The Camera Eye

By Rush

On Moving Pictures

Released on February 12, 1981

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[Instrumental Intro]


[Verse 1]

Grim faced and forbidding, their faces closed tight

An angular mass of New Yorkers

Pacing in rhythm, race the oncoming night

They chase through the streets of Manhattan

Head first humanity, pause at a light

Then flow through the streets of the city


[Instrumental Break]


[Pre-Chorus]

They seem oblivious to a soft spring rain, like an English rain

So light, yet endless, from a leaden sky, yeah

The buildings are lost in their limitless rise

My feet catch the pulse and the purposeful stride


[Chorus]

I feel the sense of possibilities

I feel the wrench of hard realities

The focus is sharp in the city


[Instrumental Break]


[Verse 2]

Wide angle watcher on life's ancient tales

Steeped in the history of London

Green and grey washes in a wispy white veil

Mist in the streets of Westminster

Wistful and weathered, the pride still prevails

Alive in the streets of the city


[Instrumental Break]


[Pre-Chorus]

Are they oblivious to this quality? A quality

Of light unique to every city's streets

(“Hello!”

“Morning, guv.”)

Pavements may teem with intense energy

But the city is calm in this violent sea


[Guitar Solo]


[Chorus]

I feel the sense of possibilities

I feel the wrench of hard realities

The focus is sharp in the city