Rush Song Vital Signs - an interpretation

Vital Signs

Unstable condition
A symptom of life
In mental and environmental change
Atmospheric disturbance
The feverish flux
Of human interface and interchange

The impulse is pure
Sometimes our circuits get shorted
By external interference
Signals get crossed
And the balance distorted
By internal incoherence

A tired mind become a shape-shifter
Everybody need a mood lifter
Everybody need reverse polarity
Everybody got mixed feelings
About the function and the form
Everybody got to deviate from the norm

An ounce of perception
A pound of obscure
Process information at half speed
Pause, rewind, replay
Warm memory chip
Random sample, hold the one you need

Leave out the fiction
The fact is, this friction
Will only be worn by persistence
Leave out conditions
Courageous convictions
Will drag the dream into existence

A tired mind become a shape-shifter
Everybody need a soft filter
Everybody need reverse polarity
Everybody got mixed feelings
About the function and the form
Everybody got to elevate from the norm...

(Written and performed by the band Rush and taken from the album Moving
Pictures)

 

I agree with the first line in the Rush song Vital Signs, that an unstable condition mentally and emotionally, is a symptom of life, and in mental and environmental change, although it also depends on whether mental and environmental change is supportive, loving, and creative.

I agree that so-called mental illness is a symptom of life, but one which some psychiatrists try to medicalise with psychiatric drugs, and by saying that it is all due to a chemical imbalance in the brain.  The medical model is often used by psychiatry, instead of looking at creativity and social and life skills, although sometimes the two methods and models can be applied simultaneously in mental health and by psychiatry.

I don't agree with the next line in the song, that atmospheric disturbance, and what is described very metaphorically as the feverish flux, are of human interface and interchange, because feverish flux seems to suggest that creativity is static and opposed to change, and I think that some human interface and interchange are conducive to creativity and mental health, and that creativity can embrace and create change.

The next paragraph describes the creative impulse as pure, and by saying that our circuits get shorted by external interference, seems to suggest that social and human interaction are not conducive to creativity, when I think that they are or can be.  The external can become an interference though when there is a lot of stress, and which is not very conducive to creativity and mental health.

The next line says that signals get crossed and the balance distorted by internal incoherence.  I agree that socially and internally signals can get crossed, and that balance is very important to creativity, but I don't agree that incoherence is purely internal, because it can also be external and social.  I agree with the next paragraph that everyone needs reverse polarity.  Simple reverse polarity is sleep, entertainment, or relaxation for most people, but for very creative people it can mean connecting to the unconsciousness or the imagination, but which, like meditation, is still a knowable, explainable, and conscious method and process.

I like the line that says everybody has got mixed feelings about the function and the form, because people do have different views on what is creative, and it's important to listen to those views, discuss and debate about them, and have some tolerance and moderation.  I agree that some deviation from the norm is necessary with creativity, and because we don't have a very creative education system, culture, or society.

An ounce of perception, and a pound of obscure, suggest that creativity is somewhat mysterious and unknowable, but I think that whilst a sense of mystery is sometimes a good thing, that creativity is still very knowable, explainable, and conscious.

Process information at half speed, seems to suggest that it's conducive for creativity if the mind slows down or relaxes, because it needs times when it is receptive to the other areas of the mind, reality, and to the imagination.  Stress is not really conducive to this process.  Random sample, hold the one you need, is a very accurate description of part of the creative process, and which very much relies on some randomness, filtering, flowing, and restructuring of information.  This is also necessary for improvisation in music and for creative writing.

In the next paragraph, Rush say that courageous convictions will drag the dream into existence.  This raises the matter of whether creativity is just idealism.  I think that creativity can be courageous and realistic, and can be about reordering, and about social and political change, as well as idealism, and I think that reality can interact with creativity in the creative process.  I don't believe that creativity is all just pure imagination.

The next paragraph says that everyone needs a soft filter.  I can relate to this, because creativity very much works through a soft process of selecting, flowing, filtering and processing information.  I also agree with the song that everybody has to elevate from the norm, and I like this verse and the song in general, because it talks about everybody's creativity and not just gifted individuals.