“My Effin’ Life,” by Geddy Lee of the Band Rush

Your Survival Guy’s been reading “My Effin’ Life,” by Geddy Lee of the band Rush. To understand Lee, one needs to know where he came from: the suburbs of Toronto, Canada, a child of holocaust surviving parents. His father died when Lee was only 12, and as such, Lee knew about loss at a young age. His mother, grief-stricken, made it hard for Lee to realize his own pain from the loss of his dad.

When Lee looks back, writing “My Effin’ Life” at age 69, he realizes he, too, was a survivor and not just a quiet kid. He was determined. He had calloused fingers from playing, he was hardened emotionally from being kicked out of one of his early bands, and he quit high school to become a full-time musician, much to his mother’s dismay (“Oy vey!).

And it took a long time for the band Rush to be known as well as they are today. Playing 200 gigs a year and still not making it was a grind and then some. It’s a hard life, Lee notes, being a musician, and it is not for the faint of heart. They didn’t have many breaks, but there were a couple. One was that the drinking age in Canada was lowered to 18 years, expanding the band’s bar audience overnight. Another was the explosion of punk rock’s three-chords-and-a-scream sound, which created a niche for a bigger group of fans looking for a more nuanced sound like Rush’s.

Then there is the talent. The talent was there. You know about drummer Neil Peart, but how about guitarist Alex Lifeson? “I know I’m biased,” Lee writes, “but I do think he’s the most underrated guitarist in the rock pantheon. Rush fans appreciate him, naturally, but I don’t believe he’s gotten his due from the mainstream or critical rock world.”

After a UK gig, Rush’s producer Terry Brown found a residential recording studio called Rockfield Studios, a rustic spot in Monmouthshire just over the Welsh border. It was the band’s first recording session abroad and resulted in the 1977 album “A Farewell to Kings.” On the song “Xanadu,” you can hear the birds outside while Neil Peart plays his wood blocks. You can also hear the sensitivity in their playing. A rock symphony by three kids from Canada.

Action Line: We all have our own journey. Explaining how you “made it” cannot be captured in “I worked hard.” You forget the day-to-day grind. But you did it. Understanding that keeping what you make is a different skill than actually making it is not intuitive. When you want help, I’m here.

Originally posted on Your Survival Guy.