Lyrics to Cygnus X-1, Book II: Hemispheres

This version of Cygnus X-1, Book Ii: Hemispheres was released by Rush in 1978.

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When our weary world was young
The struggle of the ancients first began
The gods of love and reason
Sought alone to rule the fate of man

They battled through the ages
But still neither force would yield
The people were divided
Every soul a battlefield

‘I bring truth and understanding
I bring wit and wisdom fair
Precious gifts beyond compare
We can build a world of wonder
I can make you all aware
I will find you food and shelter
Show you fire to keep you warm
Through the endless winter storm
You can live in grace and comfort
In the world that you transform’

The people were delighted
Coming forth to claim their prize
They ran to build their cities
And converse among the wise
But one day the streets fell silent
Yet they knew not what was wrong
The urge to build these fine things
Seemed not to be so strong
The wise men were consulted
And the Bridge of Death was crossed
In quest of Dionysus
To find out what they had lost

‘I bring love to give you solace
In the darkness of the night
In the Heart’s eternal light
You need only trust your feelings
Only love can steer you right
I bring laughter, I bring music
I bring joy and I bring tears
I will soothe your primal fears
Throw off those chains of reason
And your prison disappears’

The cities were abandoned
And the forests echoed song
They danced and lived as brothers
They knew love could not be wrong
Food and wine they had aplenty
And they slept beneath the stars
The people were contented
And the gods watched from afar
But the winter fell upon them
And it caught them unprepared
Bringing wolves and cold starvation
And the hearts of men despaired

The universe divided
As the heart and mind collided
With the people left unguided
For so many troubled years
In a cloud of doubts and fears
Their world was torn asunder into hollow
Hemispheres

Some fought themselves, some fought each other
Most just followed one another
Lost and aimless like their brothers
For their hearts were so unclear
And the truth could not appear
Their spirits were divided into blinded
Hemispheres

Some who did not fight
Brought tales of old to light
‘My Rocinante sailed by night
On her final flight’
To the heart of Cygnus’ fearsome force
We set our course
Spiralled through that timeless space
To this immortal place

I have memory and awareness
But I have no shape or form
As a disembodied spirit
I am dead and yet unborn
I have passed into Olympus
As was told in tales of old
To the city of Immortals
Marble white and purest gold…

About Lyrics and Cygnus X-1, Book Ii: Hemispheres by Rush

The lyrics for Cygnus X-1, Book Ii: Hemispheres are made up of the words, verses and background chorus for the popular 1978 song by Rush. Like a lot of songs, the lyrics to Cygnus X-1, Book Ii: Hemispheres have both direct meanings and metaphorical context hidden within the song's words. All of the meanings are only truly known by the creators of the lyrics for Cygnus X-1, Book Ii: Hemispheres - Rush and any of the writers who worked with them on the song.

If you have an interest in the structure of words and phrases, you can dissect the lyrics to Cygnus X-1, Book Ii: Hemispheres by Rush in multiple ways. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Cygnus X-1, Book Ii: Hemispheres" means the words set to the music of Cygnus X-1, Book Ii: Hemispheres, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Rush. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Cygnus X-1, Book Ii: Hemispheres and the lyrics to Cygnus X-1, Book Ii: Hemispheres are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Rush who came here looking just for the lyrics to Cygnus X-1, Book Ii: Hemispheres, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.