Headlong Flight

2012 single by Rush

"Headlong Flight"

Single by Rush

from the album Clockwork Angels

Released

April 19, 2012

Length

7:20
5:08 (radio edit)

Label

Anthem (Canada), Roadrunner

Songwriter(s)

Lee/Lifeson, lyrics by Peart

Producer(s)

Nick Raskulinecz and Rush

Rush singles chronology

"Caravan"
(2010)

"Headlong Flight"
(2012)

"The Wreckers"
(2012)

"Headlong Flight" is the second single from Canadian rock band Rush's 19th studio album, Clockwork Angels. It was released to radio stations and for online preview on April 19, 2012, and became available digitally and on disk April 24, 2012.^[1] A lyrics video was also made available on YouTube. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Geddy Lee commented on the song:^[2]

'Headlong Flight' was one of those songs that was a joy to write and record from beginning to end. Alex [Lifeson] and I had blast jamming in my home studio one day before the second leg of the Time Machine tour, and I did not revisit that jam until a year later. Alex and I assembled the song to be an instrumental and its original title was 'Take That Lampshade Off Yo Head!,' but once we saw the lyrics Neil [Peart] had written, I knew that the spirit of the lyrics matched the instrumental perfectly and it was just a matter of making them fit and writing the melodies.

Musically, the song contains elements inspired by "Bastille Day," another Rush song. In a 2012 interview, Neil Peart confirmed this was deliberate.^[3]

Live performances of the song during the Clockwork Angels Tour and R40 Live Tour incorporated a short drum solo by Peart, titled "Drumbastica."

Track listing

Music by Lee/Lifeson, lyrics by Peart

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Headlong Flight" (Radio Edit)	5:08
2.	"Headlong Flight" (Album Version)	7:20

Chart performance

Chart	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock	23
Billboard Canadian Hot 100^[4]	84

Personnel

Geddy Lee – lead vocals, bass, bass pedals, keyboards
Alex Lifeson – guitar
Neil Peart – drums, percussion
David Campbell – String arrangement and conducting

References

^ "Headlong Flight release". Retrieved 17 Jun 2012.
^ "Headlong Flight on Rolling Stone". Retrieved 17 Jun 2012.
^ "Headlong Flight: Background and Commentary". Retrieved 1 March 2018.
^ "Headlong Flight Canadian chart". Retrieved 17 Jun 2012.

Rush

Studio albums

Rush (1974)
Fly by Night (1975)
Caress of Steel (1975)
2112 (1976)
A Farewell to Kings (1977)
Hemispheres (1978)
Permanent Waves (1980)
Moving Pictures (1981)
Signals (1982)
Grace Under Pressure (1984)
Power Windows (1985)
Hold Your Fire (1987)
Presto (1989)
Roll the Bones (1991)
Counterparts (1993)
Test for Echo (1996)
Vapor Trails (2002)
Snakes & Arrows (2007)
Clockwork Angels (2012)

Live albums

All the World's a Stage (1976)
Exit... Stage Left (1981)
A Show of Hands (1989)
Different Stages (1998)
Rush in Rio (2003)
R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour (2005)
Snakes & Arrows Live (2008)
Grace Under Pressure Tour (2009)
Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland (2011)
Clockwork Angels Tour (2013)
R40 Live (2015)

Live videos

Exit... Stage Left (1982)
Grace Under Pressure Tour (1986)
A Show of Hands (1989)
Rush in Rio (2003)
R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour (2005)
Rush Replay X 3 (2006)
Snakes & Arrows Live (2008)
Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland (2011)
Clockwork Angels Tour (2013)
R40 Live (2015)

Compilations

Rush Through Time (1979)
Chronicles (1990)
Retrospective I (1997)
Retrospective II (1997)
The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974–1987 (2003)
Gold (2006)
Retrospective III: 1989–2008 (2009)
Working Men (2009)

Video compilations

Through the Camera Eye (1985)
Chronicles (1990)

Box sets

The Studio Albums 1989–2007 (2013)

Extended plays

Feedback (2004)
Cygnus X-1 (2017)

Singles

1970s	"In the Mood" "Fly by Night" "Lakeside Park" "The Twilight Zone" "Closer to the Heart" "Circumstances" "The Trees"
1980s	"The Spirit of Radio" "Entre Nous" "Limelight" "Tom Sawyer" "Vital Signs" "New World Man" "Subdivisions" "Countdown" "Red Sector A" "Afterimage" "The Big Money" "Mystic Rhythms" "Time Stand Still" "Show Don't Tell"
1990s–2010s	"The Pass" "Dreamline" "Roll the Bones" "Ghost of a Chance" "Stick It Out" "Nobody's Hero" "Test for Echo" "Half the World" "Driven" "One Little Victory" "Secret Touch" "Summertime Blues" "Far Cry" "Spindrift" "Caravan" "Headlong Flight"