Don't Fear the Reaper... Literally

First I would like to make a comment about last Friday's forum with Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg. For those of you who did not go, you missed out! It was really cool to hear what he had to say about education and the internet. He seemed pretty optimistic that the internet and Facebook would continue to be an important part of the learning process for all students, young and old. I was secretly hoping that Senator Orin Hatch would ask him about how his feelings towards the use of blogs for educational purposes but, sadly, he didn't. I saw Max there, so I know at least one other person went!

Now I will be continuing my posts on modern music and Shakespeare (you can find my two prior posts here and here). For those of you who are not familiar with the Blue Oyster Cult song, "Don't Fear the Reaper," there are some pretty overt Shakespearean references in the song. This song, like the other two I have blogged about, also makes reference to Romeo and Juliet (the fact that I am finding so many modern day songs with references to Romeo and Juliet makes me wonder, what is it that appeals to modern day musicians about Romeo and Juliet? Is it the fact that it is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays and that is the only one they have read or is there something else? Give me your insight!). I am not particularly fond of this song, but I find it relevant for my blogging purposes (here is a link to the focus of my blog)

Rush's "Limelight" and Shakespeare

This is a continuation of a series of posts talking about and analyzing Shakespearean references in modern day songs. With this theme for my upcoming posts, I hope to show that Shakespeare is still relevant in pop culture, specifically in modern day music. You can find my first post, an analysis of Bob Dylan's song "Desolation Row," here.

For this post, I would like to analyze the Rush classic, "Limelight." For those of you not familiar with Rush's music, they are a Canadian band formed in 1968 whose music is very progressive in nature. They are one of the most talented rock groups in rock music and have received much critical acclaim. As cited on Wikipedia,"as a group, Rush possesses 24 gold records and 14 platinum (3 multi-platinum) records. Rush's sales statistics place them third behind The Beatles and The Rolling Stones for the most consecutive gold or platinum studio albums by a rock band. Rush also ranks 79th in U.S. album sales with 25 million units."

Now that we have a little background information on the group, we can analyze the song!

Modern Day Song References to Shakespeare

Now that I have concluded my analysis on the music used in movie adaptations of Hamlet, I am now going to do a series of posts talking about and analyzing Shakespearean references in modern day songs. I plan to do at least three posts on the subject. With this theme for my upcoming posts, I hope to show that Shakespeare is still relevant in pop culture, specifically in modern day music.

The first song I would like to talk about is called "Desolation Row" by Bob Dylan. This song has two Shakespearean references, one about Romeo and another about Ophelia. The song mentions many characters who are undergoing unfavorable situations. Here is the stanza in which Romeo is mentioned:

And in comes Romeo, he’s moaning

“You Belong to Me I Believe”

And someone says, “You’re in the wrong place my friend

You better leave”

And the only sound that’s left

After the ambulances go

Is Cinderella sweeping up

On Desolation Row