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Geddy lee rush12/16/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() The lyrics make other direct references, such as “the guillotine claim her bloody prize,” likely referring to the beheading of King Louis XVI and Antoinette, who were both convicted of treason. However, the quote has come to represent the French royalty’s dismissive attitude toward the starving population, and Rush uses that mythology to create a dense and potent narrative that weaves the song together as it escalates. While the quote is often attributed to Marie Antoinette, the target of the French peasants’ ire on Bastille Day, it actually predates her. The song’s first line, ending with “let them eat cake,” spells out the inspiration clearly. Peart, who wrote the lyrics after Lee briefed him on his obsession, designed “Bastille Day” to mimic a major event of the French Revolution, where peasants stormed the Bastille fortress in Paris. It’s the prog metal equivalent of “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” a song that races to its climax as chaos escalates, and the band matches that energy every step of the way. Inspired by Lee’s recent re-reading of A Tale of Two Cities, “Bastille Day” marches from a quiet beginning into a propulsive metal song, seemingly speeding up after every chorus, as if the song’s subject – a mob revolting on its rules – is storming the castle gates. Rush loves to dive into subtext lyrically – whether the subject is history or Middle Earth – and “Bastille Day” is one of their most pointed allegories in the catalog. ![]()
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