Tom Sawyer (4:34)

Cover of Moving Pictures

From Moving Pictures and 167 other releases

“Tom Sawyer” is a 1981 song by Canadian band Rush named for Mark Twain’s literary character. The song relies heavily on Geddy Lee’s synthesizer playing and the techniques of drummer Neil Peart. Geddy Lee has referred to the track as the “quintessential Rush song”; It is one of Rush’s best-known songs and is a staple of classic rock radio. Geddy Lee told The Plain Dealer newspaper the band never foresaw the success of the song: He said: “The one song that we have to play for the rest of our lives. When we wrote it, we had no idea that it would touch such a nerve with people. In many ways, it’s the quintessential Rush song.” (Source Tom Sawyer Songfacts). Notably, it reached Number 24 in the UK singles chart in May 1981 as a follow-up to their breakthrough hit “The Spirit of Radio”.

Origin

The song was written by Lee, Peart, and guitarist Alex Lifeson in collaboration with Canadian lyricist Pye Dubois (the lyricist of Max Webster), who also co-wrote other Rush songs such as “Force Ten,” “Between Sun and Moon,” and “Test For Echo.” According to the US radio show In the Studio with Redbeard (which devoted an entire episode to the making of Moving Pictures), “Tom Sawyer” came about during a summer rehearsal holiday that Rush spent at Ronnie Hawkins’ farm outside Toronto.

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A modern day warrior
Mean, mean stride
Today's Tom Sawyer
Mean, mean pride

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  • ArizonaPatient

    So much sound for three guys. So good. Respect.

    16 May 2:59am Reply
  • KeIemvor

    v yeah I'm sure you know a lot better than him how to play his own tunes...

    11 May 12:17pm Reply
  • BANDITOATTACK

    peart can't always play this song correctly. dude needs to step his game up.

    7 May 9:09pm Reply
  • o5o5o5

    space invaders!

    19 Apr 7:09pm Reply
  • harvey1963july3

    AGAIN(CLASS)

    12 Apr 10:20pm Reply
  • ThePowerStation

    Nice!

    9 Apr 11:55pm Reply
  • harvey1963july3

    ALWAYS,TOP BAND

    5 Apr 5:07pm Reply
  • Dracul11

    Greatest Band ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lets rock.

    25 Mar 9:24pm Reply
  • Eye_Gore

    One of the best 3-piece bands ever.

    15 Mar 11:59am Reply
  • WhatABoringName

    ... floated down a river on a raft with a black guy. ♩

    11 Mar 11:54am Reply
  • Dolphena

    I'd like to meet Tom Sawyer.

    19 Feb 9:45pm Reply
  • ExoSatellite

    Don't care what anyone says, I still love this track. [2]

    19 Feb 4:30pm Reply
  • J0-M0

    Don't care what anyone says, I still love this track.

    18 Feb 11:03am Reply
  • srdjstuka

    I saw them first time in '92 with Primus opening at the Frankfurt Festhalle. Sadly, Primus got booed off the stage. Then I saw them in 2004 at the Festhalle again and they filmed it for release! I was overjoyed. Then again 2007 Mannheim. Great band but wish I would've seen them in the late seventies or early eighties.

    14 Feb 12:00pm Reply
  • MIKEH3875

    saw them in '92 on the roll the bones tour think kings x opened

    9 Feb 6:33am Reply
  • aicstpgnr

    not seen them in concert yet. I love concerts and they are at top of my list to see.

    31 Jan 11:25pm Reply
  • gnotehead

    speaking of time capsules...

    23 Jan 8:42pm Reply
  • sev8ath

    I've been listening to this song loooong before I watched the series Chuck a few months ago, but since then I can't avoid remember the chuck episode while listening this song :P

    3 Jan 4:04am Reply
  • jpeiper

    Awesome. Yet not even the best song on the the album. How excellent is that?

    31 Dec 2012 Reply
  • UltimateCooller

    The music of the Universe

    21 Dec 2012 Reply
  • All 737 shouts

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