Hope (instrumental) explained

Hope
Type:	instrumental
Artist:	Rush
Album:	Snakes & Arrows
Genre:	Instrumental
Label:	Atlantic
Composer:	Alex Lifeson
Producer:	Rush Nick Raskulinecz

Hope is an acoustic instrumental from Rush's 2007 album Snakes & Arrows. It was performed on a twelve-string guitar in D Modal (D-A-D-A-A-D) tuning.

Background

"Hope" is one of the three instrumentals on the Rush album Snakes & Arrows. According to Neil Peart, the title of the instrumental was inspired by the chorus of the ninth Snakes & Arrows track "Faithless", which contains the word "Hope".^[1] It is the band's second shortest studio-album-song, clocking in at 2 minutes 2 seconds. Unusual for Rush's compositions, the song was written by Alex Lifeson alone. It is played on a twelve-string guitar and was recorded in two takes. The second take was "just for the heck of it".^[2]

A live version of "Hope" was nominated for a Grammy Award, which appeared on the compilation disc Songs for Tibet. The song was recorded on May 25, 2008, in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.^[3]

See also

• List of Rush songs
• List of Rush instrumentals

References

• Legends of Classic Rock - Rush, the Snakes & Arrows World Album Premiere

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Game of Snakes and Arrows . https://web.archive.org/web/20070421054633/http://www.rush.com/thegameofsnakesandarrows/Rush.Essay4.S&A.pdf . dead . 2007-04-21 . Neil . Peart . 2009-07-23.
2. News: Randall. Mark. June 2007. Rock's Gold Standard: Alex Lifeson mixes vintage, acoustic, and modern sounds on Rush's latest album. Guitar One.
3. Web site: Songs for Tibet now available on iTunes. 2009-07-23. August 5, 2008.