Witch Hunt (Everything Old is New Again) April 21st, 2010
Originally Written 01/31/04
Having a streaming MP3 player down with my treadmill makes workouts a lot better. It gives me a better selection of music and I don’t have to drag CDs down to the basement. Plus it lets me reconnect with albums I haven’t listened to in awhile.
Today it was “Moving Pictures,” which is probably Rush’s best album and an old favorite. It was envigorating working out to YYZ and cool hearing those old songs again. Then came “Witch Hunt” and it hit home a little harder than it ever has before. The message is still poignant after 20 years, and unfortunately it’s still applicable…
The night is black
Without a moon
The air is thick and still
The vigilantes gather on
The lonely torch lit hill
Features distorted in the flickering light
The faces are twisted and grotesque
Silent and stern in the sweltering night
The mob moves like demons possessed
Quiet in conscience, calm in their right
Confident their ways are best
The righteous rise
With burning eyes
Of hatred and ill-will
Madmen fed on fear and lies
To beat and burn and kill
They say there are strangers who threaten us
In our immigrants and infidels
They say there is strangeness too dangerous
In our theaters and bookstore shelves
That those who know what’s best for us
Must rise and save us from ourselves
Quick to judge
Quick to anger
Slow to understand
Ignorance and prejudice
And fear walk hand in hand…