Musical Analysis
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".
Both serve as the source, except where otherwise noted, of all that follows.
Lyricist/drummer Neil Peart is credited in the liner notes as acknowledging "the genius of Ayn Rand." Some listeners believe that "2112" is based on Ayn Rand's book, Anthem, but Neil Peart maintains that the resemblance is coincidental, saying in a 1991 "Rockline" interview:
| “ | The inspiration behind it was ... It's difficult always to trace those lines because so many things tend to coalesce, and in fact it ended up being quite similar to a book called Anthem by the writer Ayn Rand. But I didn't realize that while I was working on it, and then eventually as the story came together, the parallels became obvious to me and I thought, 'Oh gee, I don't want to be a plagiarist here.' So I did give credit to her writings in the liner notes. | ” |
Read more about this topic: 2112 (song)
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