Manhattan Project (song)

Manhattan Project is a 1985 song by Canadian progressive rock band Rush named for the WWII project that created the first atomic bomb. Lyricist Neil Peart read ten books about the Manhattan Project before writing the lyrics so that he had a proper understanding of what the project was really about.^{[citation needed]} This song first appeared in the 1985 album Power Windows, Rush's eleventh studio album. "Manhattan Project" is the third track on Power Windows at 5:07 long. It consists of four verses, addressing:

1) A time, during the era of World War II,
2) A man, a scientist (such as J. Robert Oppenheimer),
3) A place, Los Alamos in New Mexico,
4) A man, Enola Gay pilot and mission commander Paul Tibbets.

The chorus refers to the explosion as "the big bang", in allusion to the start of a new universe following the singular event, repeating the theme of the verses marking when and where "it all began". While nuclear warfare may be seen as the ultimate pinnacle of human fear, lyricist Neil Peart does not include this song as being part of Rush's Fear series. Rush performed the song live on their Power Windows, Hold Your Fire, Presto, and Clockwork Angels tours.

See also

• List of Rush songs