Countdown (Rush song)
{{Use Canadian English|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Countdown
| cover = Rush Countdown Single.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Rush
| album = Signals
| A-side = "New World Man"
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = Progressive rock
| length = 5:49
| label = Mercury
| writer = * Alex Lifeson
| producer = * Rush
| prev_title = Subdivisions
| prev_year = 1982
| next_title = Distant Early Warning
| next_year = 1984
| misc = {{External music video| {{YouTube|XW-8yCKwhBE|"Countdown"}}}}
}}
"Countdown" is a song by the Canadian rock band Rush. It is the closing track on their ninth studio album Signals (1982). Its lyrics are about the first launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia the previous year.{{cite book|last=Price|first=Carol Selby |title=Mystic Rhythms: The Philosophical Vision of Rush|publisher=Wildside Press LLC|year=1999|pages=131–132|isbn=1-58715-102-2}}
Composition
The song incorporates audio from voice communications between astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen and ground control, specifically Ascent CAPCOM Daniel C. Brandenstein and with commentary from Hugh Harris, Kennedy Space Center Public Affairs Officer, leading up to the launch through to LOS just after Press to Rota.{{cite book|last=Popoff|first=Martin |title=Contents Under Pressure: 30 Years of Rush at Home and Away|year=2004 |url=https://archive.org/details/contentsunderpre0000popo|url-access=registration|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-55022-678-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/contentsunderpre0000popo/page/102 102]}}
We met our liaison man, who conducted us safely into the "V.I.P." zone (Red Sector A) in the pre-dawn hours. We were due to play that night in Dallas, so we couldn't wait much longer. Finally they announced that the launch would be scrubbed for that day. Well, we ran for the car, and our daring driver sped off, around the traffic jams, down the median of the highway, and got us to the airport barely in time.The song incorporates a driving rhythm and heavy use of synthesizers, with Geddy Lee switching between his synthesizer on the verses and his Rickenbacker 4001 bass on the song's chorus. The lyrics paint a vivid account of the group's experiences witnessing the launch. The song closes the album, with its cautionary tales of man's reliance on technology, on a more positive, celebratory note.{{cite book|last=Roberto|first=Leonard |title=A Simple Kind Mirror: The Lyrical Vision of Rush|year=2000|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-0-595-21362-7}}The next night we had a show in San Antonio, after which we drove off immediately, clambered into a hired jet, and flew straight back to Florida. This time the launch took place on schedule, and it was SOMETHING!!
I remember thinking to myself as we flew back to Fort Worth after a couple days without sleep: "We've got to write a song about this!" It was an incredible thing to witness, truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I can only hope that the song comes even close to capturing the excitement and awe that we felt that morning.
— Neil Peart in the Signals tour book.{{Cite book|last=Peart|first=Neil|title=Stories From Signals, Collected From the Drummer's Diary|publisher=Anthem Entertainment|year=1982}}
The song was used as a wakeup song for astronauts during STS-109, which was the last successful flight of Space Shuttle Columbia. It was used again for astronaut Mike Fincke during STS-134, flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour on its final mission before retirement. Fincke described how his friends Greg Shurtz and NASA employee Ken Fisher chose the song because the band was inspired to write it after viewing the launch of STS-1. Fincke went on to say the song was played as a tribute to the Space Shuttle program, which has inspired people around the world.{{cite web|title=STS-109 Wake-up Calls|url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/audio/shuttle/sts-109/html/ndxpage1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020307230920/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/audio/shuttle/sts-109/html/ndxpage1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 March 2002|publisher=NASA|access-date=8 July 2011}}
This song, as printed in the liner notes of the Signals album, is "Dedicated with thanks to astronauts Young & Crippen and all the people of NASA for their inspiration and cooperation."
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- NASA History, Program Office. [https://historydms.hq.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/DMS/e000018445.pdf STS-1 Mission Commentary Tape.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024041555/https://historydms.hq.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/DMS/e000018445.pdf |date=2022-10-24 }}
{{Rush}}
{{Space Shuttle Columbia}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Songs about spaceflight
Category:Songs written by Alex Lifeson
Category:Songs written by Geddy Lee
Category:Songs written by Neil Peart
Category:Song recordings produced by Terry Brown (record producer)