Moving to Bohemia

This piece takes up where “Subdivisions” on Signals leaves off. That Rush piece talks about restless youth leaving the suburbs for the city, with its promises of opportunity and excitement; this piece is from the point of view of someone older who’s leaving the suburbs but without the illusions; rather, he goes knowing what he’ll get is hard reality, but at least that’s a more honest existence. We don’t have to take the move out of the suburbs literally. It could just represent a new, more realistic, state of mind. “Bohemia” refers to a land of outcasts. The roots of the term are the settlements in France where immigrants from Czechoslovakia moved to after being expelled from their own country in the 18th century. French artists and writers adopted that outcast identity (Bohemians), so the term has come to mean artists who reject the mainstream.—Rob Freedman, Rush Vault

“We wanted an aggressive, sort of Russian attitude from real strings, so Ben [Mink] studied the works of Russian composers before he wrote the parts.”—Geddy in Bass Player, reproduced in Merely Players, Robert Telleria

“‘Moving to Bohemia,’ he seventh song on the album, is one of the best, with some of Lee’s more interesting lyrics, which describe recognizing reality for what it is rather than accepting and offering up sugar-coated and censored versions of the truth. The strings make another appearance.”—Epignosis on Prog Archives

The tracks that may be more reminiscent of Rush’s ’90s output are “Moving to Bohemia,” where the violin part reminds me somehow of Mink’s contribution to ‘Losing It.'”—Raff on Prog Archives</a

“The pair of tracks that come up next, ‘Moving to Bohemia’ and ‘Home on the Strange,’ are a couple of quirky tracks that Geddy pulls off quite well, even if Rush maybe would not have been able to. ‘Moving to Bohemia’ is an almost ominous song with intriguing lyrical content.”—King By-Tor on Prog Archives</a

Lyrics

Where the air’s not clean
Where the water’s glowing green
Where the dogs are mean

I’m moving to Bohemia
Taking you along
Say goodbye to suburbia
You don’t have to cut the lawn

I had a dream of a different place
I had a dream that you had a different face
I heard a scream of a desperate kind
I’ve got a feeling that you’re gonna love what
you’ll find

Where we’re on T.V.
Where the money grows on trees
Where the beer Is free

Moving to Bohemia
Taking you along
Say goodbye to utopia
We’ll wave before we’re gone

I had a dream of a different place
I had a dream that you had a different face
I Hear the beat of an anxious heart
I feel the heat . . . it’s time for us to start
Time for us to start

I’m moving to Bohemia
Where the literature’s obscene
Bathing in euphoria
Where the naked truth is on the screen

I had a dream of a different place
I had a dream that you had a different face
I heard a scream of a desperate kind
I’ve got a feeling that . . .
You’re gonna love what you’ll find

You’re gonna love what you’ll find

Tablature

By Sean Jones and (seanj2112@ameritech.net) and Hemme Luttjeboer

 

Excerpted from Ultimate Guitar.

e e H+ h+e Q e e Q e e e e e e e e e e e e s s e
|———-|——-|——–|-r———–|—r—–r——-||———|
|-4:-4 mm.-|——-|——–|-e———–|—e—–e——-||———|
|-4:-rest–|——-|—–14\|-s—7—5—|—s—–s—–7\||-0-0-0-0-|
|———-|-0-0-0-|——–|-t-7—7—7-|-0-t-0-0-t-0-0—||———|

e s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s e
—12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-|—-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-|————–|
—————————|-2:————————-|-4:———–|
-0/————————|-4:————————-|-4:-0-0-0-0-0-|
—————————|—————————-|————–|

s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s
—–12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-|-9H12-12-12-11H12-12-12-11H12-12-12-11H–|
—————————–|—————————————–|
-0-0/————————|—————————————–|
—————————–|—————————————–|

s s e q e E s e e e q e e s s s s e e q s s e e e
-12-12\|—————|————————-|———————|
——-|—————|——-11—-11-11-11—-|———-11—-11—|
——-|——-4-4-5—|———-12-12-12-12-12\|—–9/12—-12——|
——-|-2-2-2/——5\|-2-2-2/——————|-2-2—————–|

e e q e s s s s e e e q e e e e e q q e s s s s e e q
—-|——————-|—————|———————–|——|
—-|——————-|—————|—–11—-11-11-11—-|——|
-12\|——-7H9-9-9-7-9-|—–0/4—5—|——–12-12-12-12-12\|-9-9–|
—-|-2-2-2————-|-2-2—–5—5\|-2-2——————-|——|

e e e e e e s s s s e s s s s s s e e e e e s s e s s e e
—————|—————————||—–r—————|—-|
—12—-12—-|—————————||—–e—————|—-|
-9/—11—-11\|————-7-9-9-9-9-9-7\||-0-0-s-0-0-0-0-0-0—|-0–|
—————|-2-2-2-2-2-2—————||—–t————-0-|—-|

o
e s s e s s e s s e e e e e s s e e e e Q s s s s s s s s e
———————|——————-|——7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-||—–|
———————|——————-|———————-||—–|
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0-0-s-0-0-0-0—0-|-0-12—————–||-3—|
———————|—————0—|———————-||—–|

q e Q e Q e Q e e q e e q e w e q e e q e e q e h E s e
———|———|————-|—|————-|———|———|
———|—–3-3-|————-|-5-|————-|——-3-|———|
-3-3-7-7-|-5-5—–|-3-3-3-7-7-7-|—|-3-3-3-7-7-7-|-5-5-5—|-3-3-3—|
———|———|————-|—|————-|———|———|

e q e e e q e s s e e e e s s s s e e e e e e q e e q e e e
———|—————–|———————|————-|——-|
———|——-5-5—5—|———————|-5-5-5——-|——-|
-3-7-7-7-|-5-5-5—–5—5-|-3-3-3-3-3-3-7-7-7-7-|——-7-7-7-|-3-3—|
———|—————–|———————|————-|——-|

s s e e e e e e e e e s s e s s e e e H+ H q e e h q
—————|———————|——-|——————-|—–|
—————|-5—5—3-3—3-3—|——-|—2/|-14-14-14-12\|—–|
-3-3-3-7-7-7-7-|———————|——-|—–|————-|—–|
—————|—3—3—–1—–1-|-0-0-0-|—–|————-|—–|

e q q q e e e e e e s s s s s s s s s s s s
|—————||———————————–|—————–|
|-12\9-12\——||———————————–|-2:-10-10-10-10–|
|———12\—||-0-0-s-0/10-s-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-|-4:————–|
|————12\||———————————–|—————–|
For complete excerpt, go to Ultimate Guitar.

Back to Rush Vault

~ by rvkeeper on April 1, 2011.