I am the Spirit
Bacground and Commentary
Album closer “I am the Spirit” serves as the foil to album opener “Don’t Care.” Where the former is about taking out one’s anger on one’s mate, using one another as a means of release, the latter is about our journey through life and our capability of connecting with our Other in the deepest way. “You only have you / I only have me / You lonely with you / Me lonely with me.” When you contrast the anger of “Don’t Care” with the coming-together in “I am the Sprit,” you see that the album is ultimately a confirmation of love’s durability. As Alex says in a 2002 Classic Rock interview, “By nature I’m very optimistic, a little romantic, a little funny maybe, but I felt really impassioned by all the stuff that was going around, and that was reflected in that album.”—Rob Freedman, Rush Vault
“‘I am the Spirit’ ends the album with a bang. This song has a true Rush feel on it. This song features what I believe to be the most uplifting lyrics on the album. Lifeson once again has a great feel with the riff and the heavy interludes.”—Cygnus X-2 on Prog Archives
“‘I am the Spirit’ is more like it! Tempo and mood changes in this one are plentiful. Overall, though, an average tune.”—Mellotron Storm on Prog Archives
Lyrics
I am the star-filled sky in winter
I am the starry-eyed who stares
I am the cold, grey rock of mountains
I am the one whole climbs those stairs
I am—the sea, so calm yet fearsome
I am—the one to seize the chance
I am—the air so pure yet foul
I am—the one who takes a stance
All you have is what there is
All there is, is what you make
All you make is all there is
All for your own sake
I am the building, tall and handsome
I am the builder, the one who cares
I am the painting on the canvas
I am the painter, the one who shares
I am—the trees, so strong and silent
I am—the earth, all life to give
I am—the sun, both lover and killer
I am—the child, through you, I live
I have a need for building on tomorrow
I have a need to begin today
I have no time for living some past sorrow
I just want to get on my way
I need to have strength in my conviction
I need to have the final say
I need to make sense in my selection
I just want to get on my way
You only have you
I only have me
You lonely with you
Me lonely with me
You can give it to me
I can take it from you
You’ll always have it from me
We’ll be always
I am the wind, both warm and freezing
I am the truth, not always fair
I am the clouds, static yet fleeting
I am the heart, a burden to bear
I am—the main for all the seasons
I am—the boy who never fears
I am—the woman who knows all the reasons
I am—the girl who sheds the tears
I have a need for building on tomorrow
I have a need to begin today
I have no time for living some past sorrow
I just want to get on my way
I need to have strength in my conviction
I need to have the final say
I need to make sense in my selection
I just want to get on my way
Tablature
By Richard J. Soto (hrhkinglerxst@home.com) and Chris Iacovella (corripio@yahoo.com)
Excerpted from Ultimate Guitar.
Many thanks and respect go out to Chris Iacovella for his great input and excellent insight. I’ll play with ya anytime! :^) Use a pretty clean chorus for Riff-A and a dirty distortion for Riff-B. Notice how Riff-C is very similar to Alex’s famous “Spirit of Radio” riff. (Hence this song’s title!) There’s a slight digital delay used for Riff-C. There may be a rhythm guitar under Riff-C in unison with the bass playing the B5, B5, B5, B5, A5. But I think it’s just a very punchy bass.
The wobble guitar can be produced using a tremolo pedal. However, I use a Boss Chorus CE-3 and switch to stereo mode II, but actually run it in mono through one amp through output A to create the wobble effect.
—0———2—————0———2\————|————————|
——–4————2–3———4————-0—-|————————|
——4—-4—-2-4————-4—-4——–4——|————————|
——————————————–4——–|————————|
-2————————-2————–2———-|————————|
—————————————————–|————————|
Riff-A Play 2x
—————————————————-|————————-|
—————————————————-|————————-|
—————————————————-|————————-|
—2p0-5p0-2p0—————2p0-5p0-2p0————|————————-|
—————0–2–4–5—————-0–2–4vvv-|————————-|
-0————————-0————————|————————-|
Riff-B Play 4x
——————————|———————————————–|
——————————|———————————————–|
-9\—————————|———————————————–|
-9\——————-7——-|———————————————–|
-7\——-4b-r-2vvv-/-5—5vvv|———————————————–|
——-2—————-7—–|———————————————–|
Rhy.1 Play 4x
-2p0—0-5p0—0-2p0—0———2p0—0-5p0—0-2p0—0——-|————–|
—–4——-4——-4—0———–4——-4——-4—2p0—|————–|
————————————————————-2-|————–|
—————————————————————|————–|
—————————————————————|————–|
—————————————————————|————–|
Riff-C Play 3x
-2p0—0-5p0—0-2p0—-0——3——————————|—————|
—–4——-4——–4—2p0–3——————————|—————|
——————————-2——————————|—————|
——————————-2——————————|—————|
——————————-0——————————|—————|
————————————————————–|—————|
Riff-D
—————–|—————|—————-|—————-|———-|
—————–|—————|—————-|—————-|———-|
—————–|—————|—————-|—————-|———-|
—————–|—————|—————-|—————-|———-|
—————–|—————|—————-|—————-|———-|
—————–|—————|—————-|—————-|———-|
(Riff-B Play 4x) (Rhy.1 Play 4x) (Riff C Play 3x) (Riff-D Play 1x)
—————–|—————-|——————————————-|
—————–|—————-|——————————————-|
—————–|—————-|——————————————-|
—————–|—————-|——————————————-|
—————–|—————-|——————————————-|
—————–|—————-|——————————————-|
(Riff-B Play 2x) (Riff-A Play 4x)
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For complete tab, go to Ultimate Guitar.
rush vault 