“Red Barchetta” is the story of a car chase in an Orwellian future. The song’s narrator seeks to escape urban dystopia by driving an illegal antique motor car around the countryside, while two hovering law enforcement vehicles pursue and attempt to apprehend him. The titular Barchetta is a refurbish...
[Verse 1]
My uncle has a country place
That no one knows about
He says it used to be a farm
Before the Motor Law
And on Sundays I elude the eyes
And hop the turbine freight
To far outside the wire
Where my white-haired uncle waits
[Chorus]
Jump to the ground
As the Turbo slows to cross the borderline
Run like the wind
As excitement shivers up and down my spine
Down in his barn
My uncle preserved for me an old machine
For fifty-odd years
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream
[Verse 2]
I strip away the old debris
That hides a shining car
A brilliant red Barchetta
From a better, vanished time
We fire up the willing engine
Responding with a roar
Tires spitting gravel
I commit my weekly crime
[Bridge]
Wind in my hair
Shifting and drifting
Mechanical music
Adrenaline surge
Well-weathered leather
Hot metal and oil
The scented country air
Sunlight on chrome
The blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware
[Interlude]
[Verse 3]
Suddenly, ahead of me
Across the mountainside
A gleaming alloy air-car
Shoots towards me, two lanes wide
I spin around with shrieking tires
To run the deadly race
Go screaming through the valley
As another joins the chase
[Chorus]
Drive like the wind
Straining the limits of machine and man
Laughing out loud with fear and hope
I've got a desperate plan
At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded at the riverside
Race back to the farm
To dream with my uncle at the fireside
Red Barchetta was written by Alex Lifeson & Neil Peart & Geddy Lee.
Red Barchetta was produced by Terry Brown & Rush.
Rush released Red Barchetta on Thu Feb 12 1981.