YYZ (song)
"YYZ" is an instrumental rock composition by the Canadian rock band Rush from their 1981 album Moving Pictures. The live album Exit... Stage Left and the concert video recording A Show of Hands both include versions in which Neil Peart incorporates a drum solo – as an interlude on the former, and as a segue out of the piece on the latter.
Title and composition
YYZ is the IATA airport identification code of Toronto Pearson International Airport, near Rush's hometown. The band was introduced to the rhythm as Alex Lifeson flew them into the airport. A VHF omnidirectional range system at the airport broadcasts the YYZ identifier code in Morse code. Peart said in interviews later that the rhythm stuck with them. Peart and Geddy Lee have both said "It's always a happy day when YYZ appears on our luggage tags."The piece's introduction, played in a time signature of [Quintuple meter|], repeatedly renders "Y-Y-Z" in Morse Code using various musical arrangements.
Recording
The recording of YYZ took place at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec, in the summer of 1980. The rhythm of the song is inspired by the IATA airport identification code of Toronto Pearson International Airport, thought of by Neil Peart, who recalls:Peart used the crotales for the Morse code-inspired rhythm. The crashing noise heard between the breaks in the guitar solo are the sound of wind chimes tied to a 2x4 plywood sheet slapped against a wood table.
Personnel
Sources:- Geddy Lee – bass guitars, keyboards
- Alex Lifeson – guitars
- Neil Peart – drums, crotales, wind chimes, plywood