The Effin' Life

Now this was an effin’ great book!

There is so much about this memoir that I want to share with you, but let’s get some basics out of the way: I am a fan. It was not always a guarantee that I would love the best Canadian rock and roll group of all time (and is that hyperbole?). I was born in the inner city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada to working-class immigrant parents from the Caribbean. A rock and roll group that wrote songs about a future where music would become illegal and titled certain tracks as “By-Tor and the Snow Dog” or “Solar Federation” would not be popular with a generation devoted to soca, zouk and kompa (look those up). It was not until we moved to the suburbs that I discovered that the older brothers of the boys in the schoolyard – always the boys only – had copies of the best years of Rush.

Yeah, some of you know the band. Some of you might have “Tom Sawyer” or “The Spirit of Radio” blasting in your head right now. And I salute you, as does the author of this heavy tome.

Geddy Lee, bassist, vocalist, keyboardist and the effin’ist person to front a Canadian rock and roll group, has finally decided to grace us with the story of his life. Now, I must admit that I wanted to know his story for a long, long time…but that some of it feels like I have already lived it: immigrants parents overcoming hardships, culture shock, and engaging in hard work to raise their kids; musical ambitions that go against the expectations of that older generation; a unique view of the world due to Canadianness; terrible hair decisions, etc. Lee writes about a youth and life that feels so close to home that I began to treat him less like a rock star, and more like a kindly uncle who lives just around the corner and always has a story to tell.

And why shouldn’t this be so? Born to Jewish parents who survived the worst of World War Two in Europe, his father died when Lee was at a very impressionable age (so familiar). He picked up the bass knowing that he would have to devote his life to it if he really could not be bothered with school (I still went to the academy, but my pen and this keyboard kept me from feeling any real devotion to higher education). He met the right people at the right time (Alex Lifeson – criminally underrated as a guitarist – and Neil Peart – your favourite drummer’s favourite drummer). And the most astonishing result of it all is…it worked! They succeeded against an industry that did not want to sign them to a label, all that glam and hair that seemed to be copying what the cool kids did, and the usual problems that face any band that manages to stay together for over forty years.

As I’m writing this, I am tempted to tell you my own story of how I got into Rush, but I have an even better tale to tell: as many of you know, I was a teacher in Tokyo. One of my contracts was with a Japanese company that would hire teachers out to give private lessons at the homes of students. One contract led me to a neighbourhood at night that would have seemed dangerous in any other large city, and a student who requested me to provide him with English conversation after his work day. Now, he was a businessman, and I knew that he had selected me because I was Canadian, but I was not satisfied. His English was good enough to pose the question: Why me? He simply smiled, opened up a cabinet in his living room, and I discovered a small shrine devoted to Lee, Lifeson and Peart in their early years.

And this is not a shock to me…or even to Lee:

“Rush fans in Brazil, Argentina and Chile are as demonstrative as Americans and know our parts as well as the British, but are almost theatrically emotional, weeping during Neil’s drum solo and taking it even further when, during “YYZ,” they broke out into what sounded like a football song, but one that fit so well into the structure of the song that I thought, Geez, they’ve written their own parts.”

Yes, it is a big effin’ tent, and there are so many quotes in the book that prove that the ride was worth the risk that I do not want to share them all with you. What I do want you to do over the lazy summer ahead is read it, love it, find a copy of “Moving Pictures” and annoy your neighbours to the point where you become the new musical nuisance on your block.

Mr. Lee, I thank you and the band for all the memories and for making me gush as I realize how close to home you were (the late Neil Peart was born in my hometown!).

An effin' great book for all of us!

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You can find more poems, stories, and articles by Kendall Defoe on my Vocal profile. I complain, argue, provoke and create...just like everybody else.

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