"Time Stand Still" is a song by Canadian

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band Rush, released in 1987 as the lead single from their twelfth studio album ''

Hold Your Fire ''Hold Your Fire'' is the twelfth studio album by Canadian progressive rock band Rush, released on September 8, 1987. It was recorded at The Manor Studio in Oxfordshire, Ridge Farm Studio in Surrey, AIR Studios in Montserrat and McClear Place ...

''. The song features American singer-songwriter

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released ten studio albums as a solo artist. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyrics about dark subjects, often d ...

. It peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart on November 6, 1987, and was a minor hit single in the United Kingdom, peaking at No. 42 on the UK Singles Chart. A music video for the song was directed by

Zbigniew Rybczyński Zbigniew Rybczyński (; born 27 January 1949) is a Polish filmmaker, director, cinematographer, screenwriter, creator of experimental animated films, and multimedia artist who has won numerous prestigious industry awards both in the United Stat ...

Development and composition

"Time Stand Still" was the first track

Neil Peart Neil Ellwood Peart ( ; September 12, 1952 – January 7, 2020) was a Canadian and American musician, known as the drummer, percussionist, and primary lyricist of the rock band Rush (band), Rush. He was known to fans by the nickname "the Profe ...

wrote for ''

''. According to Peart, he wrote the lyrics for "Time Stand Still" based on his time with Rush: "Time Stand Still" is in the key of

E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...

. The tempo is moderately fast. The song starts in before going to

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

by the first verse.Time Stand Still Digital Sheet Music by Rush
Sheet Music Plus. Accessed from June 21, 2013.

'Til Tuesday Til Tuesday is an American new wave band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The band, consisting of Aimee Mann (lead vocals, bass), Robert Holmes (guitar), Joey Pesce (keyboards), and Michael Hausman (drums), was active from 198 ...

frontwoman

briefly sings in each chorus of the song, marking Rush's first collaboration with another vocalist; Rush guitarist

Alex Lifeson Aleksandar Živojinović (born 27 August 1953), known professionally as Alex Lifeson (), is a Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist for the rock band Rush. In 1968, he co-founded a band (which later became Rush) with drummer John Rut ...

adding that the band thought a female singer "would suit the song". Initially, the band had hoped to recruit

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...

to sing the part, then later approached

the Pretenders The Pretenders are a British rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (ba ...

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American-British musician. She is a founding member of the rock band the Pretenders and is the band's lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter; she and drummer Martin Chambers are the ...

because, according to Lifeson, "we thought she'd be perfect. But Chrissie was unavailable at the time." Rush later recruited MannPutterford, Mark (October 17, 1987)
Lifeson Times

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

. Accessed from June 21, 2013. and paid her $2,000 to sing on the track,Klein, Joshua (November 15, 2000)
Interview - Aimee Mann

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

. Accessed from June 21, 2013. with Lifeson saying that "her voice blends with Geddy ees perfectly and I think it creates the right atmosphere for the song. It's just something new for Rush."

Critical reception

Chris Welch Chris Welch (born ) is an English music journalist, critic, and author who is best known for his work from the late 1960s as a reporter for ''Melody Maker'', ''Musicians Only'', and ''Kerrang!''. He is the author of over 40 music books. Earl ...

of ''

'' praised it as "glowing brilliance which deserves serious chart attention for its haunting guitar, frantic drums and intense vocals." In 2013, ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' writer Adrian Begrand listed "Time Stand Still" at #8 on his "10 Songs That Will Make You Love Rush", calling it "Rush's best pop moment."Begrand, Andrian (April 17, 2013)
10 Songs That Will Make You Love Rush

. Accessed from June 7, 2021.

Music video

The song's music video was directed by Polish filmmaker

. According to the editor of the video, Glenn Lazzaro: Aimee Mann appears with the band in the video, which was filmed over the course of an entire day.

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1987 songs 1987 singles Rush (band) songs Aimee Mann songs Music videos directed by Zbigniew Rybczyński Songs written by Neil Peart Songs written by Geddy Lee Songs written by Alex Lifeson Mercury Records singles Song recordings produced by Peter Collins (record producer) Anthem Records singles

Development and composition

Critical reception

Music video

Charts

See also

References