Alex Lifeson reveals the Rush song he “really struggled with” learning to play again for the band’s reunion: “My hands are not operating like they once did”
Amid their Fifty Something reunion tour, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee of Rush have revealed the hardest song that they had to relearn ahead of the shows.
After kicking off in early June, the tour is still running this August and will continue through to April next year. It sees Anika Nilles take to the drum kit following the death of Neil Peart in 2020, who is continually honoured each night on the tour.
READ MORE: Alex Lifeson spent years “fighting for guitar rights” after this Rush song: “It’s a strong song, it’s just the mix that I didn’t like”
Speaking to Rolling Stone about their return to the stage together, Lee and Lifeson explain why they decided to bring A Farewell To Kings back into their setlist for the first time since 1979.
“We wanted to be better than we’ve ever been,” begins Lifeson. “Not just be as good as we were, and challenge ourselves with songs that we haven’t played in a long time. All of them were challenging after 11 years anyways, but to bring back A Farewell To Kings, that took a lot of work. Probably the hardest song of all.”
Lee adds, “That was the hardest one because it’s a really mental song. It’s just weird, structurally. Each part is difficult to play in and of itself. And then when you add… like even the beginning, it sounds like a walk in the park, but it’s not.
“You go into the intro, and the intro keeps changing. In the intro and the outro, beats are added, beats are dropped, and you have to remember the order that those happen in. Then you get into the opening riff. That’s a tricky riff for a guitar player to play.”
Lifeson continues, “Yeah, I really struggled with it. I’ve played classical for a long time, but I really struggled with it. My hands are not operating like they once did. I work really hard to get them to that level and it’s been pretty successful so far, I think. But to play that, like Ged said, to play that in a very smooth, delicate way, and that’s the way it is on record, while you still have another guitar draped on your sore neck, it takes a lot of gymnastics to get it all done.”
Watch the full interview below:
To view the full list of Fifty Something tour dates, head over to the official Rush website.
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