YYZ (song)
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| "YYZ" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Song by Rush | ||
| from the album Moving Pictures | ||
| Released | February 28, 1981 | |
| Genre | Progressive Rock | |
| Length | 4:24 | |
| Label | Mercury Records | |
| Writer(s) | Lee & Peart | |
| Producer(s) | Rush & Terry Brown | |
| Moving Pictures track listing | ||
| "Red Barchetta" (2) | "YYZ" (3) | "Limelight" (4) |
"YYZ" is an instrumental song that appears on the Rush album Moving Pictures. It became one of the band's most popular songs and has been a live staple for Rush since the release of the album in 1981. On the live album Exit...Stage Left, a version of the song is played with drummer Neil Peart performing a three-and-a-half minute drum solo in the middle.
One of the better known bits of trivia about the song is that its introduction, in the odd time signature of 10/8, plays out the letters "Y-Y-Z" in Morse Code (-.--/-.--/--..) YYZ is the airport code for Toronto Pearson International Airport in Toronto, the city where Rush was formed during the late 1960s (Neil Peart once said, "It's always a happy day when YYZ appears on our luggage tags!"). The initial guitar riff also plays out the YYZ code using the dissonant interval of the tritone, playing a tritone lower than the starting pitch during each 16th note. The synthesizer melody played above it is a rare example of the Locrian mode.
"YYZ" was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Rock Instrumental category in 1982.
The intro to YYZ, minus the keyboards, was used note for note by alternative rock band Primus in their song "To Defy The Laws of Tradition" released on their 1990 album Frizzle Fry, and also covered on their live 1989 album Suck On This. YYZ had also been covered by Dream Theater during their time as Majesty, and has been released on The Majesty Demos. This song is also occasionally covered live by the modern jam band Umphrey's McGee.
"YYZ" is featured as one of 64 playable songs in the PlayStation 2/Xbox 360 video game Guitar Hero II. It was first revealed to the public as one of four songs included on a demo disc from Official Playstation Magazine a month before the final game was released.
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