"Jacob's Ladder" is a song by the Canadian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band Rush. It was released on their 1980 album ''

Permanent Waves ''Permanent Waves'' is the seventh studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on January 14, 1980 through Anthem Records. After touring to support their previous album, '' Hemispheres'' (1978), the band began working on new material for ...

''.

Composition and recording

The song was developed on the band's warm-up tour during soundchecks. "Jacob's Ladder" uses several time and key signatures; it also possesses a dark, ominous feel in its first half. The lyrics are based on a simple concept; a vision of sunlight breaking through storm clouds. The song's title is a reference to the

natural phenomenon A natural phenomenon is an observable event which is not man-made. Examples include: sunrise, weather, fog, thunder, tornadoes; biological processes, decomposition, germination; physical processes, wave propagation, erosion; tidal flow, and na ...

of the sun breaking through the clouds in visible rays, which in turn was named after the

Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

ladder to heaven on which

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

saw

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

s ascending and descending in a vision. Drummer and lyricist

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 ...

said of the song:

Whereas most of the ideas we were dealing with this time were on the lesser side, and in some cases, like in "Jacobs Ladder", looked at as a cinematic idea. We created all the music first to summon up an image – the effect of Jacob's Ladder – and paint the picture, with the lyrics added, just as a sort of little detail, later, to make it more descriptive.

Robert Telleria said in the Rush book ''Merely Players'':

Part heavy metal, part
New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
, this song is not about the vision seen by Jacob in the Bible but rather the atmospheric phenomena that has been named after that image. The tympani pounding parts rock like apocalyptic earthquakes.
Alex Alex is a given name. Similar names are Alexander, Alexandra, Alexey or Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Cook (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Forsyth (disambiguation), multiple people * Al ...
plays like he’s ascending the ladder in the clouds.

Live performances

In early 2015, during the

R40 Live Tour The R40 Live Tour was the final concert tour by Canadian rock band Rush (band), Rush that commemorated the 40th anniversary of drummer Neil Peart joining the band in July 1974. The title hearkens back to Rush's 2004 R30: 30th Anniversary Tour t ...

, frontman

Geddy Lee Geddy Lee Weinrib (; born Gary Lee Weinrib, July 29, 1953) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Rock music, rock band Rush (band), Rush. Lee joined the band in September 1968 at the request o ...

incorrectly stated that the song had never been played live before; however, he was corrected by fans on the internet. The live album '' Exit...Stage Left'' (1981) includes a performance of this song.

Reception

Ultimate Classic Rock Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

'' ranked the song 17th best on their list of "All 167 Rush Songs Ranked Worst to Best".

References

{{authority control Rush (band) songs 1980 songs Songs written by Geddy Lee Songs written by Alex Lifeson Songs written by Neil Peart Song recordings produced by Terry Brown (record producer)