“LISTEN TO MY MUSIC”: ART, RESISTANCE AND CONNECTION IN ‘2112’

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the song '2112', present in the fourth studio album by the Canadian musical group Rush, released in April 1976. Throughout the analysis, it is highlighted the approach given by Rush’s drummer Neil Peart,  who wrote both lyrics and paratexts that make up the seven parts of the referred track, regarding the role of art in the characterization of the individuality of the human being and in his/her connection with other members of the collectivity. The argument built is that art starts from the knowledge of the present time in order to ponder about the future, in a creative exercise. In the end, it is argued that the Canadian group, through its meta-artistic and multimedia dystopian narrative, built a message of resistance against the forces that mainly oppress artistic creativity. To undertake the analysis, concepts of literary theory and criticism, history and sociology of art, psychology and other areas of the human sciences are used.

 Keywords: Music. Art. Resistance. Connection.