Pretentious? It could be, sometimes. But that did little to alter the experience of encountering the music as a teenager and feeling not just transfixed, but also understood by it. At 46, I generally listen to music as a way of relaxing into my work. At 16, I was trying to figure out who I was. Though Peart’s themes and inspirations ranged widely, the through-line for most of his songs was the struggle of becoming, and the anxiety and marvel of being.

Too many hands on my time / Too many feelings, / Too many things on my mind. / When I leave I don’t know what I’m hoping to find. / And when I leave I don’t know what I’m leaving behind.

That’s from the song “The Analog Kid.” As a teenager going to a school 3,000 miles from home, I felt as if it had been specifically written for me. It must have seemed the same way for thousands of other kids my age, just trying to work out our place in the world. Implicit in the lyrics was the reassurance that the songwriter had been there before us, equally befuddled and afraid. And that it would be O.K.

Over years of going to Rush concerts, I always came away awed not just by the quality of the musicianship but also by the length of the shows: The band never seemed to want to give audiences anything but its full measure of appreciation. And while I was never any sort of groupie, I also watched more than a few interviews with the band on the internet. The impression was always the same: Here were three guys who had remained grounded, grateful, humble and sane. Another Rush discovery: Not every star has to be an awful person to be a great artist.

For his 2013 induction speech at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Peart quoted a line he attributed to Bob Dylan: “The highest purpose of art is to inspire. What else can you do for anyone but inspire them?”

The inspiration continues. Thanks to Neil Peart for helping so many of us find it.

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