Rush - Witch Hunt Song Analysis

Witch Hunt by Rush

Marisa K.

Brooke S.

Elise H.

Vivian L.

1st verse

• Image of a dark night with no light creates obscure mood & cloudy misconceptions.
• Diction: "thick" & "still" reveal the tenseness & denseness of the mob.
• "Vigilantes" means violent crowd & reveals authority
• Music: drum beat emphasizes diction

2ND verse

- Imagery of faces of the mob members moving toward their target

- Listeners picture a ghostly night time scene à mood of terror and apprehension

- “Distorted features” illustrates people amass together without any independent thinking

- Diction: “twisted” & “grotesque” mean displeasing in appearance, but hold intense, horrifying, & monstrous connotations

- Simile: “moves like demons possessed” illustrates mob mentality of blind determination & confidence in their collective view to find and shun those who do not conform

- Juxtaposition of “quiet” & “calm” with the action verbs “beat” & “burn” in the next verse demonstrate contrast of the mob’s manipulated thoughts with their harsh actions.

THE NIGHT IS BLACK, WITHOUT A MOON

THE AIR IS THICK AND STILL

THE VIGILANTES GATHER ON

THE LONELY TORCHLIT HILL

Features distorted in the flickering light,

Faces are twisted and grotesque

Silent and stern in the sweltering night,

The mob moves like demons possessed.

Quiet in conscience, calm in their right, Confident their ways are best.

Musical elements: intro

Thesis

• Beginning instrumental gets progressively louder to illustrate the rising feelings of mob.
• Shouting voices add to agressiveness.
• Extended introduction gives listeners a feeling of suspense.
• Rhymthic instrumental conveys image of marching mob united in blind aggression.

They say there are strangers who threaten us,

Our immigrants and infidels.

They say there is strangeness to danger us

In our theatres and boookstore shelves,

That those who know what's best for us

Must rise and save us from ourselves.

3RD verse

• "Righteous" denotes good, whole-hearted, what is right.
• "Burning eyes" conveys intensity & severity of the "righteous"'s feelings
• "Burning" connotes pain & harm
• Alliteration of "fed and fear" and "beat and burn" emphasizes & dramatizes the fact that society has gotten so bad and not changed over time
• Image created by harsh, intense diction paints awful picture of what is happening in society

The righteous rise

With burning eyes

Of hatred and ill-will.

Madmen fed on fear and lies

To beat and burn and kill.

4TH verse

- Repetition of “They say there”

- Reoccurring idea of “strange” being a synonym for farm

- Reference to “immigrants and infidels”

- Knowledge related to power

- Biblical allusion to Christ

Rush warns listeners with a timeless message: those in power manipulate the weak majorities due to their fear of the unknown, leading the masses to conform to societal practices blindly.

5TH verse

Repetition of "quick to" emphasizes how society jumps to conclusions and unapproving

Diction choices "anger, judge,ignorance,prejudice,fear" exposes all the characteristics that society pushes on to others and is further emphasized by "hand in hand" . It shows how society controls the majority and that they have the same beliefs.

"Slow to understand" further emphasizes society's control on an individual by stating how the individuals can not, or do not want to, comprehend society's negative unchanging effects in the works.

Quick to judge,

Quick to anger,

Slow to understand

Ignorance and prejudice

And fear walk hand in hand.

works cited

"Limelight, a Tribute to Rush; LINKS." Limelight, a Tribute to Rush. Web. 28 May 2013.

"Rush-Witch Hunt (Part III of Fear) (Lyrics) - YouTube." YouTube. Web. 29 May 2013.

"Witch Hunt Lyric Meaning - Rush Meanings." Song Lyrics, Song Meanings & More at SongMeanings. Web. 29 May 2013.

"rush - witchhunt - YouTube." YouTube. Web. 28 May 2013.

overall musical elements

• Simplicity of the chords & repetition of the base guitar note pattern emphasizes the unchanging cycle of the manipulators
• Synthesizer used for artificial noises that add to eerie mood & unsettling distribution of power.
• Guitar solo interrupts & transitions from the follies of the past to the same mistakes in present day.
• Last minute of instrumental w/ the lead guitar is softer & allows readers to process that although years have gone by, human mentality has not changed.