This song is described in the liner notes of the album—its interior and back cover—in two ways: • by the actually sung
lyrics, and • by the
narrative of the song's Protagonist—identified as "Anonymous, 2112"—quoted and italicized like entries from a personal journal—on the back cover and before the lyrics of all songs except "Overture" and "Grand Finale". Lyricist/drummer
Neil Peart is credited in the liner notes as acknowledging "the genius of
Ayn Rand" (though the 1997 remaster acknowledges "genus" rather than genius). Neil Peart explained the influence that she had on his music, saying in a 1991 "
Rockline" interview:
I: "Overture" The "sci-fi" sounds in the beginning of the song were created using an
ARP Odyssey synthesizer and an Echoplex tape delay. On the "2112 / Moving Pictures" episode of the documentary series
Classic Albums, producer
Terry Brown states the synth intro is composed of various parts played by
Hugh Syme that were put together in a collage.
This part musically foreshadows the rest of the song—incorporating movements from "The Temples of Syrinx", "Presentation", "Oracle: The Dream", and "Soliloquy"—as well as a guitar adaptation of
Tchaikovsky's
1812 Overture. Its sole lyric, at the end, "And the meek shall inherit the Earth", is a reference to the
Beatitudes of the
New Testament and
Psalm 37:11.
II: "The Temples of Syrinx" The song introduces life within the "Solar Federation" under control of the "Priests of the Temples of Syrinx". The computerized nature of The Priests' system was a concept envisioned by Neil Peart in the 1970s. It was released as a single, and
Record World said that Rush's "brand of hard, heavy metal, as put forth in this rocker, should soon find a place on the pop airwaves."
III: "Discovery" The Protagonist finds a guitar in a cave by a waterfall. He figures out how to tune and play it, enabling him to make his own music. He states "How different it could be from the music of the Temples." He decides to perform it before the Priests, believing they will "praise my name" for letting "[the people] make their own music". In this song, guitarist
Alex Lifeson builds up from simple open string guitar playing into increasingly complex patterns and chords, showing the man's progress as he teaches himself to play the guitar. Printed on the album were the lyrics "
Chords that build high like a mountain" and
Geddy Lee sang it this way for the 1996 live album, but the original recorded lyrics were "sounds" instead of "chords" ("
sounds that build..."). On the
Classic Albums episode on
2112 and
Moving Pictures, Lee comments on the ambiguity of the ending, but Peart states that his intent was that the Elder Race successfully deposed the Solar Federation. As the
Grand Finale ends, the lines "Attention, all planets of the Solar Federation" followed by "We have assumed control" are spoken three times each. It has been pointed out that the closing lines of seven words said three times and four words said three times results in two groups of 21 and 12 words respectively, thus 2112, but Alex Lifeson said that this was unintentional. == Personnel ==