the way down and just a touch of phaser you can get Alex's sound pretty good

Got this album when it first came out in 74. Saw them in 77 on their 2112 tour in Sydney, (First Concert) NS. 900 showed up. Cap. 4000. Go figure.

@TheAgentAssassin that's just it, no one could ever remake this.....peace

I still have this album

amazing song I'm surprised no one had done a remake

I still remember hearing this so long ago

The guitar part blows me away

this is the most timeless intro ever.....imagine what it would sound like now.....peace

@FeelPureVolume right i agree,it makes u wonder who disliked it,who ever it was fuck that person,and they dont know good music.

Rush are the REAL 'Wyld Stallyns" - their music is the one that will align the planets, bring peace to Earth, and excellent waterslides will be available to everyone.

Be excellent to each other and party on, dudes! <3

This is an excellent early Rush Song!!!

I just fucking love how this song start as the most beautifull ballad of the world and then BANG FUCKING 70´S ROCK N ROLL IN YOUR FACE, BITCH!!

One of the few songs that has a "detachable" intro. 2 others are Emotion Detector and A Farewell To Kings. + This is the best song on the premiere album and it never gets played one way or another. This has to end.

mp3...?

RUTSEY !!!!!

1 person needs their ears checked before and after.

@MrHeitz17 Different Strings, man.... Very slow song...

Love being able to say that I'm at least 50% Canadian.

2:30 NAJEBANY LESZEK

@MrStrail69 NEIL PEART IS SHIT DERP

My initial reaction:
"Rush has a... a... SLOW SONG????"
But later:
"Oh, much better!"

WOW , i totally forgot how great this song is .

God I loved Rush as a teenager. Such tuneful songs with great melodies. Awesome and inspirational.

always remember this song as a kid great song

One of my favorites of Rush.

This song Rocks!!! Alex Lifeson does one Kick-Ass guitar solo at the beginning of this track. Rush Rocks!!!

The first record i bought, still one of the best! Happy days ......

Top of the Best, May it echo forever and onwards ;-)