Hold your fire – Keep it burning bright

As a musician of many years, musical inspiration can come from many sources at any age or time of your life. For example, my secondary school music teacher was so uninspiring that I gave up music as one of my options … yet my English teacher so inspired me with poetry, the writings of John Lennon … AND he owned a Fender Telecaster, which he brought into school on occasions … Still to this day, my holy grail of guitars!!

It’s always great to re-visit music from your past. It can evoke all sorts of emotions, happiness, nostalgia, regret and even sadness sometimes. It can transport you back to a moment in time, you can remember where you were, who you were with etc. … a momentary musical snapshot of your life.

I am always looking for inspiration in music to apply to my everyday life, whether it’s just the power of music to move you emotionally (Elgar’s ‘Nimrod’ springs to mind!) or the lyrics.

In this instance, for me it was both!

I recently decided to play (whilst doing some chores around the house!) ‘Hold Your Fire’, one of my favourite albums from the 1980s, by Canadian rock band Rush. (Coincidentally my aforementioned English teacher was Canadian!) This is a massive production piece of synth infused rock!

As I pottered about thinking how great it was to hear it all again, especially quite loud on my beloved Bose system … track 7 arrived … ‘Mission’.

Back in 1987 when I first heard this track, it was always instantly my favourite … (power of music, emotion, Elgar etc. … blah, blah, blah!) … BUT … for the first time, I listened to the lyrics more closely, and then had to play it again.

The main hook line hit me between the eyes in a way that it never had before. Perhaps my 26 year old self just wasn’t receptive or perceptive enough to take it in at the time, maybe I just wasn’t ready to hear it in the way I have heard it now. Although the song is predominantly about the idealisation of other people’s lifestyles, I have chosen to interpret it in a slightly different way and take the positive aspects on-board.

With a lot of positive changes happening recently in my life, it’s fantastic to have something from the past take on a whole new positive meaning for the present and the future … and so, written by the band’s amazing drummer and main lyricist, Neil Peart, I would like to share this with you …

Hold your fire, keep it burning bright.
Hold the flame ‘til the dream ignites,
A spirit with a vision, is a dream with a mission.

Hold your fire keep it burning bright Middle Aged Musician Hold your fire keep it burning bright Middle Aged Musician Middle Aged Musician, Rock and Roll Grandad and Foster Care Leaver  Middle Aged Musician, Rock and Roll Grandad and Foster Care Leaver Bill Lowdell – Patreon Page  wdcmusic.co.uk Blog Links: lowdell.uk/category/rock-and-roll-grandad/