Red Sector A
title: "Red Sector A" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1984-singles", "anthem-records-singles", "rush-(band)-songs", "songs-about-the-holocaust", "1984-songs", "songs-based-on-actual-events", "songs-written-by-geddy-lee", "songs-written-by-alex-lifeson", "songs-written-by-neil-peart"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sector_A" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Red Sector A |
| cover | Red Sector A.gif |
| type | single |
| artist | Rush |
| album | Grace Under Pressure |
| B-side | Red Lenses |
| released | May 1984 |
| genre | |
| length | 5:09 (album version) |
| 4:10 (single edit) | |
| label | Anthem |
| writer | Neil Peart, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson |
| producer | * Rush |
| prev_title | The Body Electric |
| prev_year | 1984 |
| next_title | Afterimage |
| next_year | 1984 |
| misc | |
| :: |
| name = Red Sector A | cover = Red Sector A.gif | alt = | type = single | artist = Rush | album = Grace Under Pressure | B-side = Red Lenses | released = May 1984 | recorded = | studio = | genre = | length = 5:09 (album version) 4:10 (single edit) | label = Anthem | writer = Neil Peart, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson | producer = * Rush
- Peter Henderson | prev_title = The Body Electric | prev_year = 1984 | next_title = Afterimage | next_year = 1984 | misc =
"Red Sector A" is a song written and performed by Rush, from their 1984 album Grace Under Pressure. It provides a first-person account of a nameless protagonist living in an unspecified prison camp setting.
Lyricist Neil Peart has stated that the detailed imagery in the song intentionally evokes concentration camps of the Holocaust, although he left the lyrics ambiguous enough that they could deal with any similar prison camp scenario. The song was inspired in part by Geddy Lee's mother's accounts of the Holocaust.
In a rare instance for Rush's music, the track features no bass guitar, with Lee instead completely focusing on synthesizers and vocals.
Background
Geddy Lee explained the genesis of the song in an interview:
In a 1984 interview Neil Peart describes writing "Red Sector A":
Song title
The song's title "Red Sector A" comes from the name of a NASA launch area at Kennedy Space Center, where the band watched the first launch of Space Shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981. This trip also inspired the song "Countdown", from their previous album Signals.
Track listing
| title1 = Red Sector A | lyrics1 = Neil Peart | music1 = Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson | length1 = 5:09 | music2 = Lee, Lifeson | length2 = 4:43 | title2 = Red Lenses | lyrics2 = Neil Peart
References
- Rock 'N' Roll Never Forgets Holocaust's Horror, Palm Beach Post, May 6, 2005
References
- "Red Sector A".
- Benarde, Scott R.. (25 June 2004). "How the Holocaust rocked Rush front man Geddy Lee". jweekly.com.
- Popoff, Martin. (2004). "Contents under pressure 30 years of Rush at home & away". [[ECW Press]].
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