Entre Nous: Background

“The lyrics in Ente Nous (“Between Us”) are about recognizing that we can transcend individual differences between ourselves and others. The music uses a technique called text-painting, in which musical gestures imitate the meaning of a word or phrase. The differences described in the lyrics are reflected by the vocal pauses in the chorus after ‘just between us,’ ‘time for us to recognize,’ ‘spaces in between,’ and ‘leave room,’ which represent points of separation. The larger message of the song, about overcoming such differences, is expressed by musical elements that create unity: the verse and chorus are in closely related keys (D and G), and the guitar and synthesizer play together in the bridge but there is no individual solo.”—Nicole Biamonte, “Contre Nous,” in Rush and Philosophy

“The title comes from Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, meaning ‘between us’ in French and captures the sense of rapport Neil feels with members of the audience. In some foreign pressings, the label included the English translation.”—Robert Telleria, Merely Players

“When the lights come on behind us and I look out at the audience and see all those little circles, [I sense that] each of those circles is a person. Each person is a story. They have circumstances surrounding their lives that can never be repeated. All those people have a whole novel about their lives, the time they were born, how they grew up, what they did, and what they wanted to do, their relationships with other people, their romances and marriages. And they are individuals. That’s what I respond to. They’re not a mob. They’re not a crowd. . . . I’m always playing for an individual. I don’t play for the crowd, for some faceless ideal of commerciality of some lowest common denominator. It’s a person up there every night, who knows everything I’m supposed to do. If I don’t do it, that person knows it.” (Modern Drummer)—Neil in Merely Players

More about “Entre Nous”
Back to Rush Vault