Red Sector A

"Red Sector A" is a song by Rush that provides a first-person account of a nameless protagonist living in an unspecified prison camp setting. "Red Sector A" first appeared on the band's 1984 album Grace Under Pressure. Lyricist Neil Peart has stated that the detailed imagery in the song intentionally evokes concentration camps of the Holocaust. Peart has stated that while Nazi concentration camps of World War II were his primary lyrical motivation, he decided to abstract the lyrics so as to apply to the experiences of atrocity of any similar prison camp scenario. It also has to do with singer/bassist Geddy Lee's remembrance of his mother's accounts of the Holocaust, which she survived. The song title 'Red Sector A' comes from the name of the NASA launch area at Kennedy Space Center, where the band was granted special permission to view the launch of Columbia on April 12th, 1981.

[Intro] All that we can do is just survive All that we can do to help ourselves is stay alive All that we can do is just survive All that we can do to help ourselves is stay alive [Verse 1] Ragged lines of ragged grey Skeletons, they shuffle away Shouting guards and smoking guns Will cut down the unlucky ones I clutch the wire fence until my fingers bleed A wound that will not heal A heart that cannot feel Hoping that the horror will recede Hoping that tomorrow we'll all be freed Sickness to insanity Prayer to profanity Days and weeks and months go by Don't feel the hunger Too weak to cry [Chorus] I hear the sound of gunfire at the prison gate Are the liberators here? Do I hope or do I fear? For my father and my brother, it's too late But I must help my mother stand up straight Are we the last ones left alive? Are we the only human beings to survive? [Outro] Are we the last ones left alive? Are we the only human beings to survive?