Fear series

The "Fear Series," or as it's more commonly known among Rush's fanbase, "The Fear Trilogy," is a set of four songs by the band Rush. The series consists of Part I: The Enemy Within (from 1984's Grace Under Pressure), Part II: The Weapon (from 1982's Signals), Part III: Witch Hunt (from 1981's Moving Pictures), and Part IV: Freeze (from 2002's Vapor Trails). Parts I, II, and III were released in reverse order, while Part IV was released over twenty-one years after Part III. The songs do not follow a set storyline; instead, they deal with topics relating to the emotion of "fear".

Motivation

In a 1994 interview, Neil Peart describes what inspired the "Fear" Series:

The idea for the trilogy was suggested by an older man telling that he didn't think life was ruled by love, or reason, or money, or the pursuit of happiness -- but by fear. This smart-but cynical guy's position was that most people's actions are motivated by fear of being hungry, fear of being hurt, fear of being alone, fear of being robbed, etc., and that people don't make choices based on hope that something good will happen, but in fear that something bad will happen.

I reacted to this the way all of us tend to react to generalities: "Well, I'm not like that!" But then I started thinking about it more, watching the way people around me behaved, and I soon realised that there was something to this viewpoint, So I sketched out the three "theaters of fear," as I saw them: how fear works inside us ("The Enemy Within"), how fear is used against us ("The Weapon"), and how fear feeds the mob mentality ("Witch Hunt").

As it happened, the last theme was easiest to deal with, so it was written first, and consequently appeared first on record, and the other two followed in reverse order for the same reason.

Part One: The Enemy Within

The Enemy Within describes phobias and other situations that scare people intentionally, thus causing paranoia and worry. Instrumentally, the song begins with a sharp attack and ends by fading out, thus feeling like the first movement of a trilogy.

Part Two: The Weapon

The Weapon explains how everything that people fear can be used against them, even leaders, great nations, evil dictators, lovers, and murderers. Instrumentally, the song fades in at the beginning and fades out at the end, being the middle section of the trilogy.

Part Three: Witch Hunt

The concept of Witch Hunt is how manipulators can use fear to "possess" the "ignorant" masses to their liking, much like the Salem townspeople during the Witch Hunts. Instrumentally, the song fades in at the beginning, but ends on a strong climactic crescendo thus signaling the end of the trilogy, even though this song was recorded first in the sequence.

At the beginning of this part, the "mob sounds" were in fact the band layering sounds they made while drinking outside the studio in the snowy winter. It was recorded the night John Lennon died on December 8, 1980.

Part Four: Freeze

Freeze explores the fine line between running away and/or standing up to encounter one's fear, otherwise known as the fight or flight response. Instrumentally, the song begins and ends sharply, without fade. Not being part of the original conception of Fear as a trilogy, it doesn't fit as cohesively with the other three pieces, but may be seen as an addendum or somewhat of an afterword.

Notes