New World Man
| "New World Man" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Rush | ||||||||||
| from the album Signals | ||||||||||
| B-side | "Vital Signs" (live), "Freewill" (live) | |||||||||
| Released | August 1982 | |||||||||
| Format | 7", 12" | |||||||||
| Genre | Progressive rock, new wave, hard rock, reggae rock | |||||||||
| Length | 3:43 | |||||||||
| Label | Mercury | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Neil Peart, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson | |||||||||
| Producer(s) | Rush & Terry Brown | |||||||||
| Rush singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"New World Man" is a track from the 1982 album Signals by Canadian rock band Rush. The song was the last and quickest composed song on the album, stemming from a suggestion by then-Rush producer Terry Brown to even out the lengths of the two sides of the cassette version. It went to #1 (on the RPM national singles chart) in Canada, where it remained for two weeks in October 1982.[1][2] Less successful in the United States, it nonetheless remains Rush's only American Top 40 hit, peaking at #21 on the Billboard singles chart for three weeks in October and November 1982. It also topped the Billboard Top Tracks chart for two weeks (their first single to do so).[3] "New World Man" also reached #42 in the UK; a remixed version released as a double A-side with "Countdown" later reached #36 in the UK in early 1983.
A live version of "Vital Signs" appears as the B-side on the "New World Man" single. Other than the band's self-released 1973 single of "Not Fade Away/You Can't Fight It," this is the only song Rush has ever released on a single that did not appear on a Rush album (Mercury #76179, US edition).
Structurally, the song essentially follows a standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus pattern in the absence of a guitar solo. The song's lyrics, by contrasting a New World Man with that of one from the Old World and Third World, apparently refer to the need for Canadians and Americans, as their nations take their societal and political place in the 21st century, to learn from the experiences of European and Third World nations.[4]
See also
- List of Rush songs
- List of RPM number-one singles of 1982
- List of number-one mainstream rock hits (United States)
References
- ↑ RPM 50 Singles Survey (Canada), Oct. 9, 1982, Library and Archives Canada
- ↑ RPM 50 Singles Survey (Canada), Oct. 16, 1982, Library and Archives Canada
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 547.
- ↑ Price, Carol Selby; Price, Robert M (1998). Mystic Rhythms: The Philosophical Vision of Rush. Gullette, New Jersey: Wildside Press LLC. pp. 76–81. ISBN 1-58715-102-2.
