on the stereo

March 21, 2005 8:38 AM

A comment in this thread reminded me of something I've always wondered about: What about the voice of Geddy Lee? How did it get so high? I wonder if he talks like an ordinary guy.

(I really want to know.)

posted by koeselitz to Media & Arts (21 answers total)

Pavement. Brighten the Corners. First track, Stereo.
posted by juiceCake at 8:40 AM on March 21, 2005

Best answer: I'd say his speaking voice is high, but not bizarre, circus freak high. Go their website and you can listen to some interviews and crap with him.

I went to see them last fall at Radio City and I'd say that his voice has held up surprisingly well. I mean, it was definitely straining, but he was still good. It's gotta be uncomfortable singing almost contralto for three hours straight.
posted by spicynuts at 8:46 AM on March 21, 2005

I wonder if he talks like an ordinary guy.

I've met him, and he does.
posted by harmfulray at 8:51 AM on March 21, 2005

Was Spicynuts meant to say: "I know him...and he does."

Truly, he is your fact-checkin' cuz.

/Pavement geek-out
posted by Chrischris at 8:51 AM on March 21, 2005

Any escape might help to smoothe the unattractive truth; but the suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth.
posted by inksyndicate at 9:05 AM on March 21, 2005 [1 favorite]

Didn't you ever listen to "Take Off?" He talks fairly normal, although with a Canadian accent.
posted by jonmc at 9:18 AM on March 21, 2005

Rush's later music has not generally required the high range Geddy used when he was younger, and he sounds much less like a helium-breathing freak when singing it.
posted by kindall at 9:19 AM on March 21, 2005

Geddy Lee is the only male singer I know, with the possible exception of Michael Jackson, who can make Jon Anderson sound like a gruff, butch truck driver (which, as it turns out, he once was).
posted by soyjoy at 9:28 AM on March 21, 2005

Response by poster: "Didn't you ever listen to "Take Off?" He talks fairly normal, although with a Canadian accent..."

"Rush's later music has not generally required the high range Geddy used when he was younger, and he sounds much less like a helium-breathing freak when singing it."

Yeah, I know. But it's amazing that he could sing so high, and still can on occasion. I've always wondered how he did it. There are a lot of bands with singers that sing incredibly high, but Geddy Lee outdoes them all, in my book. And it actually sounds really good!

Also, spicynuts wins. Those interviews between Geddy Lee and his dog are highly entertaining.
posted by koeselitz at 9:39 AM on March 21, 2005

I know they downtune some of Rush's earlier songs when they play them live now. 2112 comes to mind. Temples of Syrinx is still probably the highest, harshest thing Geddy has to sing and they've dropped it at least a whole step.

Still has a great voice though, but I have noticed a big difference between the Test for Echo tour and the Vapor Trails tour.
posted by GeekAnimator at 10:11 AM on March 21, 2005

Geddy Lee is the only male singer I know, with the possible exception of Michael Jackson

What about the singer from Coheed & Cambira? First time I heard them I thought, "I figured we'd be done with Rush soon."
posted by yerfatma at 10:14 AM on March 21, 2005

it might be falsetto ... but smokey has all these guys beat
posted by pyramid termite at 10:29 AM on March 21, 2005

I love Rush's music, especially the earlier stuff, but that is in spite of, not because of Geddy Lee's voice.
posted by Doohickie at 10:39 AM on March 21, 2005

geddy lee was on some radio talk show a few years back, i remember him saying he does not drink milk or any liquids that coagulate on the back of your throat, to avoid damaging his vocal cords. i believe hes also got specialists, too.
posted by Mach5 at 10:52 AM on March 21, 2005

Vocalists frequently have very different speaking voices than their sung voices. I have a low-ish voice for a girl, and when I play recordings of my voice, some folks simply will not believe it's me singing those high bits until I start singing along with the CD...

Prince has Smokey beat for falsetto.
posted by Specklet at 10:53 AM on March 21, 2005

...they've dropped it at least a whole step.

I think the music is still in the same key, but Geddy sings the majority of it a whole octave lower... which is understandable. I could bewrong of course. I dig the Feedback album (their latest), a collection of cover tunes; classics "they grew up with". They do them quite well in my opinion.

Yay, a Rush thread. :^)
posted by Witty at 11:35 AM on March 21, 2005

My friend Milt once interviewed Matt from Plaid Retina, and this was the only question he asked: "Why do you sing like a girl?" Matt's response was "I try very hard not to!" (I know Plaid Retina is not Rush, but if Rush songs were less than 2 minutes long and played as fast as possible, it would sound like early Plaid Retina.)
posted by raster at 12:06 PM on March 21, 2005

Best answer: This is basically off-topic, but I saw Rush on their tour this summer (their tour for the Feedback cover album) and I saw the greatest thing: several separate groups of geeks were sitting on the lawn apart from each other (think long hair, Pink Floyd shirts, etc) and an impromptu game of Magic: The Gathering broke out. I'm not sure how it happened, probably some sort of sublingual geek communication, but it was totally hilarious to me. Then the two kids out of 20 who smoked weed proceeded to pass their pipe between themselves and became the very picture of paranoia, like hiding in each others' coats to take a hit. It cracked me up, because I was sitting about 10 feet behind them, openly smoking a J with not even a second look from security.

Rush was pretty awesome - they had all sorts of animations behind them featuring dragons and whatnot, and every once in awhile they'd take a break and show a video of Jerry Stiller (I still wonder, why Jerry Stiller?) talking about how awesome Rush is and how much they were about to rock us. Rush did some great covers, including Summertime Blues and The Seeker, and Geddy sang them way up high, I assure you. Then they played Tom Sawyer, which was what I was there to see. They played for over 3 hours, we left before the very end because it was just SO much Rush.

The best part, though, was that we saw them at an amphitheater out of town, so we took a shuttle bus to get there full of aging Rush fans. One guy kept saying "Oh, driver, go as slow as you want! You know - No Rush!" It was the best bus ride of my entire life.

Also: my love for Pavement will never die, and now I have Stereo stuck in my head. Thanks koeselitz!
posted by pikachulolita at 3:27 PM on March 21, 2005

Geddy Lee and Gwen Stefani...never in the same room at the same time.
posted by juniper at 5:52 PM on March 21, 2005

Ooooh... now that you mention it, that's kinda creepy, juniper!
posted by Doohickie at 8:39 PM on March 21, 2005

Hey Koeselitz awesome Johnston!
I think you really know better then us all.
A true witness of: only tenor interpretations to whatever plays while dancing around after a shower with only a towel. The hair brush makes a great microphone especially when Belle and Sebastian are on.
posted by Viomeda at 10:47 PM on March 21, 2005